Once you learn how to use a pressure canner, you’ll be amazed at the kinds of meals you can set aside in your food pantry.

Learning how to use a pressure canner can be a nerve wracking experience. But, once you get used to it, you will become much more comfortable with using your canner.

I’ve been using a pressure canner for years. And yes, I was really nervous when I was learning. And that’s OK! 

How to Use a Pressure Canner

If you’ve never canned a single thing in your life, I would really suggest you start by learning how to can using a water bath canner.

It is the easiest way to learn how to safely can food at home. And there are a lot of different foods like fruits, jams, jelly, and pickles that can safely be water bath canned.

Although some foods can be safely canned in a water bath canner, other foods NEED to be canned using a pressure canner.

These include food like any kind of meat or fish. Soups, stews and chili are just some of the foods that need to be pressure canned. 

Canning Food Safely

Food safety is so important to me and it should be important to you too. You never want to open a jar of home canned food and have to wonder if it is good to eat.

Sometimes you can see signs of spoilage, but sometimes you cannot. You don’t want to feed anyone food that has not been safely canned.

These concerns have made me very particular about how I go about canning and storing food.

I take ZERO shortcuts, I make sure my equipment is clean and my canning lids and seals are in good shape.

When I look at my stocked pantry, filled with home canned foods like lamb stew, green beans, carrots, beets, pickles, jams, jellies and a lot of other items, I get such a sense of pleasure.

Pleasure because I know exactly what is (and what isn’t) in my home canned food. A true sense of satisfaction because I love the look of all those pretty jars on the shelf.

And I know I can feed my family good healthy food that is safe to eat.

Are you as careful as I am when it comes to preserving food? If not, you should be!

Never take a chance – it is not worth it if someone you love gets sick, or even worse, dies from incorrectly canned food tainted by botulism, which is more likely with low-acid foods (like mushrooms, onions, chicken, potatoes, etc). 

Water bath canning is a fine option for foods that are higher in acid (think tomatoes, pickles, fruit), but any pressure-canning recipe that features a low acid food will be better off in a pressure canner.

You can get more information about the differences from sources like the National Center for Home Food Preservation.

What are the Different Types of Pressure Canners?

Pressure Canners – Weighted Gauge or Dial Gauge

There are two different types of gauge canners to choose from. One is a weighted pressure canner and the other is a gauged pressure canner.

Each have their own set of pros and cons. Below are a few key differences between each to help you determine which pressure canner you’d like to use.

How to Use a Pressure Canner with a Weighted Gauge

The weighted gauge pressure canner can release any pressure that goes above your desired pressure level. The downside is that a weighted gauge cannot measure the pressure.

It simply keeps track of what level you want the pressure at and keeps it at that pressure.

A weighted gauge will fit over the air vent tube and jiggle to release the steam as the pressure starts to go above your desired pressure level.

You need some way to monitor pressure because canning at too low of pressure can result in food that won’t be canned well enough for long term storage.

Key Features of the Weighted Gauge Canner

• Regulates the pressure inside your canner.
• The open vent is the same one that fits the pressure regulator.
• Continuously allows air to be released to maintain pressure.
• Doesn’t need you to check for accuracy, in fact, you can’t check it.
• Not as flexible with adjustments as the dial gauge pressure canner.

Here’s a good quality weighted gauge pressure canner – over 1400 reviews for you to research.

How to Use a Dial Gauge Canner

The dial gauge pressure canner lid has a dial that allows you to monitor, measure, and change the pressure during the process of pressure canning. This looks similar to a knob you’d see on your kitchen stove.

The dial gauge has a needle that shows you where the temperature is during the process of canning.

A dial gauge pressure canner will allow you to measure the pressure during the process of pressure canning.

This is an excellent option for someone starting off with pressure canning because they can see the pressure and have a bit more control as they learn the process of pressure canning.

Key Features of the Dial Gauge Pressure Canner

• Features the pressure inside, displays this for you to see during the processing time.
• Must be checked regularly to ensure accurate pressure is maintained.
• More flexibility than a weighted gauge.
• Has dead weight to close or open vent for pressurizing.

