Pressure Canner 21.5 qt

5 reviews for Pressure Canner 21.5 qt

1. 

   Rated 4 out of 5

   FatOrangeTabby – October 23, 2021

   Behemoth, a few issues, still worth it.

   This canner is a monster. I was so excited to use it after borrowing my mom’s 12 quart Mirro canner for the past three seasons. I wanted to do two rows of pints, how exciting!Then I put this tank into action and I was immediately lost. The booklet says to add 2-3 inches of water to the canner, but was there supposed to be water covering at least part of the jars on the second tier? The instruction booklet was not clear on this. Perhaps people who have never used a single layer canner wouldn’t even think to ask this, but I was momentarily confused. It was late and I wanted to get started, so I decided to not worry about this. I loaded it up with 18 regular mouth pints (how in the world can it hold NINETEEN, as is suggested on the box and in the manual?) and put the lid on. It took quite awhile to get steam coming out of the vent, but eventually it did. I let it vent for the 7 minutes and then put the weight on. It took forever for it to build 10 pounds of pressure after placing the weight on. I had a hard time regulating the temp on my electric stove to maintain the 1-4 jiggles per minute, but that is understandable with an electric stove. I processed for 15 minutes (tomatoes) and turned off the heat. 45 MINUTES LATER I was still at 5 pounds of pressure according to the gauge, and it was midnight. I did what you are never supposed to do and pulled the weight off before the canner had depressurized. The result was that my jars exploded contents out the top, which was entirely my fault, but still a bummer. Luckily most of them sealed anyway.The moral? Don’t start canning so late that you can’t wait for this thing! But seriously, I was used to a canner half this size, and it was a lot longer process with this larger capacity. I tried another batch the following day with a single layer of jars and it went quicker and better. I still had to wait AN HOUR for it to depressurize, but at least I didn’t do the dumb thing and misuse it again.I’m not sure I made the right choice going with the double layer. Will it really save me time if I have to wait so long between loads? Another bad thing is that I can’t lift this off the burner when it has the water AND the jars in it, even a single layer. It’s too heavy. And I’m not a small woman. This would be absolutely perfect if you were only canning one load per day, because the processing time wouldn’t be an issue in that situation.Another thing worth mentioning is that I had discoloration on the first load. The vent turned black under the weighted gauge, the places where the jars sat on the racks became discolored, and there is a ring on the canner wall where the water level was. I don’t know if this happens to all canners and can be removed or not.Despite all I have said, this canner is very, very nice, and built to last. It’s American made, it doesn’t have pesky gaskets to replace (if you replaced your gasket every 3 years over the span of 30 years, you’d be paying for this!) and I love that it has a weighted gauge (jigglier) AND the pressure gauge that you can read. This means that you don’t have to run the pressure gauge to the extension office every year to be tested for accuracy. This means the maintenance on this appliance will cost you nothing! It is nice that you can use this as a water bath canner if you desire, saving you money and storage space.I think if I had a do-over, I’d buy the smaller model with one tier. On the other hand, for hardcore canners this is great.

   34 people found this helpful
2. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   LP – July 15, 2021

   WORTH EVERY PENNY – 21.5 QT model comes with second rack

   Future Buyers: You do not need to order an extra rack. I have actually not used the pressure cooker I purchased yet, but I have used my friend’s and it works amazingly. Maybe I missed it, but I looked hard to find out how many racks were included with the cooker and I could only find “comes with rack” (seemed like a good indication that there was only one). On top of that when Amazon suggested based on other’s purchases that I buy the canning kit and the additional rack, I figured it was a common need. Sure enough everything arrived and the Pressure Cooker came with two racks, so back my extra rack will go.Three tips from using my friend’s All American Pressure Cooker: 1. Do yourself a favor and go to the All American Pressure Cooker website and watch the video on what constitutes a “jiggle”. 2. Rest assured that the column of steam you are looking for will not be a thick full column of visible steam, but instead means that there is constant flow of air out of the vent. At one point I started to second guess this and kept looking for a thick visible column of steam and it caused me to over-process a couple of batches. 3. I found it helpful to use a ruler (or other guide) to make sure the lid is on evenly. While I could tell if the cover was way off – it would definitely look uneven – it was nice to have something to measure with to be sure.Also, a lot of people wonder what type of range they can use this with. I have a Frigidaire ceramic electric range top I called them and they said since the Pressure Cooker is quality aluminum that it is fine to use. The only worry is with scratching the surface of the range, but it will be a cosmetic issue not a functionality issue.All American Pressure Cooker HAS AMAZING CUSTOMER SERVICE – the hours are all Eastern Time and work hours, so not the most convenient, but they have helped answer so many questions about canning and preserving different items not listed in the booklet that comes with the cooker.

   333 people found this helpful
3. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   K.M.B. – July 6, 2021

   My favorite kitchen appliance!!!!

   This review is written after owning the All American Canner for over one year. I have canned meats, sauces, vegetables, beans, soups, broth, and maybe a few other items in this canner. When I purchased the canner, I watched 1 (one, uno, un) YouTube video on how to can and figured this to be pretty easy. I ordered this canner because of the reviews and the heirloom quality of the equipment. This is definitely an investment piece.I became an intermediate to professional canner based on watching one video and using this canner. I use the National Center for Home Food Preservation website for guidelines. Anyone can do it!!!!If you are looking to homestead, to preserve a harvest, or preserve produce you caught on sale, then you won’t be disappointed in this canner. It’s heavy duty and I can see it yielding batch upon batch of canned foods year after year.Any regrets???…. I wish I’d gotten a larger size.Happy canning!!!!!!

   301 people found this helpful

   

4. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   Brian Plummer – April 20, 2021

   Incredibly well built.

   I purchased a 25 quart All American canner over 3 years ago and in that time I haven’t found a single negative thing to say about it. The seal is perfect and doesn’t require replacing a gasket as it is metal on metal – you only need to keep it clean and follow instructions that come with it. It can fit a large number of jars and easily sterilize and can a lot of stuff at once. The lid locks down very firmly and all the screws and locks are very easy to turn and use. Heat transfers well on my smooth top range and it can get to temperature relatively quickly. I have had no regrets in purchasing it and look forward to decades of canning ahead – another positive, they can last multiple lifetimes.

   One person found this helpful
5. 

   Rated 5 out of 5

   loyalAmazonian – April 11, 2021

   Do your research!

   I bought the 921 canner, named her Monica, and we have already canned 6 cases of jars. This canner is a really beautiful machine – but please do your research. I watched you tube videos and read books and articles and only after I full understood the process did I can for the first time. I started with potatoes (cheap if you mess them up) and had a little difficulty with the seal leaking – it needed to be screwed down tighter, alternating opposite sides at first, then the individual adjustment to fully close. ALWAYS OIL THE RIM to ensure the seal. Follow the careful procedure of checking the valves, cleaning and checking the inside, lining the lid up properly, and adjusting the wing nuts to ensure the lid seal.And give yourself plenty of time. Seems like things go sideways when folks rush the process. Canning takes patience and research. And this awesome, reliable, built to last canner.

   39 people found this helpful