Presto 1781 23-Quart Aluminum Pressure Cooker/Canner
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List Price: Our Price: $75.42 You Save: $34.57 (31%) Availability: Usually ships in 2-3 business days Category: Kitchen See more product details |
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Presto 1781 23-Quart Aluminum Pressure Cooker/Canner
Customer Review: Quick and Easy Canning
Summary: 5 Stars
THE SHORT SCOOP:
1. I chose the free shipping option- it arrived the same day it was scheduled to ship, so shipping was faster than promised
2. Product works as it is supposed to and has several safety mechanisms built in that make it super safe and easy to work with.
3. Pleased, will buy it again if I ever need a second canner.
THE LONG DRAWN OUT SCOOP:
I started canning after I got married 20 something years ago. DH was a widower with 2 small boys from his deceased wife, and 2 children from a previous living wife. I was a 22 year old with no experience raising kids or feeding them. Within 6 months, his oldest son moved in with us. We were living on one income with 3 boys in the house, one of whome was a teenager. My mother gave me her canner and I got right to work those first few years. Then gradually life set in, had babies of my own, went to school and started working full time as a surgery nurse. Now that we were making more money, the garden didn't seem as vital to survival( big mistake)
Fast forward to this year. Due to my growing concerns about job security in this economy, and the rapidly rising prices of vastly overprocessed foods of questionable safety(do the letters GMO mean anything to you? Remember the produce recalls for e.coli?) we decided to start back up gardening.
My canner was so old that I couldn't read the numbers on bottom to get replacement parts. I researched, read the reviews, and asked some friends on a preparedness board, and ended up deciding to purchase the Presto 23 quart canner.
It arrived the same day I got notice that it should ship- this is in spite of using the free shipping option that meant it may not ship immediately. Evidently it shipped immediately, got it a full week before I expected it.
Took the gauge to my local extension office to be checked as recommended. Met some wonderful, helpful people that I had never realized existed. My gauge is half a pound off, so they recommended that I process at 7 lb rather than 6. I will get it checked again next year as recommended.
I processed my first batch of tomatoes last night. It got up to pressure much faster than I was used to with my old canner. It held the pressure consistenly, and on a relatively low setting. I did sit down near the stove so I could watch the dial, but believe with a bit more usage to get me comfortable I will be able to do other things in the kitchen as I am pressure canning, and not babysit the gauge so closely.
I had read the review from the person who had the canner blow apart. This worried me a bit. Now I am not worried. Either it was defective from the factory, she didn't get the gauge checked as recommended, or something wasn't put together right.
I would not hesitate to buy another one should my garden ever grow that big that I need 2 to handle the produce.
Customer Review: Great canner for the price
Summary: 5 Stars
I got this specifically for canning, and have used it now to make pickles, apples, applesauce, applebutter, roasted peppers and am going to be doing squash next. It has worked great, it seems of good quality, but this is ENORMOUS! I don't think I really realized how big it would be. Due to it's size you have the advantage of being able to get the water deep enough to hold 2 tiers of pint cans for a boiling water bath (though getting an extra rack would make that easier), and it holds 7 quart jars as well. Thing is though that the 16 quart says it can hold 7 quart jars as well, and while probably it couldn't do 2 rows of pints as a boiling water bath, I bet it gets up to temperature alot faster and doesn't take up so much space. Those are really my only complaints with this, it takes quite a while to build up pressure and it is just so big I have no choice but to stick it in the room I keep my canned products, no room in my kitchen.
That said, before I bought this I had no idea you can use a pressure canner to cook. I tried using this to make a beef roast, and it was UNBELIEVABLE! In like 40 minutes I had beef that fell apart like I had roasted it all day, only it was juicier and the flavor was MUCH BETTER penetrated through, amazing! Of course the problem was clean up... it's just so big that it barely fits in my sink. I ended up finding an 8qt pressure cooker that I've been using since to do my day to day cooking with (and you can save money buying cheaper meats that will taste like you cooked them all day!) and I pull out this for the canning... though I am seriously considering doing my Thanksgiving turkey in this!! (I bet it will be good too).
This is I am finding out what is known as "first generation" for a pressure cooker, and it makes quite a bit of noise, but that doesn't bother me so much, those others are alot more $$ of of my pocket... I can handle a little noise, thank you. If what you want is a really big quality pressure canner that looks like it will probably last the rest of your life (with maybe a replacement gauge or seal or something along the way), this is a great choice for the money.
Customer Review: Super Canner
Summary: 5 Stars
I had a pressure canner many years ago. Bought it at a hardware store. No guage, but it did the job. Did I sell it at a yard sale? Don't know where it went, anyway.
Decided recently to can again. So I read tons of reviews, Internet articles, compared features and prices. The Presto 1781 is the one I decided on. Amazon had it with free shipping, which made this doll the perfect deal for me.
