Presto 01781 23-Quart Pressure Canner and Cooker

Does a wonderful job. It's larger than I had expected. I read that the smaller one was not suitable for hot water bathing. That is true for quarts, but not for pints. I think, for the space savings in my cupboard, I would prefer the smaller one. Also, I feel the smaller one might reach pressure faster, saving a little bit of time. I don't generally do large batches. I have canned fruit, pie filling, broth, chicken, soups, stews, hamburger, stew meat, and veggies. We currently live at a high altitude and I only can at 15lbs. So the weight that comes with the canner is fine for now. When we move to a lower elevation I will invest in a 5-10-15lb weight because I prefer the jiggler to the pressure gauge. Update: We moved, I got the 5-10-15 weight. Works great! Overall, our family is expanding and this will do everything the smaller one will do and more, so I am satisfied with it and may appreciate the larger size later. Update: I decided to purchase the 16 quart. It fits in my cupboard. I know its a bit crazy to buy another one if the old one worked just fine, but I was annoyed and finally got the one I wanted. They both work perfectly and I have since purchased the 6 quart pressure cooker and absolutely love it for cooking. I used the 16 quart canner to reheat a rotisserie chicken and it turned out amazing and did it faster and better than the microwave and more moist than the oven. To sum up the capacity: The 23 Qt will hot water bath 7 quarts or 10 pints (stacking is not recommended for water bathing) and pressure can 7 quarts or 20 pints(double staked) the 16 Qt will hot water bath 10 pints (water bathing quarts is not recommended) and pressure can 7 quarts or 10 pints The 6 Qt is not recommended for canning, but makes dinners or sides very quick and easy. Also makes chicken stock in 20 min instead of hours of simmering. Then straight to my canner.

I bought this YEARS ago and was afraid to use it. There is all this hype and fear-mongering about pressure canners, but if you follow the directions and don't try and open it when it is still under pressure, and maintain it well, a pressure canner is no more dangerous than any other tool in your kitchen. A week ago, I swallowed my fear and canned enchilada sauce and chicken stock in it for the first time ever. And then I bought several ebooks from a canning author on canning chicken, beef, ground beef and beans and tackled pressure canning chicken two days ago. I am so glad I did. I think that canning is yet another step towards self-sufficiency and knowing exactly what is in your food. This pressure canner works very well and I now feel confident in pressure canning even more foods for my family!

Wow- this canner is amazing!! I took my time, read the manual, watched user videos on Youtube, and took a shot of my own and it was a home run. I found a few recipes I wanted to try (spaghetti sauce, black beans, and caramelized onions) and every single one of them worked perfectly. I've canned 20 pints in my first week of owning this Presto! I follow recipes exactly and it has helped knowing that there is no guessing. I also much prefer that pressure canning is mostly inactive work while water bath canning takes much more work. I love this canner and the ease of use!

There isn't much I can say besides that it does just what you expect it to do. It works, it seals fine, it keeps pressure fine. It works as a water bath canner just fine. Really, it does what it needs to do. I've put up about 300 cans so far and it's doing just fine. (from applesauce to grape juice to green beans to venison) My sister got the All American Canner and we canned side by side a lot so we could compare the two. Here's what we noticed the difference are: All American is a heavier pot. She can make applesauce in hers w/o burning the bottom (I burned mine), but I can use the Presto one on my glass top oven which she can't do with her All American because of how heavy it is. The All american has a bit of a domed lid which means she can fit one more can in hers than I can. Somehow, since the middle is higher, we had an instance where hers was able to fit the combinations of stacked jars and my Presto wasn't. The All American is a weighted gauge canner, while this Presto one is a dial gauge canner. In my estimation, that means the All American needs less babysitting than the Presto. I had to keep adjusting the heat under my Presto to make sure I wasn't getting it too high or letting it fall too low. She could put her weight on the canner and walk away knowing it would stay at 10 lbs w/o much fuss. And finally, the All American has a handle on the top that makes transporting it much easier. All that being said: they canned exactly the same. Every time we canned side by side, the time to bring them up to pressure, the time to can, and the time to bring them back down took exactly the same amount of time. I had to go with the Presto because of my glass top range. I like the details about the All American better, but like I said, this one works perfectly.

So i have been canning for well over a decade,using various brands and models or pressure cookers,from Fagor,to Mirro,to Presto.I own a Presto 16 quart canner,so I am familiar with the controls and function on this model. On my first try,the seal and vent/lock would not activate.I dissembled and reassembled various times...I troubleshoot it with Presto procedures.The vent lock simply would not activate,and the Pressure gauge was incomplete (missing small gasket). This is obviously too late for any kind of return ,so I am just stuck with an overpriced aluminum pot!! I have videos and pictures showing the steam and all water escaping from the vent lock,but never building pressure. This is DANGEROUS and not acceptable at all,pressure cookers are NOT toys,they can be deadly. And before anyone asks,YES I ordered the missing parts and a new 15 pound rocker,NOTHING .