Presto 01781 23-Quart Pressure Canner and Cooker

I have been using this canner for 5 years now and I love it. I have canned soups, vegetables, fruits, jellies, broths, sauces and many other things. I love the clear instructions that came with it as I was a novice when I first purchased it. It is very heavy when full of water. But I love that I am able to can pint, quart, and jelly sized jars. It made my life a lot easier, healthier, and saved me money in the food department. There were times when I’d stubble upon a friend getting rid of a crate of peaches or apples. I hate food waste. Now I can do something about it. I am looking into buying one for a friend now.

I love canning, but in the past have used Maid of Honor and National-brand canners - sturdy ware produced in the USA. I'm having trouble finding the right seals for these (the Prestos that are supposed to work are an inch too long) and decided to buy a newbie. Even though I can regularly, I was still a little reluctant, because of reviews where the gauge flew off. What I really wanted was an All American, but it just wasn't financially feasible, so this was the happy compromise. Before use, I read through the instruction booklet twice before I used it, because this canner is a little different than the ones I'm used to. If you haven't used this type or brand, definitely read through it carefully and follow the prep instructions before you begin. Quality Obviously, this is a newer item and not nearly as heavy as the older canners, or as extra sturdy as the All American. However, it is heavy-duty enough to do its job for more than just a few pressure canning sessions. The lighter version is MUCH easier to carry around than the older versions. This model has plastic handles. My older canners have wood handles - which I LOVE. They are much sturdier than plastic; however, I'm a realist. This is 2010 and you won't be able to find a new model with wood handles. If you want something super heavy duty, then bypass the cheaper models and get an All American, because you won't be happy otherwise. If you are on a budget, this is definitely worth a look. Seal I LOVE the seal with this canner! It is super heavy duty - much thicker than other seals I've used. It is about half an inch wide and fits snugly in the cap. I'm assuming it's thicker because this canner is tall - holds up to 20 pints - and it needs a heavier seal. Whatever the reason, it is terrific. The thicker size makes it easier to fit into the lid. It is a nightmare to try to fit the thin seals in the thin areas on other canners. I hope this seal is heavy duty enough not to wear out quickly. I will keep you posted on that as I finish up my canning season. Regulator I didn't really care for how the pressure regulator just sat on top of the vent pipe. To me, that is just a little dangerous. However, after using, I can see that it works. It sits loosely on top - easy to pull off and on. However, if you turn it slightly, it somehow catches on the vent pipe. It's still loose, but slightly more secure. If you watch your pressure, you would have no problems with it coming off. What confused me is that the black knob turns - which is typical for canners that allow you to regulate pressure by releasing steam AND changing the amount of heat used. However, the book says nothing about being able to turn this knob to release steam - and the regulator sits too loosely on the top to be able to turn the knob. It would definitely help regulate the pressure to release steam slowly. I plan to contact Presto to ask them about this - and look through the book one more time to be sure I didn't miss something. Ease of Use Again, I read through the booklet carefully a few times before I used this canner. I use a gas range and found it tough to keep the pressure regulated, even when I turned the heat all the way down. I had to sit with it the whole time - but was prepared for that. When canning, you cannot do much else but watch the pressure gauge. It sealed up quickly and pressurized fast. I love the lines on the inside that show how much water you need. Makes it a no-brainer for those intense canning days. The lid is also easy to put on. I only use these for canning foods in jars. I never use them for pressure cooking food. However, there are instructions for that as well in the book. Please note: It says not to use on gas stoves above 12,000 BTUs. Also, do not use on glass top ranges Overall Thoughts For the price, the Presto canner is worth a look. So far, I'm pleased with the purchase and plan to keep you posted on how it works out. You just never know until you get a few years into it.

This was one of the best purchases! We have had this canner for a year, used it for water bath and pressure canning. All of our canning has turned out safe and delicious!

