Help ... Pressure Cooker?

[jmeds77]

Hello ... I'm new. I've done jams and jellies but not actually canned for real yet. I've got some tomatos that are almost ready!
So, my Mother In Law got me a 8-Quart Aluminum Pressure COOKER for my birthday so I could can my veggies. I am thinking this is not the right thing. I want a pressure CANNER right? I have heard that you can can in a Cooker but those are larger capacity and higher quality maybe?
Just want to know so I can return it and try not to hurt my MIL's feelings. She has done lots of canning before and has let us borrow her large pressure canner so I don't understand why she got a pressure cooker for me. Please explain.
Jaime

[marigene]

You are right, you can't can in a pressure cooker. But...to do jams and jellies you only need one of those blue enamel canners with a rack to do a hot water bath.

[mcnerd]

If the cooker is still in the box, etc., see if you can take it back to the store and exchange it for a Canner. You may have to pay a few dollars more.

Cookers have a thinner construction and designed to heat up and cool down quickly. Canners on the other hand need a steady temperature and cool down slowly. They also have a 3-weight rocker for different pressures. Do not get a canner with a pressure gauge. Too many headaches using those.

Many people do not understand the difference between a cooker and a canner other than the size of them. Don't fault her.

[expatgirl]

you are so lucky to have so many tomatoes that you are going to can some.........good luck....just exchange it....she won't care....it's the thought that counts........

[faye_arv]

I disagree with you, you can can in a pressure cooker. It has to be done in a jar. Leave some space at the top of the jar (about 2 fingers worth) since it will boil over some. Add water in the pressure cooker, add the jars close and cook. I have more detailed instructions if you want. That's how we do it here in Greece anyway.

[mcnerd]

You can disagree all you want, but its not safe and if you took the time to research it you would know that too.

[Michael in FtW]

Jaime,

Don't know what brand/model pressure "cooker" you got (you didn't share that info with us) - and it doesn't help not knowing where you live (you didn't include any location information in your user profile - not even what country you live in) but if you are in the US or Canada and if it is only advertised on the box as being a presure COOKER - I wouldn't try to use it for canning. You can pressure cook in a pressure CANNER ... so some are marked as pressure COOKER/CANNERs or CANNER/COOKERs.

In reference to the pressure cookers sold here in the US,McNerd was right about the part, "Cookers have a thinner construction and designed to heat up and cool down quickly. Canners on the other hand need a steady temperature and cool down slowly". Pressure canning recipes in the US are based on times and pressures in a pressure canner - the foods will be under-processed using those recipes/guidelines using a pressure cooker. Canner/Cookers also usually have slightly different cooking times for pressure cooking than plain pressure cookers.

I also have no idea about the pressure cookers sold in Greece (the UK, Sweden, Germany, Poland, Iraq, Lyberia, Chad, etc.) - or if Greece has an equivalent to our National Center for Home Food Preservation site that might have tested and proven safe methods for pressure canning using the pressure cookers commonly available in Greece. I spent about 30-minutes looking and didn't find one (I might have but it was in Greek), but like you said McNerd, "if you took the time to research it you would know that too."