It's just me, so I'll only need to can pint sized jars. And I'd rather have a smaller pot and do more batches than get a bigger pot and have to find a place to put it.

My stove is apartment-sized, so I can't get anything very wide.

My Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving from 2006 says only that to be considered a pressure canner, the pot must hold at least four quart jars.

So what's the smallest pressure "canner" I can get, considering I only really need to do four pints at a time?

I've done tomatoes in a BWB before, so I have a little experience, although none with pressure canning. I have a funnel and a jar lifter already, so I don't need a kit.

It would be great if I could shop locally, so if you have Brooklyn or Manhattan recommendations, that would be nifty.

Presto has an 8 quart model for about $54.00 but I don't know if it will hold 4 quart jars. I don't think it is tall enough. Presto says it will "can" 7 pint jars at a time but doesn't mention quarts so likely it would have the under-processed problem.

Presto used to make a 12 quart model that would hold 4 quarts but they may no longer be available either except as used. If you can find a good used one it would work well for you. It was replaced by the 16 quart model.

The All American 910 model will hold 4 quart jars (its their 10 1/2 quart model) but it costs $180.00.

Far as I know, those are your choices.

Dave

What about the Fagor 10 quarts? They sell a canning kit to go with them, but it's not clear to me if they're big enough to hold four quart jars. The recipes in the manual yield 4 pints.

I'm a little leery of buying used, since I've never used a pressure cooker and wouldn't know what to look for/avoid.

They don't provide any of the needed info on size/capacity on their website which is unfortunate although they do imply that you may do canning with any of their cooker models - regardless of size. Whether that means you can do it within the approved guidelines or not, I can't say. Since they are manufactured in Spain they aren't bound by USDA guidelines.

Best you can do I guess is take a quart jar along to see one and see if 4 of them will fit. Sorry I can't be of more help with them.

Didn't mention it before, but is canning your meats the only option? Unfortunately canning is a "lots of room-needed" process. Can you freeze it all instead? Another alternative would be to invest in one of the single burner units that many use for canning if you have the counter space for it.

Dave

I do freeze everything now, and I'll keep doing that, too. I have a tall, skinny shelf perfect for pint jars, just not enough space right now to store another big pot. Time to re-arrange the kitchen.

4th floor walk-up, so no outdoor space, sadly.

Thanks so much for your help and advice. I know you keep answering basically the same questions over and over -- I read as many old threads as I could find -- so I really appreciate you taking the time.

Good luck with your purchase. Jim

If you plan to use it for home canning please be aware that it doesn't meet the standard guidelines for canning. Safety of the processed food may very well be a concern for you and if you end up having to process everything at 15 lbs for safety purposes then the consistency and texture of the food will be affected.

Just something to consider.

Dave

Initially, I wanted a canner just for tomatoes. As I read more, I became interested in the cooking aspect of a pressure cooker and because my budget is tight, I was hoping to find a dual purpose solution. I understand when one chooses to do that, you usually must compromise in some way.

My mom has an ancient Presto that scares me. She thinks it's fine, but I would never use it without her help, and she is in her mid 80's, so I know I need something that I can handle alone. She also gave me a water bath canner years ago that I have never used.

Let me run this by you, if I may. I'm thinking I should just use the Fagor for cooking, and use the water bath for canning. I always had it in my head that canning tomatoes with pressure was the better way to go- I don't know, safer or something, not sure how that was planted in my head. Am I really missing out on alot by not canning with pressure? I don't think I would ever can a huge variety of items, although I do have a large garden. Most things I end up freezing.

Thanks for any insight, Dave.

Sue

I mainly make jams/jellies/pickled/fruits and tomatoe products.

I just tossed the stovetop pressure cooker to a digital one, and love it! Just fill, set the timer and walk away.
The model I purchased also has a slow cooker mode, steam mode and switches to warm after cooking is done. if it holds up, a far better value than a stovetop pressure cooker.
Plus, it was about the same cost as a stovetop unit.

With this purchase I may toss the pressure canner also. I prefer frozen over canned meats and low acid vegetables, I don't eat more than a 1/2 pint of Salsa a year. About the only item I would even need a pressure canner would be for potatoes and I haven't canned those in a few years.

There should not be any safety issues if you are using current/approved water bath canning standards for maters.

Wasn't Hijacking Dave, but thought I would throw in my 2 cents as a frugal, single working Mom.

Then the odds are that no, you wouldn't be missing out on much. Pressure canning is in some ways a whole different world of canning and it doesn't appeal to all.

IMO it expands the canning horizon 10 fold and I'd never want to be without it - waaay too limiting. ;) We do lots of meats, all sorts of beans, carrots, mixed vegetables, etc. that can't be done in a BWB and for us canned goods have a much longer shelf life then frozen, better flavor in many respects, never have to worry about lost electricity, or running out of freezer room. But that is just us. As Lizzy said above, never do it and get along just fine.

PC is geared to vegetables (other than tomatoes), meats, and mixed low acid foods so if you elect to freeze all those things instead that's fine. Tomatoes aren't safer if done in a PC, just much faster to can. BWB tomatoes with the added acid is just fine.

Just so you recognize that it is an either/or situation - you can't pressure can without the proper equipment. And as discussed above, while the Fagor may be great for cooking, it isn't an approved canner. So use it for cooking and keep on freezing and BWB acid foods OR invest in the 16 qt. Presto (cheaper anyway) and take up pressure canning. OK?

Hope this helps.

Dave

I can't wait until next summer's ripe tomatoes are ready. I will definitely take the advice offered here. Thanks again.

Mgar, I hope you find something that suits your needs well. My apologies for the hijacking that evolved.

Mgar, If you are still in the market, I have a Presto 8 quart languishing in my pantry. I can crack open the moving tape and try out quarts for you. Just let me know.

Melly, I would love to know if 4 quart jars fit in the Presto 8 quarter! If you could check, that woudl be great. I suspect they won't: the owner's manual doesn't even mention using it as a canner.

You know, I had almost decided to get the 16qt Presto and get rid of my beloved dutch oven to create some storage space for it, but if I could get away with an 8 quart canner...

As my co-worker said to me, "You wanted perfection, the one size fits all/does everything item, and it doesn't exist." Guilty as charged.

That makes two of us!

I did decide against the Fagor. Four quart jars probably could fit inside it, but it would a very tight fit. But the deciding factor for me was the gauge that's meant for cooking, not for canning. As the amazon review Jim posted states, your choices are 8lbs and 15lbs, and even then it's impossible to be sure that the gauge is accurate. It's not even really a gauge, more like a switch. So I'm going with something I can put weights on.