Here’s a good quality dial gauge pressure canner for the price. Over 8,000 reviews – go over and take a look!

If you’ve always wondered how to preserve your own food, this guide has all the tips you need!

The Process of Pressure Canning

The purpose of knowing how to properly use this canner is so that you’re able to feel confident about serving your family food that’s been stored properly.

Pressure canning helps preserve your harvest so that it has a longer shelf life for storage in your pantry or other food storage space.

Here are some tips and must-know parts of pressure canning to help guide you in canning and storing food properly. 

Clean the pressure canner and make sure it’s working properly. Make sure all of the vent pipes are clear and free of mineral build-up.

Check the manufacturer’s directions on appropriate burners, but generally speaking, you’ll want to make sure your gas range doesn’t go over 12,000 BTUs.

Place your cleaned pressure canner in the center of the burner. Put the rack and hot water inside your pressure canner.

If you don’t have an exact measurement for how much hot water for the food you’re about to can, just make sure it’s 2-3 inches high in the canner.

Some foods, like smoked fish, require more water. This is because meat and fish need to be canned for 100 minutes and you don’t want the canner to run out of water.

Be sure to check with USDA requirements on how much water is needed for the food you’re planning to can before starting.

• For hot packed foods you’ll want to bring the water inside your pressure canner to 180 degrees Fahrenheit.
• For cold packed foods you’ll need to bring the water inside your pressure canner to about 140 degrees Fahrenheit.

 

Loading the Canner

Get your canning jars ready with the food inside, lids and bands secured.

Take a look at this post which shows you what to do to prepare your jars for canning.

This will be what we refer to as “fitted jars” in the next step of the pressure canning process.

You’ll fill the jars with food leaving about half to one-inch headspace between the food and the lid of the canning jar. Screw the lids on tight.

Next, you’ll place your fitted jars on the jar rack in your pressure canner. You should use a jar lifter during this process and keep the jar lifter securely positioned below the ring band of the lid.

Always keep the jar upright to avoid food or liquid spillage during the process.

Start to steam your fitted cans for ten minutes. You’ll turn the heat on high, if not already on high, and leave the vent pipe or petcock open.

When you see steam beginning to escape from the pressure canner, you’ll want to start the timer for 10 minutes.

You’ll need to put the weighted gauge on or close the petcock, depending on which pressure canner you’re using.

Always wear a heavy oven glove when you do this! Protect yourself from the steam coming from the canner.

• Adding Weights to the Pressure Canner
  • Read the recipe and instructions for canning this particular food to know which measurement of weights you’ll place on your regulator.

 

Building Pressure in the Canner

The pressure canner will begin to pressurize now, once it reaches the appropriate pressure level, you’ll begin timing based on how long the food needs to be pressure canned for.

If you’re using a weighted gauge you’ll know when the pressure has reached optimal pressure when the weighted gauge starts to jiggle or rock.

Pay close attention to keeping the pressure at the recommended level for the food as per USDA guidelines to ensure safe food storage.

Once the pressure canning process is complete, it’s time to safely remove the pressure canner from the heat. Allow the pressure canner to cool naturally.

Forced cooling may cause your food to spoil thus ruining food and having to start the entire process over.

Note: It usually takes longer for the pressure canner to cool down than beginners seem to think! Just let it cool on its own, at least one hour. 

Older canners will need you to be more careful about removing the weighted gauge once the pressure canner is cooled, as some steam may still roll out.

Newer pressure canners will have a lid lock that unlocks once the pressure canner is cool enough to open.

Removing Jars from the Canner

Use a jar lifter to remove each of the cans from your pressure canner one by one, being mindful to keep your jars upright to avoid food spillage.

Place the jars on a towel or cooling rack with at least one inch spacing between each jar. Don’t crowd your jars!

Now is the time to leave the canning jars alone for 24 hours so that they can cool completely. Once the jars are cooled completely, you can handle the process of making sure the bands are removed and the middle of the lid is pushed down to fully seal your food.

If you find that some of the cans wouldn’t seal properly, place them aside or in your fridge and use these cans first.

