Difference Between Pressure Cookers and Pressure Canners

What is the difference between a pressure cooker and a pressure canner, and should you use a pressure cooker for home canning? 

For pressure cooking, you can use either a pressure cooker or a pressure canner, but one has an additional function. A pressure cooker is a stove-top or electric appliance used to cook foods under pressure in a fraction of the time required to cook with a regular pot, oven roaster, or cooker. 

What Are Pressure Cookers Used For? 

Pressure cookers can be used to cook numerous types of meat, pasta sauces, and other foods. Because it cooks under pressure, the locking lid has a valve to regulate the amount of pressure in the pot during cooking. Although a pressure canner can be used to cook these foods, it is typically much larger and designed for home food preservation. When the canner is equipped with the same pressure valve as the smaller cooker, it can only be used to can certain high-acid foods. 

Low-acid foods, meats, and fish can only be canned using a canner with a pressure gauge and valve. To ensure food safety when cooking and canning specific foods, monitoring the pressure gauge during the canning process and adjusting the heat to maintain the recommended pressure level for a particular period is necessary. If you are looking for a device to cook under pressure tough cuts of meat or reduce cooking time, you should invest in a pressure cooker — either stovetop or electric. 

A Pressure Cooker That Saves Time 

Buy a pressure cooker/canner with a pressure gauge, not just a pressure valve; if you want to safely process low-acid foods, meats, and fish, you can preserve your garden harvest or other foods. If you enjoy pressure cooking and canning, you can get the best of both worlds by purchasing a pressure cooker/canner (with a pressure gauge) and using it for pressure cooking and canning. As stated previously, pressure canners are very large, cumbersome, and difficult to store. 

It may be inconvenient to pull out a single large piece of cookware for a four-pound roast, even though it may seem like a good idea. Because we enjoy canning and pressure cooking, we have both models, which is something to consider.