Pressure cooker rec?

[Mass-diver]

My father is getting into canning. I picked him the Ball book for his birthday and I'm planning on getting him a pressure cooker. I've read some good old threads on here - but I'm wondering if someone could recommended a decent pressure cooker for small scale canning? Are the crate and barrel ones any good or are they way too small? I'm looking to spend around $150-200

http://www.crateandbarrel.com/kitche...cooker/s520155

[Coyote Gray]

My father is getting into canning. I picked him the Ball book for his birthday and I'm planning on getting him a pressure cooker. I've read some good old threads on here - but I'm wondering if someone could recommended a decent pressure cooker for small scale canning? Are the crate and barrel ones any good or are they way too small? I'm looking to spend around $150-200

http://www.crateandbarrel.com/kitche...cooker/s520155

Thats a relatively pricey option for a pressure cooker with out a guage and thats only 6quarts. $150 to $200 will buy you a REAL nice pressure cooker that is much larger. Personally, Crate & Barrel is a pricey option for ANYTHING you want to buy. Shop Amazon and read the reviews. That same pressure cooker is almost half the price there.

[Mass-diver]

Thanks, what's a good size?

[Mass-diver]

I think I'm going to get this one:

http://www.amazon.com/Presto-23-Quar...2949801&sr=8-4

[Hiltonizer]

Spend the money on an All-American canner. You'll only have to do it once. You can get a 21qt for under a deuce at Amazon but that might be overkill... I have a 15qt and its plenty of canner for us.

The presto is the walmart special you'll wish you didn't buy down the road.

[Mass-diver]

Those all american ones look awesome

[richc]

I bought this one:

http://www.amazon.com/All-American-9...2951934&sr=8-5

It is overkill for most of my needs but is built like a tank. My wife was concerned about blowing up the kitchen until she saw this one. She had a relative who had an older one explode in the basement like a grenade at one time. Had to convince her that the state of the art has changed in manufacturing and materials science since that happened. And when she saw this she felt very comfortable with the multiple safeties involved.

[MisterHappy]

I'm not MisterCanner, but I do do some.

What's the point of a pressure cooker, as opposed to using a big ol'pot of water for processing? If the goal is to sterilize the product, what's the advantage?

[JCat]

I'm not MisterCanner, but I do do some.

What's the point of a pressure cooker, as opposed to using a big ol'pot of water for processing? If the goal is to sterilize the product, what's the advantage?

A pressure cooker can create pressures the same way a proper canner is able to. However, it lacks some key features like a pressure gauge. My understanding is one can be used in a pinch, but that a true canner is ideal.

[Hiltonizer]

I'm not MisterCanner, but I do do some.

What's the point of a pressure cooker, as opposed to using a big ol'pot of water for processing? If the goal is to sterilize the product, what's the advantage?

Water evaporates at 212 degrees, which is not hot enough to kill some certian bacteria completely. Water under pressure has a higher boiling point which allows allows it to achieve the temperatures necessary to kill the bacteria in the food. This is necessary with items that have too low of an acidity level to kill that particular bacteria alone (Botulinum)

A pressure cooker can create pressures the same way a proper canner is able to. However, it lacks some key features like a pressure gauge. My understanding is one can be used in a pinch, but that a true canner is ideal.

A pressure canner is a pressure cooker, a pressure cooker is not necessarily a pressure canner. Pressures and stability of those pressures need to meet a certian standard, plus the safety factor. Never use a pressure cooker as a canner.