Pressure Canning: Start Here

Pressure canning has a reputation for being scary. All that hissing, the dials, the weights rocking… pressure! I get it. But once you understand what’s actually happening inside that pot, the fear melts away pretty fast.

I’ve been pressure canning for over 30 years now, (gosh has it been that long!?). By the end of this page, you’ll know exactly what pressure canning is, whether it’s the right method for what you want to make, what equipment you actually need, and how to do the whole process from start to finish.

What You’ll Find

• Whether pressure canning is the right method for your food (start here if you’re not sure)
• What equipment you need — dial gauge, weighted gauge, or electric, and how to choose
• Complete step-by-step directions with tips from my own experience
• Troubleshooting and FAQs
• A printable checklist to take to the kitchen

The table of contents below has links to jump to each section if you’re looking for something specific.

Is Pressure Canning the Right Method for Your Food?

The Short Answer: It’s About Acid (and Heat)

Pressure canning is the only safe method for low-acid foods.

Low acid foods generally include:

• Most vegetables
• Meat, poultry, broth, and stock
• Soups, stews, and any recipe with meat or vegetables added

These foods don’t have enough natural acidity to stop Clostridium botulinum, the bacteria that causes botulism, from growing inside a sealed jar. Boiling water alone can’t reach a high enough temperature to destroy those spores — you need the higher heat only a pressure canner can produce.

High acid foods generally include:

• Most fruits,
• Jams, jellies, marmalades, fruit butter
• Properly tested pickled items

High acid foods don’t need pressure canning. Water bath canning or steam canning is the right method for those instead.

Why Does This Matter?

A water bath canner can only get as hot as boiling water — 212°F at sea level. That’s plenty for high-acid foods, but it’s not hot enough to destroy botulism spores in low-acid food. A pressure canner traps steam and builds pressure, which pushes the temperature up to 240°F. That’s the heat that actually does the job.

I don’t say this to scare you — I say it so you understand why the recommendations exist. Once that clicks, the rest of this just makes sense. I’ve got a fuller explanation of botulism, home canning, and why you don’t need to be afraid here.

What About Tomatoes and Other Borderline Foods?

Tomatoes are a special case. Plain tomatoes are borderline enough that a water bath works if you add the right amount of acid, but the moment you add low-acid ingredients — onions, peppers, meat — you’re in pressure canner territory.

Read more about how to can tomatoes here.

A Quick Side Note on Pressure Canners vs. Pressure Cookers

Pressure Canner vs. Pressure Cooker: These two get mixed up constantly, and the confusion matters. A pressure cooker is built for cooking dinner quickly. A pressure canner is built and tested specifically for processing jars safely. You can cook in a canner, but you can’t can in a cooker. I go into the full difference here, including why size matters too.

Links to some pressure canning recipes

• Canning Vegetables
• Canning Meat

What Is Pressure Canning?

Here’s how it works.

You fill jars with prepared food, lock them inside a sealed canner, and let steam build up under pressure. That pressure pushes the temperature past what boiling water can reach — all the way up to 240°F — which is what destroys botulism spores in low-acid food.

What You’ll Need

Essential Equipment

• Pressure canner — see below for which type to choose
• Canning jars — make sure they’re in good condition
• Lids and screw bands — always use new lids; bands can be reused if they’re in good shape
• Jar lifter — not optional, trust me on this one
• Canning funnel — makes filling jars so much easier
• Ladle
• General kitchen supplies depending on your recipe: towels, pot holders, pots, bowls, spoons, knives, etc.
• All ingredients called for in your recipe

Dial Gauge, Weighted Gauge, or Electric — Which Should You Get?

There are several options for pressure canners, both brands and styles. Let’s go over each briefly.

• Dial gauge canners have a gauge you watch while adjusting your stove’s heat to keep the needle at the correct number. This gauge needs to be checked for accuracy once a year. Most agricultural extension offices do this for a small fee, and some hardware stores host a canning day each season. More on gauge testing and canner brands here.
• Weighted gauge canners use a weight that rocks or jiggles to release steam once you’ve reached pressure. You’ll still use the stoves heat to adjust the temperature as needed. No gauge to get checked — you just listen and watch. This is my own preference; I like the simplicity.
• The All American and Presto are the two brands I hear about most, and I actually own both. Here’s my full brand comparison if you want to dig in. (Tip, the Presto seems to be less intimidating to beginners.)
• Electric pressure canners are the newest option. They measure temperature directly instead of pressure, and they adjust automatically for your altitude. Very cool! Here’s what I’ve found researching one so far, if you’re curious. Remember there is a difference in a pressure cooker and pressure canner. As far as I know the only electric pressure canner is from Presto.

Whichever style you choose, your canner needs to hold at least 4 quart jars sitting upright. Anything smaller is a pressure cooker, not a canner. Remember cookers are for cooking supper, canners are for preserving food.

Choose Your First Project

Always Use a Tested Recipe

Tested recipes have been developed with safe packing and processing instructions specific to pressure canning. The USDA, Ball, and the National Center for Home Food Preservation are all reliable sources. (The recipes here on Simply Canning, in my video courses, and in the guide book all come from safe, tested resources.)