It’s best to be safe than sorry when it comes to pressure canning the food you’ll be eating and serving to your family!

Most Common Pressure Canning Mistakes

There are some common pressure canning mistakes that people make during their first time with this process.

As a means to help you have a successful batch of pressure canned food, I wanted to give you a list of common mistakes to help you avoid making them during the process of pressure canning:

• Not adjusting the pressure canner timer and pressure due to higher altitude. If you live more than 1000 feet above sea level, you’ll need to adjust the pressure and add more time to the process. Check your manual.
• Overfilling the jars. You need to leave about half to one-inch space in the jars between the top of your food and the rim of the jar.
• Using cracked or chipped canning jars. Inspect your canning jars before use for any minor or major damages. Only used canning jars that are free of cracks and chips.
• Not using enough water in the water bath. The jars must have at least 1-2 inches of water surrounding them inside the pressure canner to ensure safe food canning.
• Not letting the pressure canner cool naturally. It’s important you leave the pressure canner alone until it naturally depressurizes before doing anything with your cans that are inside.

FAQs about Pressure Canning

Can You Use a Pressure Canner on a Glass Top Stove?

Sometimes. It depends on the make and model of your stove.

We do our pressure canning on a propane burner on our front porch. We have a glass topped stove and some glass stoves are not equipped to handle a pressure canner.

Since we have the ability to do our canning outdoors, we  just don’t want to take the chance using the stove.

Check your stove manual and if in doubt, use one of these propane burners instead. 

Bonus: Canning outdoors keeps your kitchen and house much cooler in the summer.

How Much Water to put in a Pressure Canner?

 You need to have at least 2 inches of water in your pressure canner. The one thing you do NOT want to happen is to run your pressure canner dry!

So put in extra – as an example when we can meat (remember, 100 minutes at 15 lb pressure here for us), we add 4 1/2 quarts of water to the canner.

Where to Buy a Pressure Canner?

You can buy a pressure canner on Amazon. Take a look at the number of reviews and take the time to read through some of the reviews.

The best pressure canner companies are:

• All American pressure canners
• Mirro pressure canners
• Presto pressure canners

These are all good quality pressure canning brands.

Is a Pressure Cooker the same as a Pressure Canner?

No, a pressure canner and a pressure cooker are NOT the same thing. However, you can use a pressure canner as a pressure cooker.

You can NOT safely use a pressure cooker as a pressure canner.

Food we Can Using a Pressure Canner

• Read about how I home can salmon to learn the process I use for using the pressure canner.
• If you want to learn how to can food using a water bath canner, check out this post on canning cherries.
• After reading these posts, think seriously about buying a canning book. The Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving is a really good resource.

If you are going to can anything with meat in it, it MUST be pressure canned.

I’ve had my pressure canner for over 10 years and it still works great. I’m replacing the gasket this year and ordered it through Amazon.

So, if you’re new to the idea of preserving your own food, don’t be afraid. If I can do it, you can too. Just remember to always think of Safety First!

Now that you know how to use a pressure canner, it’s time to get started canning!

By the end of this year’s harvest, you will be able to put your own home canned jars of great food in your pantry. 

More Articles about Food Preservation:

• Want a list of every article about how to preserve food that is on the site? 
• Want to find out how I go shopping all winter long without even leaving my house?
• Here are the 4 Ways we Store and Preserve Food.
• Learn the many ways to store home canned food here.

Are you new to the idea of self sufficiency? Here is how to get started providing for your family by growing your own food and raising some of your own meat!

 

originally published August 2017; last updated August 2022

I had to go down to the cold room yesterday to put away a few more filled canning jars. And I realized it is a mess down there! I really needed some kind of printable canning inventory checklist to keep track of our food storage.

I needed a canning list that I can keep in the kitchen and just make a new note every time we can some more food for the pantry. 

 

 

Free Printable Canning Inventory Checklist

I made something yesterday that will help me so much with knowing exactly what is in my canning room. 

And I want to tell you about it so you can download your own free printable canning checklist!