I have used it as a canner about 5 times already. Have not just pressure-cooked in it. Here are my observations: Easy to use. Follow the instructions in the book, and you are good to go. This baby is heavy! Moving it off the heat when it is full of jars is no small feat (especially when using as a boiling bath canner)! Eat a good breakfast! Half pint and pint jars stack nicely. I have not tried to can more than 7 quarts yet, so am not disappointed that the max is 7 quarts. I put up 7 qts of chili yesterday and my huge cookpot was pretty full. Any more would have been too much anyway.
When using as a boiling bath canner, be careful when taking the jars out, especially when putting up half pint wide mouth jars, as the jar lifters are not very long and you can burn yourself getting that bottom set out. While you can use long tongs for half pints, I tried and ended up with a mess of hot strawberry jam all over and inbetween the stove and cabinet. So, use a jar lifter and hold it tightly!
I like the guage on this canner. I have never used one with a guage before. After a couple of uses, I find I can take my eyes off it once it gets to correct pressure by the sound of the pressure regulator. It gets noisy when it gets too high. I live at 6800 feet altitude, and everything pressure canned has to be done at 14 lbs. 15 makes a noise and that's my signal to lower the heat.
I have a ceramic top stove and have no issues with this canner on my stove top. The canner bottom is flat and heats up evenly.
I love this canner. Just wish it folded up when not in use--it's a big honker!
Customer Review: Fantastic Pressure Canner/Cooker
Summary: 5 Stars
As a novice to the pressure canning world, I was please to find the directions for use and care were very straightforward and easy to understand. So far I have only used it once, to can 9 pints of chicken and everything went off without a hitch. I was surprised that I had to sit with it and babysit it because every time I turned my back the pressure would creep up on me. This is probably because since I have a glasstop stove I elected to purchase an outdoor stove and hook it up to my propane tank instead of taking the chance that it would damage my stovetop. Next time it will probably be much easier to control the temperature now that I know the basic setup. After my first canning there is already some staining inside of the canner, however I read this can be easily fixed with a vinegar/water solution and scrubbbing so I'm not worried about it. I'm not sure if I will ever put food inside of it and use it as a pressure cooker because I read that aluminum often flakes and gets into your food. I have to do some more research on that matter but my primary reason for purchase was to can with it. When I read through the reviews I noticed some people had issues with the pressure regulator fly off the canner, but I didn't experience this and hopefully won't. It seems to sit nicely and didn't look like it was about to fly off. I am 100% happy with my purchase and will continue to can fruit, veggies, jam and all sorts of stuff when my own garden starts producing and when some U Pick farms in my area open. A pressure canner is a must have for anyone who has a vegetable garden! The instruction guide comes with several recipes, but if you're searching for a wider variety I suggest not purchasing any fancy canning book, but instead go to pickyourown.org to find a plethera of info and recipes about canning and even where to find U Pick farms into your area. I also ordered the Presto 7 piece canning set which is very good quality. Happy canning!Customer Review: Does it all Much faster than an All-American and for less than half the cost.
Summary: 5 Stars
The proof is if the customer would buy another one.
I just ordered my second Presto 23-quart canner today.
Why not an "All-American"? because I do a lot of canning from the garden as well as meats.
The presto seals up tight, is strong enough to do the job safely.
Is light duty enough to be lifted without a hoist.
Is light duty enough that it COMES UP TO A BOIL TWICE AS FAST as an All-American, and COOLS DOWN TWICE AS FAST. I'm canning 2 batches to 1 using an old Presto vs. new All-American.
When your putting up 300 quarts of corn, 100 quarts of beans along with carrots, fish, venison and beef. fruit, time makes a Huge difference! Who wants to double the canning time for no reason at all except you wanted to spend over $100.00 more on your pressure canner than the next person? Sometimes the biggest is not the best.
With two Presto canners up and running on the stove, I'm cranking out more quarts than I can prep for, getting them cooled down and restocking for the next batch.
Yes is uses a gasket, but so does any pressure vessel on down to your cars motor. At least I don't have to swab the deck with grease before sealing or get out the pry bar to open it up. just run the Presto down to zero and it just unlocks; Pretty slick stuff. Makes the whole process fast and efficient.
My only two suggestions to Presto is add the jigger, and ditch the gasket for an industrial type O-Ring seal. That would last for generations! Other wise, this machinist will be buying another before fall is over. Hell, I may even add a third for backup when the corn comes in. I realy like how it holds 7 quarts rather than most others who hold only 5 or 4.
Thanks for making a good product.
It's enough to make harvest time FUN AGAIN.
My only wish is that it would have a "jiggle" on it. I added one so now I know if the pressure gauge is correct or not.