Well, there is a considerable amount of fuss and bother and carrying-on by the canning purists re steam canning vs Total Jar Baptism, but nobody, anywhere, has yet to have any problems.

I'd be hounded off the Harvest Forum for blasphemy and never get the tar and feathers off, so lets just keep this a secret over here: what I do is fill a 12 qt stock pot with a couple inches of water, put in the jars, the water comes up 1/3 - 1/2 the way, I put the lid on, and steam-can. Shhhhhh.

Last year, I bought another 12 qt stock pot, the one at the link, which gives me two, so I can do 2 x 4 qt jars at a time.

This pot is a bit more money, but its a heckuva nice stock pot and gets used for all kinds of things, like blanching veggies, soup, beans, etc. where as the steam canner has a far more limited uses. And if you want, the volume/height is enough for full jar covering.

Here is a link that might be useful: link.

Ahhhh Ha! I love it :^)

Do you steam them longer than if you had them completely immersed? One online source I found said to water bath them longer for high altitude, so about 45 min. for up to 6000ft. Would that be the same for steaming them?

I just follow the regular canning times, adjusted for our altitude, and don't add any more time for steaming.

Exceptions are things like pickled okra, because if I followed the guide lines, all I'd have left would be mush.