People of all ages have started gardening and are home canning to preserve their produce. Knowing the correct steps to safely preserve their bounty is important and something that we love to teach here at AnswerLine. One question that we often get asked is “Can a pressure cooker be used for home food preservation instead of a pressure canner?” The answer is NO, they are not the same! The similarity is that they both trap steam and build up pressure inside the pot. This happens when the lid, which has a gasket, forms an airtight seal when it is in the locked position. The pressure then builds up and the high temperature destroys microorganisms more quickly in pressure canning or it cooks food faster in pressure cooking.
Here are some of the differences between the two.
Pressure cookers or pressure saucepans
*Used to rapidly cook meats, vegetables and other foods for meals.
*They heat and cool too quickly to be safely used for pressure canning meats and vegetables in jars
*They are smaller in size and will not hold 4 quart jars.
*Many have no way to regulate the pressure since they have low, medium and high settings. Even the ones with weighted gauges may not accurately regulate the pressure.
Pressure canners
*Designed to can low acid foods like vegetables and meat.
*To be considered a pressure canner they must hold more than 4 Quart jars.
*They use a dial or weighted gauge to make sure you are maintaining adequate pressure.
*When canning recipes are being developed, the researchers place a thermocouple into the coldest spot in the jar. They need to know that the cold spot gets hot enough long enough to kill bacteria that may be present. Researchers calculate processing time by adding the time it takes the vessel to get up to pressure, the time at pressure, and the cooling down time. Shortening any of these times will result in an under processed and unsafe product.
Make sure you are using the correct canner when you are doing home food preservation. Using a pressure cooker or pressure saucepan could make your home canned foods unsafe.
What are your recommendations regarding steam canning (ie Victorio VK1130). I’ve been checking the Healthy Canning website and they indicate that steam canning was approved in 2016 (Wisconsin). Same processing time for high acid foods as waterbath canning, but much less water to heat.
Hi, we follow the University of Wisconsin’s directions for steam canning. Follow this link for their directions. https://fyi.uwex.edu/safepreserving/2017/10/24/safe-preserving-using-a-steam-canner/
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