 

Ever year, we can jar after jar of fruits, vegetables and fish including:

• pickles
• jams
• jellies
• sauerkraut
• berries
• tomato sauce
• all kinds of vegetables
• salsa

and other food as well. So it doesn’t take long to forget exactly how many jars of beans I still have on hand. 

 

 

Pantry Organization

I love it when my food storage is well organized. I have my cases of empty mason jars stacked in quarts, pints and half pints.

One stack is quarts, another pints, and so on. Usually I keep the boxes of empty jars on one side of the (very small) room.

This helps me know, at a glance, how many empty jars I have on hand. Do I need to buy more? I can tell with one look.

On the other side of the room we have strong shelves along the length of the wall.

On these shelves are the boxes of full jars, labelled on the outside. I usually just tape a labelled paper on the outside with the contents of the boxes.

That way, it makes it easy to reuse the same boxes, just rip of the label and put a new one on when needed.

So I do start out organized. It just never stays that way.

Over the course of the year, it always ends up that full jars get mixed in with empty jars.

And I really needed a better system to keep track of my jar totals.

This canning inventory chart is really going to help me organize our food storage better. And I’d love for it to help you too!

 

Sign up for our newsletter and

download your own copy of my printable

Canning Inventory Checklist

 

 

 

How I can Benefit from my Canning Checklist

 

Every time I finish a pressure canning session, I will just add it right away to the inventory list. 

And when I do water bath canning and end up with more jars of pickles, I can add that to the list!

There’s 6 columns set up – item, how many jars and I’ve included the size of the canning jars.

Since I’m using pencil, I can update the amount when I need to.

This checklist can be a great balance with your canning goals at the beginning of the season. What’s left to can?

Do we need another 12 jars of chicken broth?

 

 

 

Download your copy of this Canning checklist and get your canning organized!

 

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Sign up here and then download your

Free printable Canning Inventory Checklist!

 

 

Looking for Canning articles?

 

Here are links to every article about food preservation on this site.

 

 

Want to be able to stock up food for emergencies? Have a garden and want to know what to do when you have a surplus harvest?

Or maybe you just want to know how to stretch your food and reduce food waste. Either way, preserving food could be the solution you’re looking for. Check out this post for some great tips on home food preservation.

Preserving Food: What You Need to Know About Freezing, Canning, and Pickling Food

What Does it Mean to Preserve Food?

Preserving food is, to put it simply, a way to keep your food lasting longer – without spoiling.

You accomplish this by using a variety of methods to essentially stop, slow down, or otherwise control the rate at which the food spoils.

But that’s not all! You also have to follow measures to make sure the food is safe to eat according to the National Center for Home Food Preservation (i.e. you won’t get food poisoning or, in extreme cases, even botulism).

Lastly, you would ideally preserve it in a way that retains as much of the flavor and nutritional value as possible. 

In other words, food preservation is the act of making food last longer while still tasting good and being good for you!

What Are the Benefits of Preserving Food?

Stretch Your Food Longer

As I mentioned above, the primary goal of food preservation is making your food last longer. Which means you get more bang for your proverbial buck.

Whether you spent money on food at the grocery store or put in work growing it in your own garden, I think we would all prefer to get the most out of our food.

Preserving your food is a great way to do that! You may not always be able to eat your food in a short period of time, so preserving it makes it readily available for when you can eat it. 

Stretch Your Budget

It’s simple math: stretching your food means you’re also stretching your budget. That’s always a good thing, right?

We’ve been doing this for quite some time, so a lot of the time, we do our “grocery shopping” from our supply of preserved food.

Curious about how that works? Check out this article I wrote on how I shop for groceries without having to leave our home.

Obviously, you may not be able to do this (or even want to), but I believe that every dollar saved matters!

 

Avoid Artificial Preservatives

When you take the time to preserve your food at home, you’re actually doing your family a favor.

By preserving food yourself, you’re able to avoid the artificial preservatives that you usually find in commercially-processed foods. That, my friend, is a huge benefit!

Food for Emergencies

What do natural disasters, viral outbreaks, and economic upheavals all have in common? They often result in people not having access to the things we need to survive.

Food is the top thing on that list. 

Whenever we know that a natural disaster is about to strike, the main priority most of us have is getting to the grocery store to load up on food and water.

