# I can't use my pressure cooker on a flat-top stove???



## Guest (Feb 18, 2010)

I received a pressure cooker for Christmas. I still haven't used it. Quite frankly, I'm afraid of it. Today, I got it out and was reading the manuel it came with. Get to the bottom of the 2nd page and it says in big bold letters to not use it on a flat/glass/ceramic cooktop stove. GREAT! I have a glass flat-top stove. It said because the bottom of the pressure cooker in concave, heat will not be distributed evenly and can damage my stove. Now what?


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## mammabooh (Sep 1, 2004)

Yep, that's what I've heard too. Any chance you could get a small coil-type stove for the basement and do your canning down there?


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## Guest (Feb 18, 2010)

No basement. No room for another stove. I HATE this stove. Just got it last spring. It's a pain to clean, a pain to cook on, and too many restrictions! I can't take my pressure cooker back, as I got it as a gift and the box is already been trashed.


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## Windy in Kansas (Jun 16, 2002)

Ah yes, the perfect reason to add a summer kitchen complete with gas hot plate. 

Anyone know if one of the gas fryer burners can be turned down enough to regulate the heat to can on?


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## wy_white_wolf (Oct 14, 2004)

Side burner on a BBQ works great for canning.

Just make sure it's strong enough to hold all the wieght before setting a waterbath canner on there.


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## Ms.Lilly (Jun 23, 2008)

I went and bought a hot plate burrner that sits on your counter, I bought it at Target and it works just fine for my pressure canner (AA 921). When I am done then I pack it back up and put it in the cupboard until the next time. 

Caution once you use your pressue canner you will be addicted!

Lillian


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## stranger (Feb 24, 2008)

ours said we couldn't use it either, but we weren,t about to stop canning or buy another stove, the only thing we find wrong is, it takes longer to get the thing boiling.we're on our 4th yr.


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## Macybaby (Jun 16, 2006)

I won't take the chance of using my 21 qt AA on my glass top stove. However I use my 16qt Presto on it all the time (has a special bottom) and I'd use a 21qt Presto without any reservations - but they are signifcantly lighter than the AA and have a different bottom;

I bought a portable range (high power hot plate) and use the AA on that. I also have a coil cooktop in the summer kitchen for canning when it is hot out.

I also have two gas burners (outside cookers) but I could not control them well so I should find new homes for them.

Take a good look at the bottom of your canner, if it is not flat, then you will have problems with the glass top stove. But that is the case with any pan - Without good contact, my stove cycles off and on repeatedly and it can take 45 mn to boil water in a big pot that the bottom is not very flat. I finally got a good flat bottom pot and now it takes about 10 mn to bring the same amount of water to boil.

My new cooktop will be induction, and it won't work with aluminum canners - the reason why I was willing to spend big bucks on the hot plate.

Canning in the summer kitchen










And in the house with the hotplate and glass top range (induction cooktop is still in the box).











Cathy


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## upnorthlady (Oct 16, 2009)

Macybaby - I am jealous of your summer kitchen!!! I want one, too!!


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## Timberline (Feb 7, 2006)

I've been canning on my glass top stove for years and years. It just takes longer to heat up. I use my big canner with jars double decked and have not had a problem. My stove is 18 years old, so I don't know if the glass on the new ones is any stronger or not.


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## ronbre (Apr 26, 2009)

well you may be able to use it on a propane barbeque..and who wants to heat up their house in the summer anyway when they are canning..i actually have a lovely side burner on my gas bbq


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## Common Tator (Feb 19, 2008)

I love my pressure canners more than I love my stoves. I love the hotplate in Macbaby's kitchen. I think I'll add that to my wishlist.


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## Guest (Feb 18, 2010)

I think a hotplate is in order for me. Thanks for the suggestions.

BTW, what is a summer kitchen?


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## Ravenlost (Jul 20, 2004)

Lyndseyrk said:


> No basement. No room for another stove. I HATE this stove. Just got it last spring. It's a pain to clean, a pain to cook on, and too many restrictions! I can't take my pressure cooker back, as I got it as a gift and the box is already been trashed.