Remember, tested doesn’t just mean a lot of people have done it without getting sick. These recipes are scientifically tested by experts in the field. You’ll see lots of recipes online — they may be great, but they may not be tested at all. Don’t take a chance.

What Should You Make First?

Not sure where to begin? Here are my beginner-friendly recommendations:

• Carrots are probably my top pick for an absolute first project. Fresh carrots are easy to find year-round at the grocery store, so you’re not stuck waiting on a season to start. They’re simple to prep and forgiving if your timing is a little off.
• Green beans are a classic first project too, and for good reason — minimal prep, straightforward packing. The catch is that fresh green beans are seasonal, so this one’s better suited to summer.
• Chicken or broth is a great next step if you’re not intimidated by canning meat. Here’s a little secret: meat is honestly just as easy as vegetables. The process is the same — pack, process, done. People build up more fear around meat than the actual technique warrants.

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Pressure Canning: Step-By-Step Directions for beginners

Ready? Refer to your individual recipe for specifics on the food you’re working with. This page walks you through operating the canner itself — your recipe will tell you the prep, packing, and timing for whatever you’re making.

• I’ve included notes and tips from my own experience throughout.
• Want a shorter version? There’s a printable checklist at the bottom of this post.

Step 1: Gather all your pressure canning supplies:

• Pressure canner
• Canning jars
• Canning lids and rings (sometimes called bands)
• Jar lifter and canning funnel
• All recipe ingredients
• Kitchen towels or paper towels
• A non-metallic utensil or bubble tool for removing air bubbles
• General kitchen supplies depending on your recipe

Step 2: Prepare Your Canner and Jars

Fill your canner with 3 about quarts of water. Yes, that is all the water needed. Check your manual for to verify the exact amount. But generally most need 3 quarts.

Note; The water will NOT cover the jars when the canner is full. That’s ok.

Remember, pressure is the key to safety in pressure canning. The pressure buildup is what causes the high heat necessary.

Set the rack in the bottom of the canner and heat water until hot, not boiling. Keep warm. The goal is that the canner and jars will be hot when your jars are being filled. So keep in mind your food preparation time.

Wash and rinse your jars and lids. You don’t need to sterilize jars in pressure canning. The high temperatures reached in the canner will sterilize everything. You DO need to start with clean jars.

Keep the jars hot until use. My favorite way to do this is to just place the clean jars in the hot water in the canner. I’ve got some other options too that I go over just below.

The lids also need to be clean but do not need to be boiled or sterilized. My suggestion is to put them in a bowl of warm water ready to pull out with your lid lifter. This will give you a good rinse, but no boiling needed.

Step 3: Prepare & Pack Food

This is where you need to check the specific directions for your food. There will be lots of detailed instruction. Pay attention to the following.

• How the food is prepared before you pack your jars. For example, hot pack or raw pack, headspace, blanching or precooked… there may be other things. Just follow directions.
• Processing time. This will vary according to the type of food, the jar size, and if it is hot packed or raw packed.
• Altitude adjustments. You need to adjust the time according to your elevation where you live. This adjustment should be included with your recipe. More details on that can be found here… Altitude Adjustments (opens in new tab)

Here are some links to lists of food specific pressure canning recipes – Canning Vegetables and Canning Meat. These are all processed in a pressure canner.

Step 5: Load Canner and Venting

1. Place your filled jars on the rack in the canner. 
2. Secure the lid on the canner. Don’t put the weight on yet!
3. Bring to a boil. Watch for steam to start escaping from the vent pipe — this is called venting.
4. Allow the steam to vent for a full 10 minutes. Don’t skip this. 

What is happening during venting?

Venting means letting steam and air escape from the canner. As the water boils it produces steam. This steam forces out any remaining air. Once the vent is closed, the canner traps and pressurizes the steam. Because steam under pressure reaches higher temperatures than boiling water, your jars don’t need to be submerged—the steam does all the heating.

Step 6: Processing

After venting, add the weight.  This is when pressure will start to build.

Weighted Gauge or Dial Gauge

• If you’re using a dial gauge canner, you’ll monitor the dial to see when it reaches the correct pressure.
• If you’re using a weighted gauge canner, you’ll know you’ve hit pressure when the weight starts to rock, jiggle or spin, releasing a little steam with each rock.  (choose your recommended weight. Generally 10 or 15 pounds pressure.)

NOW Start Timing

Once you’ve reached the correct pressure for your altitude, start your timer. Check your gauge periodically throughout processing. Turn your heat up or down as needed to maintain the correct pressure. This is sometimes fiddly.

It will get easier to maintain steady pressure as you get to know your stove and how it reacts as you adjust. Sometimes it is very small adjustments! Eventually you’ll get it set and won’t have to adjust too often.

Note: If the pressure drops below the required level, you have to start your time over. Bummer — I hate it when that happens. Yes, I’ve done it. If it goes a little over… its fine.  The goal is to maintain a steady pressure without a lot of fluctuations.  

Stay in the kitchen and do other things. Check the dial gauge occasionally. If you’ve got a weighted gauge you can listen to the rock and you’ll notice if the sound changes up or down.