I purchased the Presto 01781 Pressure Canner and Cooker a few months ago, and I am absolutely thrilled with its performance! As someone who loves canning and cooking in bulk, this 23-quart silver beauty has quickly become an essential part of my kitchen. Size & Capacity: The 23-quart capacity is perfect for canning large batches of vegetables, fruits, and meats. I can easily fit multiple jars in one go, saving time and effort. The size is ideal for both small and big canning projects, making it versatile for different needs. Build Quality: The construction of this pressure canner is solid. The heavy-gauge aluminum ensures even heating and is built to last. The sleek silver finish is a nice touch, and it looks great sitting on my stovetop. Ease of Use: Using this pressure canner is straightforward, even for someone who is new to canning. The pressure gauge is easy to read, and the instructions provided are clear and detailed. The safety features, like the locking lid and pressure release valve, give me peace of mind while using it. Performance: This canner does an outstanding job of maintaining a consistent pressure level, which is crucial for safe canning. My jars seal perfectly every time, and I haven’t encountered any issues with spoilage. It also doubles as a pressure cooker, which is fantastic for cooking large quantities of food quickly and efficiently. Value for Money: Given its performance, build quality, and versatility, the Presto 01781 is a great value for money. It's a worthwhile investment for anyone serious about canning or looking to speed up their cooking process. Final Thoughts: The Presto 01781 Pressure Canner and Cooker has exceeded my expectations. It's durable, reliable, and easy to use. Whether you're an experienced canner or just starting, this pressure canner is a must-have. Highly recommended!

This canner will hold: 24 regular half pints 16 wide mouth half pints 20 regular pint sized jars (name brand) 16 wide mouth pints 18 regular pint sized jars (generic) 7 regular or wide mouth quarts 4 half gallon jars Dimensions: 15" high x 12" wide It fits on my stove and clears the hood above it. It does not fit in my cabinets, even with the lid flipped over. It takes up less space on the stove top than my BWB canner so i have more room for other things. It is not necessary to have an extra rack in order to stack jars. Just make sure that the second layer is resting on top of the bands and not on the lids themselves. However, I did purchase the extra rack. The rack also fit into my BWB canner which is great because the old wire rack is completely rusted and needed to be replaced. Canning Rack Link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000LNY6T2/ref=cm_cr_asin_lnk Also purchased the Presto Pressure Canner Pressure Regulator (50332) because I don't have any way to have my dial gauge tested. I relied on the regulator to make sure the pressure was constant. The dial gauge read 12 lbs consistently and that was fine by me. Close enough to where i needed it to be so i feel confident the gauge isn't far off but i won't be canning without the regulator. It was really nice to be able to use the dial gauge and the regulator together. Regulator Link: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000HMBVQ8/ref=cm_cr_asin_lnk The directions say to remove the canner from the burner and this was a little difficult. I have had several abdominal surgeries over the years and at times, it is difficult to lift heavy items. I wouldn't want to lift the canner over and over but there are hours in between loads so it isn't impossible. DO NOT let jars cool in the canner overnight. This causes flat sour and it is disgusting. I am 5'4" so reaching in and out of the canner while it's on the stove isn't difficult. My mother is 5'0" and she would be able to do it too but it would be easier with a small step stool or something as small as a couple of bricks. Because it can be used as a water bath canner, i will probably be getting rid of my really old blue speckled canner. DO NOT stack pint jars when using as a BWB canner. The instructions say that you can't process quarts this way but this pot is taller than my BWB canner. So use your own judgement. The directions are well written and easy to follow. I followed them exactly and i had no siphoning and all of my jars sealed. In the past i had issues with siphoning and this time the only change i made was keeping the kitchen windows closed. For those that are afraid of their canner "exploding", there is an overpressure plug. Should too much pressure build up inside the canner, the rubber plug will pop out and relieve the pressure. No explosions, just an un-processed batch of jars. DO NOT use this canner on an induction stove. For that you need a pot that is either all steel, or has steel insert in the base. Do not use pressure canner on an outdoor LP gas burner or gas range over 12,000 BTU's. There is a line of caution about this in the instructions. An additional "Caution" page is included with the directions: Do not use pressure canner on any outdoor heat source such as a gas burner for a turkey fryer. This type of burner will soften the canner causing the bottom to warp. It may also result in property damage and/or personal injury. In addition, the food may not be safely processed. Service and Parts Information: Call 1-800-877-0441 weekdays 8:00 am to 4:30 pm (central time) Email through website at [...] Write: National Presto Industries, Inc. Consumer Service Department 3925 M Hastings Way, Eau Claire, WI 54703-3703 Your canner model number is inside the canner in case you lose the information. The instructions also include information on where to send canner for repair. I think i answered all of the questions i had before i made my purchase.