I feel the same way about mine! I didn't want the thing, wanted gas, but hubby insisted. I don't know why...he doesn't cook! I kept hoping mine would quit, but when it did he got it fixed...for $50 more we could have bought the gas stove I wanted!

Even water bath canning is a pain. First, you're not supposed to use a big canner on a glasstop stove, but I did 'cause I was hoping the darn thing would break. It didn't break and it didn't get hot enough to boil the water in the canner because the bottm is concave. I have to can a few jars at a time in a smaller pot. 

:grit:


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## Common Tator (Feb 19, 2008)

Lyndseyrk said:


> I think a hotplate is in order for me. Thanks for the suggestions.
> 
> BTW, what is a summer kitchen?


A summer kitchen is most often a separate building on a farm where cooking and canning is done in the summer. Often it could be a screened in porch or the whole structure screened in. That way the heat and steam and smells are out there and the house stays cooler and less steamy.


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## country_wife (Sep 24, 2004)

How about a turkey fryer? Not the pot, but the propane cook unit that comes with it. It's already set up to hold a huge pot/weight.


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## texican (Oct 4, 2003)

Lyndseyrk said:


> No basement. No room for another stove. I HATE this stove. Just got it last spring. It's a pain to clean, a pain to cook on, and too many restrictions! I can't take my pressure cooker back, as I got it as a gift and the box is already been trashed.


Sounds like you know what you need to do! Sell it, Craigslist it, ebay it, swap shop it, give it away... Begone foul demon...

Life is too short to live with a stove, one of the most basic tools of civilization, that  (well you know what I was going to say).

I couldn't live without a gas stove, that has real flames and real heat.


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## MWG (Aug 14, 2006)

I have been doing it for three years. In fact I have used 2 16 quart pressure canners on the same flat top glass stove at the same time... Haven't had an issue yet...?


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## salmonslayer (Jan 4, 2009)

We have a ceramic top stove in our house in Alaska and we hate it. Most of whats said is true that you can use a pressure cooker or canner on the stove and it will just take longer but you have to be careful about cracking the top or fusing the pot to the stove top. Some aluminum can melt (like a lid) and graniteware can have the enamel melt off and also fuse to the stove top.

We are buying and old 1940s Western Holly stove for our farmhouse in Missouri..no ceramic cook tops and nothing digital.


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## Old Vet (Oct 15, 2006)

country_wife said:


> How about a turkey fryer? Not the pot, but the propane cook unit that comes with it. It's already set up to hold a huge pot/weight.


It depends on what kind. IF it has a valve to control the flame then yes. You can use the variable regulator but then you will have to be sure that you can get it too low and the wind will blow it out. The best canning stove is one of the two burner stoves that Harbor Freight sells. It is a small frame that will hole the cooker and the burners are large enough to boil it fast and when turned down will have just enough pressure to make it do right. The stoves cost about $20 and are enough to cook anything on.


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## ChristieAcres (Apr 11, 2009)

I really like the idea of a summer kitchen. DH mentioned he would like to set up one for me, especially when I am in full swing harvesting hundreds of pounds of fruit/veggies. Since I like to dehydrate, also, it would be nice to do that elsewhere. In the Winter, it could serve as storage for the overflow food.


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## Fae (Mar 9, 2005)

I do not have nor would I have, a glass flat top stove. I just bought a new gas stove with a standing pilot with not even an electric clock. The one I am sold is about a year old and is gas but has electronic ignition. The problem was it had all the same size burners and did not have a simmer burner so I could not adjust the flame low enough for my pressure canner. It has been sold but the lady has not picked it up yet. I love my new stove because I can turn the burners as low as I want and I don't have to listen to that infernal clicking. My neighbor has the glass cook top and it is a mess every time she cooks on it and is hard to clean. Now if we can just get through with all the remodeling in the house and maintenance on the outside, I plan to have a summer kitchen, hopefully next year.


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## wwubben (Oct 13, 2004)

country_wife said:


> How about a turkey fryer? Not the pot, but the propane cook unit that comes with it. It's already set up to hold a huge pot/weight.


