Pressure Canner

[Kodiak]

The wife and I are looking to buy a good pressure canner and are curious as to what brand would you recommend? Anyone have a favorite, is there a brand I should steer clear of? Also we have a glass top stove and the wife says we may not be able to use it for canning, does anyone can on a glass top? Any info would be greatly appreciated, and fyi we are brand new to the canning club.

[Echo2]

All American....the only one IMO

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No gasket needed.

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We use turkey burners to can with.

[DarkLight]

It's my understanding that for pressure canning you can't use a glass top stove unless the canner is the same size as the heating element as the rest of the glass may not be tempered. The problem is that unlike a water bath canner, the pressure canner hats hotter inside and along the entire surface and the untempered glass surface may shatter. There have even been anecdotal stories of tempered glass cracking due to the high heat.

I haven't done it personally but I would look into a turkey burner/stand alone burner as gas will also give you more control over the temp as well.

[Echo2]

Do NOT pressure can on a glass top stove.....that is why we use a burner.

[JustAPrepper]

I also agree with everything said above. If you can afford the All-American, go for it. It was out of our price range so I researched and went with a 22 quart Mirro. It works great but I will have to get some replacement gaskets for it. Note to self...do that soon!

I've also heard and read bad things about canning on glass top stoves. If you go with a large canner you are putting on a heavy load and can build up too much heat around the burner and the top may crack however I've heard that some people get by using smaller canners. Just have to do more batches.

[bacpacker]

I used to work for a company that made heating elements for glass top stoves. From what I was able to find out from the folks we supplied with the elements, the issue with pressure cooker/canners on glass top stoves is the weight. Just too much unsupported.

[helomech]

We have the one from Walmart, cheap but works great. Been using it for years now and we can a lot of food.

[ladyhk13]

I use a Presto. Bought it from WalMart. It is not a double decker like JustA's so I can only do single layer jars but it just takes me longer than it does her. I have a glass top. It's a LG and the side that I use has a choice of 2 sizes on the element so I chose it to heat the outer ring which is exactly the same size as my canner. I have not had any problems at all and have been a canning fool. Maybe it depends on the brand of stove you have and type of element (cheap stove vs top of the line) and what it can handle. I can put my canner and water bath on it at the same time and not have a problem.
I like my Presto, it may not be the most expensive out there but I find it very easy to use which is important for me. I like things idiot proof!

[Kodiak]

I kinda jumped the gun and bought the All American 15.5 qt from Target for $160, seen the price and couldnt pass it up. Im going to do some more research about using the glass top oven, a guy at work says he uses his for canning and it does fine. I like the turkey burner idea Echo, if the stove doesnt pan out ill be getting me one. Actually i will prob get one anyways cause they look like a handy thing to have around. Thanks for all the info guys, if there is anything else that i should know please dont hesitate to tell me, im always open for advice.

[Echo2]

Canning inside for us has always been a PITA....we set up a couple canopies and plastic tables.

We run a double decker and a single decker All Americans on propane burners.

The reason for this....Is a few of the group come down to can their stuff too. We have processed 200 quarts in a day though.....