Item was in perfect condition upon receipt. Nothing was damaged, and everything that was supposed to come with it was included. THIS ONLY COMES WITH A 15 LB PRESSURE REGULATOR WEIGHT. DEPENDING ON YOUR ALTITUDE THAT MAY BE TO MUCH. THAT IS A SEPERATE PURCHASE SO FIND OUT IF YOU NEED IT BEFORE YOU GET STARTED WITH THE PRESSURE CANNING PROCESS. My altitude requires that I needed a 10 lb weight, but I did quite a bit of research before I got started and discovered this early. They sell an adjustable weight on here for about $20 that is a little tricky to get adjusted to 10 lbs but did the job as well. Finally got to use the product yesterday and other than being a little time consuming the setup was easy and I did 4 quarts of chicken. All indications of the finished product check the mark, but I guess I won't really know until I eat it. Before you get started on the canning journey do plenty of research and read the enclosed manual thoroughly. AI is a great tool for learning usage and recipes. For the sake of your sanity and time get a good idea of the process looks like from start to finish, and plan to set aside about 4 hours. Would have given this 5 stars if it had come with the weight that I needed. This is a problem a lot of people have if you read through the comments. Also, you will need a kit that comes with a jar lifter, funnel, headspace measuring tool, etc.

I’m so excited to learn to Pressure Can using this UL certified pressure canner! I’m thrilled to learn how to store chicken broth in a shelf-stable way, because having the broth take up half of my freezer isn’t working for me anymore! Plus, the Pressure Canner cost far less than a new freezer would! And takes up less space!

