Nesco Electric Pressure Canner

The Nesco Electric Pressure Canner (affiliate link) sat here for almost two weeks before I got up the courage to use it.

The first thing I will say is that I am impressed with Nesco’s customer service. There are two pressure limiting valves – a black one for 10 psi and a green one for 15 psi. I read the book and was thinking I needed to install whichever one I needed and I couldn’t find them. I had all the packing materials, the boxes, the styrofoam and nowhere did I see these so I called customer service. A lady answered – a real human right off the bat! She was very nice and helpful. She told me the black one is on the machine when it arrives and if I want to switch to 15 psi, I would exchange the black one for the green one. So, if it shows up, I’ll save it and if not, I don’t need it.

Second, I was a bit nervous about using it and, of course, it’s different from using a stovetop model. But once I used it, I was hooked!

This machine will hold a max of 4 quarts or 5 pints. The first thing I canned was Friday morning when I canned 5 pints of hominy. I had read on one of the Facebook canning groups that someone had canned French fries and said they were the best they had ever eaten so Friday evening, I canned 5 pints of French fries.

Yesterday I canned 3 quarts of leftover Chicken Posole and 15 more pints of French fries.

In two days of using this electric canner, I’ve canned 20 pints of French fries, 5 pints of hominy and 3 quarts of Posole.

My Thoughts:

I cannot say this is safe as far as getting food to the correct pressure and keeping it there. There are “experts” in canning who use this and think it’s safe so I’m going to use it til we feel it isn’t safe. I never felt concerned about whether the lid would blow off or whether it could injure me.

The thing I like most is that it’s almost completely set it and forget it. I would feel as comfortable leaving home with this going as I do with the Instant Pot going. In fact, I was out working in the garden with it going and never came in to check on it.

When you first set it, you set the vent to “exhaust” and it goes through the 10 minute venting period. Then I have to set the vent to “airtight” and it will begin the countdown for the amount of time I have programmed for it to pressure can the contents of my jars. It’s as easy as it gets.

It’s super easy to clean. I’ve just wiped the lid (which hasn’t gotten soiled yet). The insert can be removed (similar to an Instant Pot) and cleaned. Yesterday when I canned the posole, there was a bit of grease/water in the pot that had siphoned from the jars and I wanted to clean it before canning more potatoes so I used pot holders to carry the hot insert outside, dumped the hot water on some weeds, then took it upstairs to wash it in hot soapy water. By the time I got upstairs with it, I could handle it without pot holders. Again, it couldn’t be easier.

I’m going to say this: Always use USDA approved canning techniques/recipes. I am not a canning rebel and there are just a few things I do that differ from the USDA guidelines but really, the safest thing to do is follow their approved and recommended recipes/techniques.

I have read the reviews and I do see where a few folks have had units that “died” and it’s some kind of overheating safety mechanism that apparently blows a fuse (which is probably what happened to my dehydrator). I’m sure this is something Vince can fix if it happens after the warranty is up so I’m not concerned.

If I can find another one that’s on sale, I will buy a second one. If I hadn’t had this electric canner, I would have frozen the chicken posole and I much prefer to have food in jars instead of in a freezer. I have a small All American canner that will hold four quarts but the electric canner was so much easier and clean up is so much faster because it cools down so quickly. I’m impressed with this canner.