Hmmm. My pressure canner(s) have little tabs on the lids themselves to hold the gasket in. Sometimes I have to rub a bit of oil on the gasket to get a good seal, otherwise I get leaks around the edge. That's when it's time to buy a new gasket for me, it only happens when the gasket gets old and "dries out" and needs replacement.

Try over on Harvest, there are a lot of canners over there and someone might have a fix for your problem. http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/harvest

Good luck!

Annie

Have you checked places like ACE Hardware and True Value Hardware stores to see if they happen to carry the replacement parts/gasket? If you have a County Extension Office near you, they once tested pressure canners for people, and perhaps they can help you out using their network of influence. It may come down to replacing the canner, and if you only do small amounts of canning, you might consider getting an electric pressure canner that does more than just pressure canning to make it more kitchen-friendly.

I have an 8 qt Mirror pressure cooker with a similar issue. Terrible product support from the company...apparently they quit making the correct gasket for the one that I have and the replacement gasket (that's supposed to work) is not as thick and just does not seal. A really frustrating situation when you're relying on a product. Your post got me PO'd all over again about it.

I salvaged the pressure gauge and stem and tossed the rest of it in the recycle pile. The stem will fit in a lot of the Presto pressure cookers....often times, you'll see a cooker/ cooker canner at a garage sale that is missing the gauge. Easy to swap out the stem & use the Mirro stem & gauge.

So, I guess what I'm saying is to just toss the thing out and go find another one. I like the old Presto/ National canners.

I have checked all the websites that offer replacement parts. This is an item that is in my original use manual but no longer available for this canner at all. As you can see from the lid, there are metal extensions but the gasket itself is loose. The bottom pic shows it touching the edge but the top one shows that there is a gap. I've ordered another one in hopes that maybe I just have the wrong size one in there now.

I don't do enough canning lately to be an expert, but I believe mine is a Presto and the seal is always as loose as yours appears to be (although it certainly couldn't fall out) and it seals fine. I wonder if you just have a scratch on the lid or pot. Is the seal somewhat flexable?

Yes, the gasket is not cracked or brittle. I oiled it and that didn't help.

The old gasket on my Mirro 8 qt. looked pristine. One day it worked fine & sealed but not the next day nor the several times later that I tried to use it. The supposedly 'correct' gasket replacement was loose, would fall out and would not seal the cooker. I hope you find a solution for the problem because I know how frustrating it is to have a tool that won't work and one that you can not find basic replacement parts to repair it. What is esp. rude about that style of gasket that Mirro used is that there is more gasket material used in them and the gaskets are considerably more costly to replace. It's almost as if some engineer/ bean counter at Mirro designed them to fail so they could sell more gaskets.

I decided to purchase another gasket and I got it from Pressure cooker outlet to make sure it was the right size. I got it today and when I put it in the lid, it's a much tighter fit. I have a feeling it was the gasket all along. And yes they are not cheap. This one was $18 for a big rubber circle.