We use our turkey fryer to heat water for scalding poultry to pick.It works great for the pressure canner and you can waterbath with it also.A very handy piece of equipment-------you can even cook a turkey in it too.


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## foxtrapper (Dec 23, 2003)

Lyndseyrk said:


> It said because the bottom of the pressure cooker in concave, heat will not be distributed evenly and can damage my stove.


I would suspect their concern is that you could have a wet bottom and could have a seal with the pot sitting on the flat surface. Then you'd have a pressure chamber at the bottom of the pot when things heat up. This could crack the surface of the stove top. Worse, it could release as a steam cloud (albet small) when you lift or move the pot.


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## farmmom (Jan 4, 2009)

My folks have a flat top stove. It took forever to can on it. I went and bought the cheapest stove they had at Lowes (about $350) and it's great for canning. Using the flat stove, it was impossible to regulate the pressure in the canner.


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## mnn2501 (Apr 2, 2008)

I absolutly love my flat top stove - even cooking, so easy to keep clean, but the only company that makes a pressure canner that you can use on one is a Presto. So we have one.
I do have a gas grill with a side burner I may try this year.


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## pourfolkes (Jul 1, 2005)

I will never get a flat top stove again. It just had too many limitations for me. I currently have an electric stove, but want a gas stove. So....when we move this year, we are going to have a carport closed in, and make an outdoor kitchen in there with a gas stove so I can do my canning, soap making, etc. out there. Plus, in Texas and outdoor stove during the summer is a real help!


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## trkarl (Dec 15, 2009)

Macybaby,

What brand and model # is that portable high power hot plate in the pic with the AA pressure canner on top of it? I've been looking to get one for my 925 AA but don't quite know what to get to get the job done.


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## ya-ni-sa_song (Nov 23, 2009)

trkarl said:


> Macybaby,
> 
> What brand and model # is that portable high power hot plate in the pic with the AA pressure canner on top of it? I've been looking to get one for my 925 AA but don't quite know what to get to get the job done.


I was wondering the same thing. I would love to have one of these so that I can can on my pack patio.


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## Lone Pine (Jan 11, 2010)

I love the outdoor kitchen.....Its on my wish list!


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## wally (Oct 9, 2007)

We have canned on our glass top for over 10 years now..nice out door kitchen I would love to have one ..we bought a used gas stove that is connected to a 100 lb tank in the garage not really a out door kitchen but when power goes out we can cook ..... I dont like to can as their is no water, the dogs and cats, the bugs..but we have done it


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## oldmania (Jan 25, 2007)

I really liked the glass top stove, but bought a regular one because I use pressure cookers a lot. In the summer, I can vegetables in a large presto cooker that holds 7 quarts. About twice a week, I cook beans in my stainless steel "cooking" pressure cooker. Good to hear that pressure cooking might not ruin a glass top stove. Maybe next time...


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## suitcase_sally (Mar 20, 2006)

Lyndseyrk said:


> I received a pressure cooker for Christmas.


Am I the only one that noticed that the item in question is a pressure COOKER, not CANNER?


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## QuiltingLady2 (Jan 3, 2007)

Lyndseyrk said:


> I received a pressure cooker for Christmas. I still haven't used it. Quite frankly, I'm afraid of it. Today, I got it out and was reading the manuel it came with. Get to the bottom of the 2nd page and it says in big bold letters to not use it on a flat/glass/ceramic cooktop stove. GREAT! I have a glass flat-top stove. It said because the bottom of the pressure cooker in concave, heat will not be distributed evenly and can damage my stove. Now what?


I've used mine on my glass top stove for 10 years. I'm using a Miro that holds 9 Qts. Works fine for me.


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## fordy (Sep 13, 2003)

Lyndseyrk said:


> No basement. No room for another stove. I HATE this stove. Just got it last spring. It's a pain to clean, a pain to cook on, and too many restrictions! I can't take my pressure cooker back, as I got it as a gift and the box is already been trashed.



..............Purchase one of those single heating element electric cookers , about $20 at wally world ! problem solved ! , fordy


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## Kazahleenah (Nov 3, 2004)

I used a glass top stove for years, no problems.


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