I just received my unit and although I have not used the unit, I have read the book completely and called presto and they say there's no need to have the gauge checked. If it's new, it's ready go to, just follow the cleaning instructions on page 6 and 7 of the book. They also state there's no reason to buy another 15lb rocker because it comes with one. I ordered the extra rocker for $12 but the unit came last night and has a 15lb rocker in it. Pressure regulator would be the better more proper term, not rocker. I also work in the air pressure industry for a living and we rarely test our gauges unless something obvious is happening and we have variable testing at our facility that goes from 10psi to 300 psi, which that kind of pressure can be dangerous. So I'm not sure why people think they need to get their gauge tested. Even if the gauge is faulty, the rocker is going to rock at 15lbs and never let the pot get higher than this. Additionally, the books states there is a vent pipe (page4) is the "primary pressure relief valve and will release pressure in excess of 15 pounds. The pressure regulator sits loosely on the vent pipe." That's a quote. So this unit is designed to be at 15 lbs or below which the pot can handle. I'm not sure why anyone would blow the lid off unless they rolled their rubber ring, their ring was old or not seated properly or the top was not locked. Again, I haven't used the unit yet, and will follow up soon with a review on that, but from my perspective, I'm going to can tomatoes over the next couple of days and that is 11 lbs of pressure which means I will need my gauge and my rocker should never rock. I have to play with the heat to find where my stove dial holds the pot at 11 lbs and make sure I never see the pressure regulator move or that means the pot has reached 15 lbs. ?? Some of these reviews were confusing and also caused me to buy a 15 lb regulator that came with the unit. It seems unnecessary. ?? Sure seems it's ready to go out of the box, no need to check or buy another item. Okay, I went home and used it last night. I have updates. First, this is a great unit. I can't imagine anyone blowing the lid off if you align it and lock it down. I filled it with water, put it on and ran it up to 15 lbs of pressure. On my stove it took 19 minutes to get there but that's going to vary. I think I understand why people suggest getting the variable weight. In my case, I can a lot of tomatoes. I need this at 10-11 pounds for 15 minutes. I either have to play with the heat setting on my stove to get it to stay at 10-11 pounds, while keeping an eye on it, OR if you buy the rocker weight that is 5-10-15 lbs, you can take it apart, make it a 10 lb rocker and just set it and forget it. I see the logic but don't think that makes buyin the other part necessary, it just saves a little time. Plus, for tomatoes, they suggest 11 lbs. If you are anal and want 11, the variable weight can't do that. if you don't mind 10-11 pounds, no big deal. Either way, I didn't take my cooker to have the gauge tested, This is ready to go out of the box. Just make sure and put a little oil on the ring to keep it in good shape and you might just want to have a back up ring on hand as the unit ages so that on that weekend you want to can, if the ring splits, you slide the new one in and keep going. Great unit and it's HUGE! I love it. Another update...this baby is getting a good workout. Canned a bunch of sauce last night, working on more as I type. We bought the additional weight/rocker that you can make 5-10-15 pounds. Put it at 10 pounds and let it pressure for 16 minutes. Gets the tomato sauce in the jars up to 240 degrees killing all that might be present. Great pressure canner. Highly recommend. Again, still don't understand how anyone could blow the lid off if you align this properly. No blown lids here. Just gotta read the book and use it properly I think. Another update - well, we've done 7 gallons of roma tomato sauce, 5 quarts a session and this pressure canner is great. It's so easy to lock the lid. I've also realized it has a special lock that when pressure starts to build, but even before it can be read on the gauge, the lock pops up and there's no way you can open this canner with pressure so no danger. I will say that when my 16 minutes at 11 lbs for tomato sauce are up, I take a kitchen knife and lean the pressure rocker over to let the steam out quickly. Within 4-5 minutes, all the pressure has bleed out, the lock goes back down and I take the lid off. This is not in the book, but I was just dying to see how the jars looks. As I took them out, they were still boiling and we put a laser temp gauge on them and they were reading 210-215. Given the heat was turned off over 4-5 minutes ago, it's reasonable to assume it was indeed up to 240 which is what is needed to kill all the stuff for tomato sauce. Keep in mind, this is different for every food, for every size and for every elevation. So read the book for your food and it will tell you what to do. I recommend citric acid as well as the adjustable pressure regulator (rocker) and a canning kit, particularly to get the jars out. Taking them out at 215 degrees is careful business. But it's cool to see them boiling inside the jars. And within 10 minutes, they are down to 160 which is when the 'tinning' or vacuming starts. As you know, the cooling is what causes the air tight seal, not the pressure canning. Pressure canning is to raise the temp up high enough to kill all the germs, when you take them out, they do the tinning sounds and you can hear all the tops going ting, ting.....ting...then you know you are getting a great seal!

Ainda não usei.. Quando usar, deixo uma nota sobre o produto. Usei, e é perfeita! Um enlatador de pressão mais que completo ! Cozinha com perfeição, e faz o vácuo direitinho. Aprovei o resultado. Recomendo a compra. É uma cultura que deveria ser mais praticada aqui no Brasil, mais falada inclusive.

Perfect ... nice and big for sterilising 1 litre jars. The trivet is nice and stable. Works great on my electric stove top

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I have a 40yr old Presto canner that has bulged on the bottom so I bought a new one. The old one only had the jiggle weight and I thought the pressure gauge would be an improvement but I found the gauge to be a pain to deal with. Initially I thought there was something wrong with the gauge because I had to constantly adjust the stove element setting and still could not maintain a consistent pressure. I figured it might be the stove controller, so I replaced it and that was much better but still had to fiddle with the settings to maintain a constant pressure. For my elevation I am supposed to pressure can at 12psi and the this canner only comes with a 15 lb weight. My old one had an adjustable weight, 5lbs, 10lbs or 15lbs. I read that higher pressures could overcook foods so I made my own 2.5lb weight to add to the old 10lb juggler weight and now it is a breeze to maintain pressure. Very happy with this canner and expect it will last as long as the last one. One word of advise: on the 3rd use the pressure valve that pops up did not seal and was spewing steam the whole time it was building pressure. I shut it down and discovered the knurled part on the bottom of the valve had come loose and that was the problem. I hand tightened it as hard as I could and it has been fine since then. This was not mentioned in the owners manual as something that should be checked, so I thought it would be good to post and maybe help someone else that might experience this issue. Otherwise very happy with the new 23Q canner.

Excelente material, llevo ya un año o mas usandolo y sin problema en su funcionamiento