If you start preserving food at home, when things like this happen, you won’t have to worry as much as other people. 

In the words of the Boy Scouts of America: “Be Prepared” (By the way, you should check out my article on Winter Pantry Essentials).

 

Enjoy Your Favorite Foods Out-of-Season

It’s a fact of life that different fruits and veggies are in their prime at different times of year. So, sometimes, you really want your favorite, but it’s out of season.

Your options are to either wait until they’re in season or to pay extra because it’s more expensive when it has to be shipped from some other part of the world. 

What if you didn’t have to wait, though? What if , when you’re craving that food, you can simply head to your pantry and whip out a jar of it? That’s what preserving food can do for you!

 

Food Preservation is Good for the Environment

Another benefit of food preservation is that it can help you reduce the amount of food that you throw away.

Reusing jars and bottles that would have otherwise ended up in a landfill is also helpful for the environment. 

Unique Gifts

Ok, so this isn’t really a top priority benefit, but it’s still worth mentioning that people really appreciate thoughtful gifts. They also generally love food

Preserving food can be a great way to give your loved ones gifts that check both boxes. A cute and tasty jar of homemade jam could be the perfect gift for someone with a sweet tooth

And for the pickle lovers, you could give them a variety pack of pickled veggies for them to snack on. Plus, you save money on the gift. It’s a win all around!

 

What Are the Best Methods for Preserving Food?

When it comes to food preservation methods, there are definitely several viable options. Let’s talk about my three favorite methods.

Freezing Food

Freezing veggies is probably the easiest and most accessible method of the three simply because almost everyone already has a freezer in their home.

You don’t really need many materials other than some quality plastic freezer bags (for storage) and a marker or label maker (for keeping track of when they were initially placed in the freezer).

Every single year, I blanch and freeze garden peas – and so can you! Here is an article that can walk you through the process, step-by step. 

And here’s how I freeze leafy greens – spinach, chard, kale, beet greens – they can all be frozen and preserved this way.

This works great for preparing smoothie greens for the coming week.

Veggies aren’t the only things you can freeze, though! I also freeze fruit all the time (which makes it easy for me to whip up a batch of my no-cook strawberry jam).

Freeze drying herbs is a great way to keep them fresh. I love being able to make basil pesto, so I sometimes freeze basil to have on hand.

I juice up fresh lemons and grapefruits and then freeze citrus juice in jars.

And, of course, you can freeze meat like chicken, fish/seafood, beef, pork, lamb, goat, etc. Try freezing soups and stews to have throughout the year!

 

Hey, if you ever need to defrost a chicken quickly (like for dinner) here’s how!

Canning Food

When done properly (and with the proper tools, which typically involve cans and jars with a proper lid), canning is great at preventing decay for a long period of time.

In fact, a lot of canned foods will easily last for years. I’m writing this in early 2020 and last week we opened a home canned jar of Salsa from 2009!

Delicious! And when you’re like us and grow your own food, it’s really convenient.

After all, there’s only so much room you have in your freezer, but you can almost always find somewhere to stick a few (or several) cans of food. 

When it comes to canning, there are two different methods I recommend. 

 

Water Bath Canning

This method uses hot water and is reserved for high-acid foods. That means things like jams, jellies, fruit preserves, and pickles.

Water bath canning creates a vacuum seal that prevents the food from being exposed to air or other entities that can lead to spoiling or mold growth.

It’s NOT recommended for non-acidic foods (so, no meat/meat stock, non-acidic veggies/veggie stock, fish/seafood, or poultry).

Here are some water canning recipes I’d love for you to try out!

Water Bath Canning Asian Pears

Pears can make a great fruit sauce, pear cobbler, pear crumble, or just a sweet snack. You can also use this method for other fruits like peaches or apricots.

Homemade Canned Salsa

Here are so many things you can do with a nice batch of salsa! And the longer it marinates, the better it tastes!

Water Bath Canning Cherries

These cherries will be perfect for all kinds of baked goodies – including cherry pie, cherry turnovers, and cherry poptarts.

