Pressure canning is the only method recommended for canning low-acid foods. You can find recipes and instructions at http://extension.usu.edu/publica/foodpubs.htm. Low-acid foods require a higher temperature than high-acid foods to kill dangerous bacteria that can develop during storage. Recipe and canner manufacturer instructions must be followed precisely to guarantee food safety.

The 22 quart Presto Pressure Cooker-Canner is intended for preparing and preserving a wide variety of foods and is protected by a 12-year limited warranty. While this canner can be used for cooking meats and various other foods, 22 quarts is very large for home pressure cooking. For preservation, the 22 quart size is ideal to can up to 18 pints or 7 quarts of food. The 22 quart model retails for around $80.

My mother invested the money to purchase a 22 quart pressure canner to speed up her fruit canning and enable her to can vegetables when I was a child. When I decided to do jams this summer, she brought the pressure canner out of storage and gave it to me with the boiling water bath canner just in case I got interested. This 30 year old canner is still in great shape. The polish on the aluminum has deteriorated a bit through the years, but the regulator gauge, the air vent, and the seal are still in great shape due to care taken during storage. A pressure canner should be stored carefully to maintain the condition of the pressure gauge. Assembled, the sealing ring should be removed and oiled well with petroleum jelly or cooking oil. The lid with the pressure gauge attached can be turned upside down into the base and covered or the pressure gauge can be removed and stored inside. The canner should be reassembled according the manufacturers directions for use.

A pressure canner should be used according to recipe and manufacturer's directions. In general, prepared food is packed into sterile jars or tin cans (if you have the necessary equipment). The jars are arranged inside the canner basket (they must not touch each other or the interior of the canner see "accessories" for more information). An amount of boiling water is added to the canner to provide steam. The lid is closed and sealed. Air is evacuated from the canner over medium heat with the pressure regulator removed. The pressure regulator is put in place and the temperature is raised to high. Once the desired pressure is achieved, the pressure is regulated by increasing or decreasing the burner setting. It is preferable to keep the pressure a pound or two above the required pressure to allow for variation during the process. A timer is started once the desired pressure is achieved to guarantee the completion of the processing time. If the pressure drops below the pressure required by the recipe, the pressure must be raised and timing started again from the beginning. At the processing time, the canner must be removed from the heat. If you have an electric stove, the canner must be moved off of the burner. Gas stove burners can simply be turned off. When the pressure reaches zero and the air vent opens, the pressure regulator is removed. After one or two minutes of further cool down, the canner can be opened and the contents removed. Jars should cool undisturbed and the seals checked. (Remove the ring and press down on the center of the dome lid. If the dome lid is not concaved and held securely, the food must be refrigerated or recanned.) Well sealed jars can be stored for up to one year with little flavor loss.

Maintenance should be done when necessary to replace the sealing ring, the automatic air vent, and the pressure regulator. A visual inspection or obvious problems during use should alert the user to the maintenance necessary. The pressure gauge should be checked yearly for accuracy. Your local extension agent or hardware store should be able to give you a source. Replacement gauges, sealing rings, automatic air vents, and pressure regulators are available from a list of retailers given by www.gopresto.com or from an area dealer. It is a good idea to have a spare sealing ring and automatic air vent available if you do not have easy access to an area dealer as they are the most likely culprits and easiest to replace.

Accessories are available through local dealers and on-line. A replacement basket and separators are helpful although a round cake cooking rack can be used to put multiple levels of jars in the canner. General canning accessories are available at www.homecanning.com and anywhere that sells canning jars. Pressure canner accessories are available from www.pressurecooker-outlet.com. You can go through the accessories page to find your model number for the selection. Do not use a pressure canner without owning a jar lifter, tongs are not adequate to handle boiling hot jars.

Simple advice from my learning process:
*Jar rings must be screwed on more than finger tight after filling the jar to guarantee the seal (Ball Blue Book claims finger tight).
*USDA publications include some recipes but Ball Blue Book and Putting Food By are good resources for more.
*An electric stove will make pressure canning more difficult as the burner power is a bit more difficult to maintain.
*Buying fruit and vegetables from the grocery store can make canning very expensive.
*Don't throw out your Boiling Water Bath canner when you get a pressure canner. You will still need it to sterilize jars and can jams.

Presto has updated the 22 quart canner with some safety features that were not included on the 1970's model. The lid seal has been updated with a lock mechanism that engages to allow the pressure to build up. The lock will not release until the pressure is reduced to zero. These safety features are a useful enhancement, but do not make it worth replacing one that is already in use. My model has a older dial gauge with the pressure markings close together.. The new model has a dial-gauge with easier to read markings. An older canner can be updated with a dial-gauge if desired. Be sure to know the difference between a weighted gauge and an dial gauge when looking up processing time (weighted gauges have a weighted pressure regulator valve instead of a analog gauge).

There are very few manufacturers of pressure canners that make their products as available as Presto. Pressure canners have a basic design of a heavy duty metal housing that will withstand pressure, a heavy duty locking lid, and a regulator system. Presto is one of two companies that offer the 22 quart size. The Presto is less expensive and is available in most hardware stores and on-line with easy to find and install replacement parts. The owners manual gives easy to understand instructions for use and plenty of recipes.

A good resource for information on using your pressure canner and general food preservation information is http://www.faqs.org/faqs/food/preserving/.

Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 90