Water bath or pressure cooker method

[callmaker60]

This past season was my first for canning, tomatoes, and I made dill pickles.
So many sites suggestion water bath, then some pressure cooker method.
I guess I am asking is one better than the other, and go with that one system, or use both depending on what I am canning?

 

[Dawgluver]

A pressure canner and a pressure cooker are two different animals.

I prefer my waterbath and my steam canners. They're for use with high acid produce, not for meat or fish. Jams, jellies, pickles, tomatoes all can be waterbathed.

 

[Steve Kroll]

It's not really a matter of "one or the other."

The water bath method can only be used for high acid foods (for example, pickles).

A pressure canner can be used for all canning. It generates much higher temperatures than a water bath.

 

[dcSaute]

This past season was my first for canning, tomatoes, and I made dill pickles.
So many sites suggestion water bath, then some pressure cooker method.
I guess I am asking is one better than the other, and go with that one system, or use both depending on what I am canning?

seriously, before anything un-nice happens, go here, read the _whole_ booklet.

National Center for Home Food Preservation | USDA Publications

it tells you the hows and the whys - and the reason(s) recommended procedures have changed.

 

[jennyema]

Yes a pressure cooker and a pressure canner are different things

 

[Bookbrat]

I second dc's advice. If you're really interested the ncfhfp has a free self-paced canning course that's the same info that I got in a Master Food Preserver course.

Botulism is rare, but it only took listening to an audio tape of a woman who lived through it to make me a believer. Veggies (not pickled) and meat need to get to 240F to kill the bad buggies. Tomatoes are borderline...they can be water bathed but the processing time is longer. It depends on how you like to work. Pressure canning is faster but you have to wait for the pressure to drop. Water bath takes longer but you can prep a second batch and put the jars in as soon as the first batch is done. Six of one. ....