# Instant Pot



## Appalachia (Jul 11, 2012)

Has anyone used one of these?
http://instantpot.com/

I've never used a pressure cooker before and my folks never used one when I was growing up so I know nothing about them. I do cook a lot of deer and it seems like a pressure cooker would be great for that?

It also says you can can 3 jars worth. I'm not sure if the pressure gets high enough for my altitude? 2200ft. Copied from website below. Thanks



Can I do canning with Instant Pot?

The short answer is Yes. Low-acid foods (e.g. vegetables, meats, poultry, and seafood) must be sterilization at a temperature of 240Â°F (115Â°C) or higher. Instant Potâs working temperature is in the range of 115Â°C~118Â°C or 239Â°F~244Â°F, which is sufficient for canning purpose. 3 Altas Mason jars (6.5in tall and 3.5in in diameter and hold 3.25 cups of water) can fit inside a 6qt Instant Pot. When canning the jars, you should close the jar lid entirely. The trick is to tighten the jar lid and then turn it open a quarter turn. You can use the Steam function to set pressure keeping time on your canning recipe.


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## suitcase_sally (Mar 20, 2006)

No matter what the "short answer" says, this is a pressure COOKER, not a pressure CANNER. I would not try to can in this.

I have a 6 qt. pressure cooker/canner that says you can do 4 pints in it, but where a regular canner gives the time of 20 minutes to do pints of grren beans, the cooker/canner gives 40 minutes. Why? Because the cooker/canner heats up so quickly due to its size that the beans inside do not get hot enough in the 20 minutes you would _normally_ can beans. If you were to lose the instruction manual and rely on a regular canning guide, such as the Ball guide, all of your jars would be under processed.

If you just want to cook something, this pot will do the trick, but if you want to can, get a pressure canner. You can also _cook_ in a pressure _canner_, but you can't _can_ in a pressure_ cooker_


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## Appalachia (Jul 11, 2012)

I have a regular pressure canner. I was interested in this one as a secondary canner for doing small batches of things. 

I've never cooked in my pressure canner though as it's aluminum and I try not to cook anything in aluminum. The Instant Pot is stainless.


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## countryfied2011 (Jul 5, 2011)

If it were me and I wanted to do small batches I would buy the one from Ball. I have also done 4 jars in my regular canner. Maybe the price will come down one day...lol

http://www.freshpreserving.com/auto-canner


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## Appalachia (Jul 11, 2012)

Looks like the Ball FreshTech doesn't do pressure canning. I guess there isn't an easy shortcut for pressure canning.


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## MichaelK! (Oct 22, 2010)

If you're at more than 2000 feet, you should be doing your canning with a 15 psi canner to compensate for the decreased boiling point of water at higher altitude. Actually, they say 12 psi, but nobody actually makes a 12 psi rocker weight. The 10 psi procedures you read in the canning manuals are for sea-level, and it's standard procedure to use the higher psi at higher elevations. At an elevation of 7000 feet, the boiling point at 15 psi is the same as the boiling point of a 10 psi canner at sea-level. You're completely on your own if you attempt pressure canning if you're at an elevation greater than 7000 feet.


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## Gretchen Ann (Aug 30, 2010)

Unless you preserve very small amounts of food, I wouldn't buy this product. 

Using a pressure canner isn't hard. I always have work to do in the kitchen anyway when I have the canner going. I'm either still preparing produce for the next canner load, or I'm doing clean up when the last load is in the canner.

You can buy a brand new quality pressure canner for less than the $300+ the ball canner will cost. I couldn't find if it would can quarts either.

Whatever you buy, make sure you keep the book that comes with it. That is the information I always use for canning. I store my canner in the original box it came in 40 years ago.


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## Horseyrider (Aug 8, 2010)

$300??! I saw this for about $120 on Amazon.


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## countryfied2011 (Jul 5, 2011)

Appalachia said:


> Looks like the Ball FreshTech doesn't do pressure canning. I guess there isn't an easy shortcut for pressure canning.



The ball one does do canning but the price is ridiculous. There is a jam maker and then there is a canner...the jam maker is cheaper


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## Appalachia (Jul 11, 2012)

I have a pressure canner currently and use it so I'm familiar with the whole process (it has a dial gauge so I can do 12 lbs). 

I was interested in these plug in canners as an alternative for doing small batches without heating up the kitchen.


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