When time is up, turn off the heat.

Do not remove the weight yet. Let the canner cool and depressurize naturally. 

NOW is the time you can leave the kitchen. DO NOT try to speed up the cooling process by pouring cold water over the canner or using some other artificial method. No fans, no cool cloths. Just let the canner cool and release pressure all by itself.

Step 7: Cool down and removing Jars

When the pressure has fully returned to zero, remove the weight and wait about 5 minutes. Then crack the lid to allow steam to escape and set the lid back down loosely on top. As you do this tilt the lid away from your face, since it will still be  very hot.  

Repeat – Zero pressure is still very hot! 

Wait another 5 minutes and remove the lid.  

Let the jars rest a bit longer if they’re still visibly boiling hard.  Some boiling is normal but if you notice it boiling so hard liquid is pushing out of the jars you want to wait and slow the process down.  

Next remove the jars with your jar lifter and set them upright on a towel or wooden board. Leave a little space between jars so air can circulate

• Don’t rush this — quick cooling can cause liquid loss.
• But don’t drag it out for hours or leave jars in the canner overnight either; that risks flat sour, which won’t hurt you but will ruin the taste.

My favorite part…

Listen… Did you hear it?

As the jars cool, the lids pull down and seal with a little ping. I never get tired of that sound. It is so satisfying. It means all my work is…well…working!

Just FYI, they won’t always ping. Sometimes you’ll miss it or the jars may just decide not to make a sound. It doesn’t always mean a seal failure. Learn more about what missing that ping means.

You may notice the bands have loosened a bit during processing. That’s normal and not a problem.  Do not try to tighten them down.  You may affect the seal.  And we don’t want to mess it up now! 

Resist the urge to press on the lids. Do not cover with a towel. Leave the jars completely undisturbed for 12–24 hours. I usually leave mine out overnight. I love waking up in the morning to the jars sitting out on the counter with the morning sun shining off of them!

Step 8: Check Seals and Store

Your jars should now be at room temperature and hopefully sealed.  Press down on the center of each lid. A sealed lid stays down and won’t pop up or down. You should also remove the band and lift the jar by the lid edges, if it’s sealed, the lid stays in place.

If a jar didn’t seal: No problem.  Just put it in the fridge and plan to use it within a few days. Reprocess may be a possibility.  Check this post on reprocessing.  

For jars that did seal:

• Wash the outside of the jar — it may be sticky. Sometimes a quick rinse is all that is needed, sometimes a bit of soapy water is in order.
• Remove the screw bands for storage. I recommend this; a loose band can sometimes hold a lid in place even after a seal has failed, and I’d rather know right away if that happens.
• Label each jar with the contents and the date.

Store in a cool, dark, dry place. A pantry or cool basement works well. Avoid hot pipes, high humidity, and direct sunlight.

It is a good idea (but not essential) to store without the screw cap. I highly recommend removing the bands. Sometimes the band can keep the lid on the jar even if the seal has broken. Personally I want to know if the seal has broken… I don’t want that screw band holding the lid in place. If the seal breaks, the food spoils.

For those that choose to leave the screw band on you still need to remove it to wash your jar and band. Then make sure it is completely dry and put back on your jar loosely. The bands will rust if there is any moisture remaining.

(I’m going to say it again… just leave the screw bands off. It is better.)

Now stand back and admire all colorful jars full of delicious, nutritious foods. You did it! Pressure canning feels intimidating the first time, but it gets easier fast.

What? You’re tired? Yes, but it is a satisfying tired, is it not?

Understanding Why It Works

You don’t need to understand the science to can safely, but knowing why the process works tends to build real confidence. Here’s the short version.

Heat penetration: As pressure builds, the temperature inside the canner climbs past what boiling water alone could reach — up to 240°F. That heat works its way through the jar’s contents, destroying spoilage organisms and the spores that cause botulism in low-acid food.

Vacuum seal formation: Heat during processing causes the food and air inside the jar to expand. As the jars cool, the contents contract, pulling the lid down and forming a vacuum seal. That seal is what keeps air, bacteria, and spoilers out during storage.  And it’s what makes that satisfying ping.

What’s Next?

When you’re ready to start, browse beginner-friendly pressure canning recipes:

• Canning Vegetables
• Canning Meat

Curious about other methods?

• Water Bath Canning Start Here — the simpler method for high-acid foods like fruit, jam, and pickles.
• Steam Canning Start Here — a faster alternative to water bath for the same high-acid foods.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does my canner need to be completely full?

No. A partial load is safe as long as you have a minimum of 2 quart jars or 4 pint jars, and you still process for the full recommended time. More on partial loads here.

Can I double-stack jars in my pressure canner?

Yes — you’ll need a second rack between layers, and you use the same amount of water as you would for a single layer. Full details on double-stacking here.

My canner is leaking steam around the lid. What do I do?

This is most common with All American canners, usually caused by the lid sitting slightly crooked. Here’s how to fix it. For other canner styles, check that the gasket is still pliable and not dried out or cracked — a stiff or cracked gasket won’t seal properly.

Printable Checklist

Pressure Canning FAQs & Tips

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