For those who know about pressure canners, I've run into a couple of issues specifically cited in some descriptions I'm not sure are properly addressed in all of them: 1-The 16qt Presto says that it takes pint and 1/2 pint jars, but only for water bath canning and not pressure canning. Why would this be? If it's a pressure canner, why can't it pressure can small jars? Is this a common "feature" I need to be careful of when looking at others? 2-Some specifically state that they can also be used for water bath canning, while others are silent on this feature. Should I assume that all pressure canners can also water bath can?
I have no experience with pressure canners, but I know you can water bath in any large pot. As long as the pot can hold enough water to reach the shoulders of the jars and not be crowded.
I'm wondering if you cannot water bath in a container that builds pressure; in other words, maybe some pressure canners can be used without building any pressure while others cannot. I also read a side-statement in the Spruce Eats canner review article that said "The 10.5 quart canner is too small for safely canning smoked fish." I don't plan on canning smoked fish, but I'd like to know more about that statement before I spend my money. I'm putting together a list of questions, and I'm going to call Presto on Monday.
As far as I know, you can water bath can in any pressure canner. You just don't put the lid on tight. I don't have experience with very small ones though. I would get one that will at least do quarts. Not many people can half gallon jars, so that isn't generally an issue. I don't know why some would not do fish. We can fish and many of our friends do so also, but all the pressure canners I have dealt with can safely do fish and meat. We gave away our metal canning apparatus because it was too much trouble, so jars are all we do now. Why are you up so late @John Brunner ?
After having a cup of coffee, I see that I misspoke in my last reply about water canning. The pot should be large enough so that the water covers the jars not just to the shoulder. I'm sure a pressure canner can be used for water canning, but you'd leave off the pressure valve or use a different pot lid. Here are a couple of websites to check out... https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can . https://www.healthycanning.com/usda-complete-guide-home-canning/ https://www.healthycanning.com/master-food-preserver-help-groups
I always pressured canned with pint and quart jars. I used my pressure canner for green beans and meat. I used my cold packer for almost everything else. I canned a lot of stuff over the years from A-Z. I have never used my pressure canner for a hot water bath that I can recall. But I don’t see why you couldn’t as long as you don’t tighten the lid down. Last year, I gave my Presto pressure canner away to some lady at The Farmers Market that I buy some produce from since no one in my family seems to care about canning or learning how to. I hope I don’t regret giving it away but I haven't canned anything for a long time.
Technically, a pressure cooker could be used to can. The USDA says that you need a container that is a minimum of 10 quarts to can safely. I just did a web search on the subject. Ball Canning says you must process at least (2) quart jars or (4) pint jars to can safely. Per Ball, the reason is that the number of jars in the canner can affect both the time it takes the canner to come up to temp/pressure & and to come down from temp/pressure. The minimum load is 2 quarts / litres, and you can configure that with whatever jar sizes you need to. And by coincidence, one of the web search results discusses smoked fish: Smoked fish exception The maker of All American pressure canners recommends against using its two smallest pressure canners (10.5 quart and 15.5 quart) for home canning smoked fish: “The 10.5 Qt Model 910 and 15.5 Qt Model 915 are NOT suitable for canning smoked fish.” [6] “Smoked Fish: ….Use a 16 quart or larger pressure canner for this procedure; do not use smaller pressure canners. Safe processing times haven’t been determined.” [7] Given that smoking itself is a preservation technique, I find this to be interesting. Regarding being up so late...2AM is not unusual for me. Last night was 3AM because my afternoon "nap" went into overtime.
Thanks for the links. Last night I downloaded all 7 parts of the USDA Canning Guide. I like hard-copy when I'm engaged in the task, and use digital for searching specifics. I see your Univ of GA link. I know the folks at my local VA Tech extension office. I'm gonna go talk to them. I read that some extension offices offer pressure canner recalibration services. I want to see what else they have to offer. I also downloaded the manuals for each of the canners I'm looking at: (3) All American, (2) Presto, and one each T-Fal, Mirro and Granite-Ware. (The Granite-Ware pressure cooker does not appear on their website, but they have a bunch of water bath canners. I've sent them a note of inquiry.) -Only the Mirro and the T-Fal tell you to use a water bath canner for that purpose. -All American recommends using a w.b. canner because even low pressure will decimate fruits, although they say you can process high acid stuff @ 10psi (but it will be mushy.) -Presto and Granite-Wear include water bath canning in their instructions. I've pretty much decided on a ±16qt canner because that size & up will do (7) quart jars at a time. The larger canners can stack pint jars, but I won't be doing that many pint containers at a time. I need to talk to Presto on Monday to find out why you cannot pressure can pint jars in their 16 qt canner. I don't have a need to do that right now, but want the capability should the need arise. If I have to go up to Presto's 23qt canner to get that capability, the price is not that much more ($16) and the size is not that much larger (2.5 inches taller.) But I saw comments that it needs to be recalibrated "often." Size is not a real concern...the thing is likely gonna live in the garage when I'm not using it. Here's what I've been looking at: Another interesting note I'll throw out there: I was thinking that if I got my garden going, it would be easier to get a couple of propane burners and process stuff outside by the garden rather than mess with it in the kitchen. I happened to catch a comment in an article that said those propane burners (and other hi-BTU burners) might heat things up too quickly for bacteria-safe canning. I would assume you could put it on Lo, but this would require further research.
You may have read this, but if you don't have enough food-filled jars to fill the canner, just put some jars filled with water in there to fill in the space.
We use different racks for different sized jars, or sometimes just a "bottom rack" that keeps the jars off the bottom of the canner if the canner is packed so the jars can't move. I don't understand what the size of the canner has to do with smoked fish. When we smoke fish for canning, we only "half-smoke" them, i.e., smoke for about 1/2 the recommended time since canning seems to intensify the smoke flavor and it can get too strong. Beth is right in that the canner has to be deep enough to cover the jars by an inch or two of water, while pressure canning only requires a small amount of water in the bottom. If the gauge is correct, I don't really understand why the specs would be different with different sized canners as the pressure should be the same. The canning time does usually vary with the size of the jar though. What are you most interested in canning @John Brunner? One of our daughters in Washington state cans outside on a propane burner as her electric stove does not recommend using it for canning. My mother had an entire separate kitchen in the basement to keep the heat and the mess out of her main kitchen.
Good point. We actually sometimes can those jars so we have sterile water for drinking in disasters or whatever. Water in glass lasts longer than if it is stored in plastic.
We really like the All-American canner, never need any attachments at all. It easily screws down. Used it for last 15 or more years,never a problem.No seals for lid ,it comes complete like picture shows.
I think the issue is that the smaller canners cone up t heat faster and cool faster than larger canners, thus reducing the total processing time. Of course, that begs the question as to why that's such a concern with smoked fish. I could conject (the fish is not really cooked to begin with), but that's all it would be. My current use would be to can broths & stock, soups, stews, spaghetti sauces, etc. I've made homemade Mexican sauces from dried chilis that are very good...those would be put up in smaller jars. I like having a variety of stuff on hand, and all of that takes up too much freezer space. I'm thinking this might get me off of my butt to get my garden on the air again and figure out how to keep the deer at bay, at which point I'd be canning veggies. I read of folks canning meat, so I might like to try that.