Homemade Tomato Sauce

From pasta to pizza and so many things in between, so many of my favorite recipes call for tomato sauce.

Having some on hand that I know tastes good is one of those small things that makes me happy.

Homemade Sauerkraut

I know it’s not for everyone, but Graham loves a heaping of sauerkraut every now and then. Plus, it’s a great source of probiotics (healthy bacteria).

Dandelion Jelly

Jelly is made in a water bath canner as well. Each Spring I make a few jars of Dandelion Jelly, which is wonderful on crackers with a bit of cream cheese.

Jalapeno Plum Jelly

Spicy and delicious as a spread, this jelly is made with Jalapeno peppers, red and green sweet peppers and lots of fresh plums.

 

Pressure Canning

When it comes to canning all those non-acidic or low-acid foods, you should always go with pressure canning.

That includes meats, poultry, fish/seafood, and most veggies. Root vegetables are typically good candidates. It’s essential that you use this method to properly and safely can these foods.

Below are some articles on pressure canning that you should check out. 

Using a Pressure Canner 

Start here! It will show you how to SAFELY can foods using a pressure canner. 

Canning Salmon

Perfect for salmon burgers, salmon patties, salmon fried rice, and even salmon caesar salad!

Canned Green Beans

Green beans are one of those veggies just you just can’t go wrong with! 

 

Drying and Dehydrating

We do a lot of drying every year here, mostly we dry herbs. Here’s where you can find everything you need to know about drying herbs to use all year.

How to Harvest and Dry Parsley – easy to do and it lasts for months.

How to Dehydrate Apple slices – a great way to preserve apples.

How to Dry Lovage Herb – tastes like celery!

How to Harvest, Dry and Use Stevia – a more natural sugar replacement.

A General Guide to Drying Herbs – more general information.

 

Pickling Food

Pickling is another fantastic food preservation method you can use to preserve food for up to 2 years. 

One of the benefits of pickled foods that the other methods don’t offer is that it offers a unique flavor profile.

That makes it easy for you to add a little bit of zing to meals and snacks. Plus, fermented foods (like kimchi, which is made from cabbage) can often be a fantastic source of nutrients and probiotics.

Most pickled foods are simple to make and require only a few ingredients like vinegar, pickling salt, spices and herbs.

Pickled Eggs

This is a favorite for so many! The health benefits of eggs combined with the big flavor of pickle juice is such a winner. And it makes for fantastic egg salad!

Pickled Garlic Scapes

My family has a garlic farm, so we always have lots of garlic scapes on hand in late June! Pickling them is our go-to.

Sauerkraut

In addition to canning sauerkraut, you can also pickle it. Makes a super fast dinner along with sausage and cole slaw.

Pickled Asparagus

Asparagus is a delicious early spring treat in the north. Have extra or find a great Asparagus sale on at the store?

Then pickle some Asparagus and enjoy in a Caesar or Bloody Mary. Add spears to your pickle tray; wrap some ham around Asparagus spears for an appetizer.

Pickled Fiddleheads

In early Spring, when the fern fronds are growing, you can pick them tightly coiled and make your own homemade Pickled Fiddleheads. This recipe makes two jars full, and you can store them in the fridge for months. Or water bath them so you can leave them on your pantry shelf safely.

Pickled Brussels Sprouts

Try something new and pickle some Brussels Sprouts. Take a look at the recipe; you can store a couple of jars in the fridge or water bath can them.

Easy Pickled Beets

Small beets are the best for pickling; slice larger beets before adding to the jars. Using whole small beets is a great way to thin out the beets in you garden.

And they always have to be thinned, because beets actually grow in a cluster from one seed.

 

What Else Can I Pickle?

There are a number of great foods that work for pickling, some you may not have thought of. Carrots, apples, potatoes, cauliflower, onions, and even pumpkin are all great options to preserve by pickling!

When it comes to storing your jars of food, there are certain things you do need to keep in mind. Find out more about storing home canned food here.

I hope that this helps you to stretch your food and your budget while providing your family with plenty of food to get you through the year. If you have any questions about preserving food, feel free to leave a comment for me below!

Preserving Food