Ultimate Guide For Beginners: Pressure Canner vs Pressure Cooker -

A guide for canning beginners to determine what type of pressure canner, water bath canner or pressure cooker to use and when.

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There is a major difference between a pressure canner and pressure cooker. One of the biggest indicators being size. Pressure cookers are much smaller than pressure canners. There is such a size difference because they are intended for completely different uses.

Pressure canner

A pressure canner is used when pressure canning jars of food. Pressure canners consist of a big pot with a turn-on lid with a rubber gasket. Some canners such as All American pressure canners have no rubber gasket and have a lid that bolts on using wing nuts to secure it on. All canners will have a dial gauge or a weighted gauge on top to regulate the pressure.

Modern pressure canners are designed with safety features. On top of the canner lid there are two “buttons” a silver metal one and a rubber one. The silver “button” is a vent and the rubber “button” is a safety valve sometimes referred to as a pop off valve. If the canner becomes under too high of pressure the safety valve will pop off before the canner would blow up.

Different size pressure canners

Pressure canners are designed for processing large quantities of food at one time. There are several different size canners there is a 16 quart, 23 quart, 30 quart, and 41.5 quart. The quart size does not mean that each of these canners can hold that number of quart jars. It is the number of quarts of liquid it can hold.

Based on the size of your canner you can add an additional canning rack to your canner so you can add another row of jars. In a 16 quart canner you can add an additional canning rack and fit 2 rows of half pint jars. A 23 quart canner with an additional canning rack you can fit 2 rows of half pints and pints. In a 30 quart and lager with additional canning racks you can fit extra rows of half pints, pints, and quarts.

What foods can be processed in a pressure canner?

A pressure canner is for processing low-acid foods. These include meat, green beans, broth, and other veggies as well as many other low acid foods. Low acid foods such as these have to be processed at higher temperature. Home-canned foods must reach 240°F to kill bacteria spores that can cause foodborne illness such as Botulism.

Weighted gauge pressure canner

A weighted gauge pressure canner consist of a pressure regulator that also acts as your weight. You can change from 5, 10, and 15 pounds by simply removing the weights or adding them.

If you are processing food at 10 pounds then when the pressure goes above 10 pounds of pressure the weighted gauge will begin to rock or jiggle letting off any extra pressure. This will consistently keep the desired pounds of pressure. A weighted gauge canner is my personal favorite.

Dial gauge pressure canner

When using a pressure canner with a dial gauge the poundage can go above what you are needing. If you need to process quart jars at 10 pounds of pressure then it may stay at 10 pounds of pressure for a while but it may go up to a higher poundage or go below the required 10 pounds. You will need to decrease or increase the heat on your stove to get the poundage back to 10 pounds of pressure. I have found when using a dial gauge pressure canner the dial fluctuates a lot. So the entire time you are processing the jars of food you have to keep an eye on the gauge to ensure it stays consistent.

Pressure cooker

Pressure cooking is a complete different process and not related to pressure canning. They are used when preparing a single meal. The purpose of a pressure cooker is to cook a small meal under high pressure for a ready to eat meal in a fraction of the time.

An instant pot is a modern version of electric pressure cookers. Traditional pressure cookers are not electric. They are designed similar to a pressure canner. It has a turn-on lid with a rubber gasket that seals onto the pot with a weight that sits on top of the lid.

It is important to know pressure cookers are not recommended by the National Center for Home Food Preservation for pressure canning mason jars of food.

Water bath canner

Water bath canners are not the same as either a pressure cooker or pressure canner. A water bath canner consist of a large pot with a lid that sits on top of the pot. They are often times referred to as a boiling water canner.

Water-bath canning consist of processing canning jars in boiling water for an allotted amount of time.

What foods can be processed in a water bath canner?

The water bath canning method is for processing high acid foods such as fruit, tomatoes, and pickles. The high acidity levels of these foods will not support the growth of bacteria such as Botulism.