Presto 01781 Pressure Canner and Cooker, 23 qt, Silver

Easy to use. Works very well. Put an ounce of white vinegar in the pot with the water to keep it looking new. I've used mine for all canning. Good maintenance has given us great service.

I've been using this for over a year now, and it's been amazing. The quality is really good and it's the best canner I've used. I checked prices everywhere, and Amazon had the best deal by far. It's all aluminum and works great on my glass-top stove. The thick bottom plate spreads heat evenly, and it easily holds 18 PSI by adjusting the heat. It's way lighter and much quieter than my old All American canner - no loud noise that bothers anyone in the house. I use it almost weekly for canning vegetables, meats, and soups. It holds a lot, heats evenly, and keeps pressure really well. Super simple to use, and cleanup is easy too. If the rubber gasket wears out, it's only $7 to replace. The manual warns not to use it on outdoor propane burners over 12,000 BTU or it'll warp, but on a regular stove, it's perfect. It's held up perfectly with frequent use. Definitely worth the investment and should last me a long time. Highly recommend if you want a solid, no-fuss pressure canner.

I just received my unit and although I have not used the unit, I have read the book completely and called presto and they say there's no need to have the gauge checked. If it's new, it's ready go to, just follow the cleaning instructions on page 6 and 7 of the book. They also state there's no reason to buy another 15lb rocker because it comes with one. I ordered the extra rocker for $12 but the unit came last night and has a 15lb rocker in it. Pressure regulator would be the better more proper term, not rocker. I also work in the air pressure industry for a living and we rarely test our gauges unless something obvious is happening and we have variable testing at our facility that goes from 10psi to 300 psi, which that kind of pressure can be dangerous. So I'm not sure why people think they need to get their gauge tested. Even if the gauge is faulty, the rocker is going to rock at 15lbs and never let the pot get higher than this. Additionally, the books states there is a vent pipe (page4) is the "primary pressure relief valve and will release pressure in excess of 15 pounds. The pressure regulator sits loosely on the vent pipe." That's a quote. So this unit is designed to be at 15 lbs or below which the pot can handle. I'm not sure why anyone would blow the lid off unless they rolled their rubber ring, their ring was old or not seated properly or the top was not locked. Again, I haven't used the unit yet, and will follow up soon with a review on that, but from my perspective, I'm going to can tomatoes over the next couple of days and that is 11 lbs of pressure which means I will need my gauge and my rocker should never rock. I have to play with the heat to find where my stove dial holds the pot at 11 lbs and make sure I never see the pressure regulator move or that means the pot has reached 15 lbs. ?? Some of these reviews were confusing and also caused me to buy a 15 lb regulator that came with the unit. It seems unnecessary. ?? Sure seems it's ready to go out of the box, no need to check or buy another item. Okay, I went home and used it last night. I have updates. First, this is a great unit. I can't imagine anyone blowing the lid off if you align it and lock it down. I filled it with water, put it on and ran it up to 15 lbs of pressure. On my stove it took 19 minutes to get there but that's going to vary. I think I understand why people suggest getting the variable weight. In my case, I can a lot of tomatoes. I need this at 10-11 pounds for 15 minutes. I either have to play with the heat setting on my stove to get it to stay at 10-11 pounds, while keeping an eye on it, OR if you buy the rocker weight that is 5-10-15 lbs, you can take it apart, make it a 10 lb rocker and just set it and forget it. I see the logic but don't think that makes buyin the other part necessary, it just saves a little time. Plus, for tomatoes, they suggest 11 lbs. If you are anal and want 11, the variable weight can't do that. if you don't mind 10-11 pounds, no big deal. Either way, I didn't take my cooker to have the gauge tested, This is ready to go out of the box. Just make sure and put a little oil on the ring to keep it in good shape and you might just want to have a back up ring on hand as the unit ages so that on that weekend you want to can, if the ring splits, you slide the new one in and keep going. Great unit and it's HUGE! I love it. Another update...this baby is getting a good workout. Canned a bunch of sauce last night, working on more as I type. We bought the additional weight/rocker that you can make 5-10-15 pounds. Put it at 10 pounds and let it pressure for 16 minutes. Gets the tomato sauce in the jars up to 240 degrees killing all that might be present. Great pressure canner. Highly recommend. Again, still don't understand how anyone could blow the lid off if you align this properly. No blown lids here. Just gotta read the book and use it properly I think. Another update - well, we've done 7 gallons of roma tomato sauce, 5 quarts a session and this pressure canner is great. It's so easy to lock the lid. I've also realized it has a special lock that when pressure starts to build, but even before it can be read on the gauge, the lock pops up and there's no way you can open this canner with pressure so no danger. I will say that when my 16 minutes at 11 lbs for tomato sauce are up, I take a kitchen knife and lean the pressure rocker over to let the steam out quickly. Within 4-5 minutes, all the pressure has bleed out, the lock goes back down and I take the lid off. This is not in the book, but I was just dying to see how the jars looks. As I took them out, they were still boiling and we put a laser temp gauge on them and they were reading 210-215. Given the heat was turned off over 4-5 minutes ago, it's reasonable to assume it was indeed up to 240 which is what is needed to kill all the stuff for tomato sauce. Keep in mind, this is different for every food, for every size and for every elevation. So read the book for your food and it will tell you what to do. I recommend citric acid as well as the adjustable pressure regulator (rocker) and a canning kit, particularly to get the jars out. Taking them out at 215 degrees is careful business. But it's cool to see them boiling inside the jars. And within 10 minutes, they are down to 160 which is when the 'tinning' or vacuming starts. As you know, the cooling is what causes the air tight seal, not the pressure canning. Pressure canning is to raise the temp up high enough to kill all the germs, when you take them out, they do the tinning sounds and you can hear all the tops going ting, ting.....ting...then you know you are getting a great seal!

