looking to buy a pressure cooker/canner.many questions!

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we're in the market for a pressure cooker. at the stores around here they're all fairly expensive $70.00 plus, and i've only seen 2 different brands, presto & mirro. what do we look for in a good p.cooker? should it be stainless steel? we've never had or used one, so we don't know anything about them!!! what about guages or weights? what gauge metal should we look for? how big should it be? we just started canning this year and are really enjoying it (just water bath). there are sixuvus so we're thinking bigger is better. also what else can you do with it besides canning? what brands are best? will the prices come down after canning season? that's all for now. i will put any more questions i think of on this thread. thank you all very much. fred

-- fred in wi (sixuvusmeyers@aol.com), August 26, 2001

Answers

I like the kind with the dial better than the weights but I guess it's a matter of preferance. You'd need to get the dial checked every year or so. Some stores do that for free or here our extension service does it for free.

I'd get one that would hold at least seven quarts or 14 pints.

-- Suzy in Bama (slgt@yahoo.com), August 26, 2001.


I have both kinds of of canners. One from Sears has the pressure guage & is probably 20 years old. I bought it from a friends mother that gave up gardening. I like it much better than the Mirro with the weight. It is so much easier to regulate. Get a big canner, once you get going you wont be sorry. I have seen lots of good canners at auctions & estate tag sales. The county ext.office here checks pressure gauges. Good Luck, Kaye

-- Kaye in wc Ill (klreno@irc.net), August 26, 2001.

I have an All American canner, also sold under the name of Wisconsin Aluminum Foundry (or something similar) and it's the last canner I'm going to have. I flat out love the thing! It holds 18 pints or 8 quarts and it's the berries. It has both dial and pressure weight and NO GASKET to replace - ever. The part of the top that fits into the bottom is specially shaped to fit perfectly and then 6 huge bolts hold the entire thing together. The dial is only to let us know what's going on in the canner, like how pressure is building up, or when the pressure is gone and it's safe to open. The weight is for 5, 10 and 15 pounds and the number of time it juggles per minute is what you pay attention to when pressure canning. The entire body is heavy weight aluminum and that's what works best. I don't use it for anything but pressure canning.

I have a large Mirro pressure canner/cooker that holds 5 pints but doesn't do any quarts. Finding a new gasket for it was hell and took months of frustrating searching. It's about 10 years old.

I have a medium Presto that does 4 pints. Same hell with finding replacement gasket.

I have a small Mirro that does 3 pints. Again, hell finding gaskets.

The last three canners are not the result of canning insanity but rather the combining of two households. Even with just two of us, doing serious canning in the three smaller ones was way too time consuming. So we bought the All American. Even so, there have been times when doing green beans by the bushel, I've had all four canners going at one time.

With six of you, buy the biggest canner you can find and one you can keep, and find parts for, for the rest of your life.

-- Carol - in Virginia (carollm@rockbridge.net), August 26, 2001.


I have a Presto 6 quart pressure cooker that was received as a wedding present that worked very well over the years. I have had it since March of '74, installing a new seal once so far. I also have my Mother's old pressure cooker that needs a new seal. The 6 quart pressure cookers are good for general cooking, but if you want to do a lot of canning, buy a pressure canner. I much prefer the American made pressure cookers/canners, and even if the price is a little steep, it will last a lifetime with the proper care. I think Presto and Mirro have websites that you can look at to help make up your mind. I have also bought spare parts for the pressure cookers at Ace Hardware stores, so check there when you need the parts.

-- Robert J. Karczewski (robert_j_karczewski@hotmail.com), August 26, 2001.

Once you get one, it should come with a recipe book. The recipes that came with my Mirro are great. Especially for pressure cooking whole fryers (but they are so tender, you can't get them out and still have them "whole". It'll cook corned beef really tender without having to cook it for hours, and everything really retains it's flavor. My family's favorite, hands down, is the cabbage rolls...I have filled it as full as I dare, and leftovers are gone within 3 days. They are great for large meals for families with big appetites. No matter what brand you choose, you will use it for lots more than just canning! Kathie

-- Kathie in Western Washington (twinrosefarm@centurytel.net), August 27, 2001.


A few days abo another reader was asking the same thing !! Look for that thread too. Guess it's canning season. I prefer the dial guage as you can adjust it better than the "jiggle" one. The "jiggle" drove me nuts and was never really sure about that type. I would pay the price for a new one as you will have it for many, many years. My first one lasted me over 20 years and stopped using it only because I have worn a little hole in the bottom of it !! I think they are wonderful for canning. Hardly use the water bath process anymore. Good Luck and Happy Cannin !!!

-- Helena Di Maio (windyacs@ptdprolog.net), August 27, 2001.

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