What a fun toy this is! Once you get the hang of it you're off and running. I have a garden and I like to store up soups for winter. I'm very pleased with it. No problems and the quality seems to be excellent.

YES , invest in your family now , buy this , i mean it .... give your family great quality made , nutrient dense packed home made foods today , really , you should . the crap on the store shelves is keeling American's by starving the people of nutrients , making them zombies . this is an amazing and wonderful thing to do for you and your family . Start canning today , its 100% worth the investment . its been about 3-4 yrs. since i bought mine now , and i only wish id started much earlier ..... no regrets , DO IT !

The Presto 0178107 works perfectly and feels solid and well made. It holds pressure very well and does exactly what it should. The only downside is that it only comes with a 15 PSI weight — it would be much better if Presto included the adjustable 5 / 10 / 15 PSI weight as standard. Other than that, it’s an excellent canner and I’m very happy with it.

I’ve owned my Presto 01781 Pressure Canner and Cooker (23 qt) for over a year now, and it has been absolutely fantastic. It’s incredibly easy to use, even if you’re newer to pressure canning, and the instructions are clear and straightforward. I use it for all my canning—vegetables, meats, soups—you name it. It holds a great capacity, heats evenly, and maintains pressure beautifully. Cleanup is simple, and it’s held up perfectly with frequent use. I highly recommend this to anyone who wants a dependable, no-fuss pressure canner that will last for years.

Does a wonderful job. It's larger than I had expected. I read that the smaller one was not suitable for hot water bathing. That is true for quarts, but not for pints. I think, for the space savings in my cupboard, I would prefer the smaller one. Also, I feel the smaller one might reach pressure faster, saving a little bit of time. I don't generally do large batches. I have canned fruit, pie filling, broth, chicken, soups, stews, hamburger, stew meat, and veggies. We currently live at a high altitude and I only can at 15lbs. So the weight that comes with the canner is fine for now. When we move to a lower elevation I will invest in a 5-10-15lb weight because I prefer the jiggler to the pressure gauge. Update: We moved, I got the 5-10-15 weight. Works great! Overall, our family is expanding and this will do everything the smaller one will do and more, so I am satisfied with it and may appreciate the larger size later. Update: I decided to purchase the 16 quart. It fits in my cupboard. I know its a bit crazy to buy another one if the old one worked just fine, but I was annoyed and finally got the one I wanted. They both work perfectly and I have since purchased the 6 quart pressure cooker and absolutely love it for cooking. I used the 16 quart canner to reheat a rotisserie chicken and it turned out amazing and did it faster and better than the microwave and more moist than the oven. To sum up the capacity: The 23 Qt will hot water bath 7 quarts or 10 pints (stacking is not recommended for water bathing) and pressure can 7 quarts or 20 pints(double staked) the 16 Qt will hot water bath 10 pints (water bathing quarts is not recommended) and pressure can 7 quarts or 10 pints The 6 Qt is not recommended for canning, but makes dinners or sides very quick and easy. Also makes chicken stock in 20 min instead of hours of simmering. Then straight to my canner.