Which instant pot can be used for canning

Many people wonder if you can pressure can food in the Instant Pot. Knowing the common pressure canning mistakes to avoid will ensure you’re practicing healthy canning methods so you and your family stay safe.

We all love our electric pressure cookers. They’re convenient, fast, and we’re pretty comfortable using them. But are they safe for pressure-canning foods?

Are Pressure Cookers Safe for Canning Foods?

In my course, The Abundant Pantry: Canning, where I teach you how to make healthy and SAFE home-canned foods, one of the questions I get asked most frequently is whether or not it’s safe to pressure can foods in the Instant Pot (or another pressure cooker).

How Pressure Canning Works

Pressure canning is a type of canning that you use for low-acid foods. When you have a food that’s higher on the pH scale (meaning less-acidic) than a 4.6, it is possible that bacteria can survive in it. This is why we have to sterilize the food inside the jar, known as processing, in order to make it safe and shelf-stable.

I want you to always remember that I firmly believe that home-canned food is safe, as long as it’s safely canned.

In order to reliably kill off any bacteria (including botulism) that could be in your jar, you have to bring the contents of the jar all the way up to 240-250 degrees F.

The only way to do this in a home setting is to do it under pressure. This is where the pressure canner comes in. Adding pressure and pressurizing the chamber of the pressure canner allows the temperature to come all the way up to that safe canning range.

This is something you just can’t do with a pot of boiling water.

Why Electric Pressure Cookers Are NOT Safe For Canning

The problem with electric pressure cookers is that you have no way of knowing what pressure you’re actually cooking at. That means you don’t actually know what temperature your jars are actually coming to.

Even if it has a digital readout that tells you what the pressure is, there’s no real way to test it for accuracy.

How to Pressure Can Safely

When you’re working with a pressure canner, you have two different ways to test your pressure. You’ll either have a dial gauge or a weighted jiggler.

If you have a dial gauge, you’ll want to be sure to take it into the county extension office every single year, and before the first time you use it to be sure it’s reading the pressure correctly.

If you have a weighted gauge, they work with simple physics principles, so these are always correct.

The problem with the pressure cooker is there is no way to test the accuracy of the pressure your food is cooking at.

Please don’t take your family’s safety or health lightly when it comes to the safety of preserving your food.

UPDATE: Instant Pot unveiled their upgrade to the best-selling multi-cooker at the 2018 International Home and Housewares Show, a large exposition that took place in Chicago earlier this month.

The Chicago Tribune was able to get up close and personal with the new product, called the Instant Pot Max, on the expo's floor. It seems people are mostly excited about the Max's new canning ability.

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New Instant Pot Max cooks faster, with more features https://t.co/zvkxdUEUEc pic.twitter.com/uyxdAUl7pX

— CNET (@CNET) March 13, 2018

Instant Pot Marketing Manager Anna Di Meglio confirmed that the Max will be able to reach 15 PSI, enabling canning—but she also confirmed another major upgrade to the new unit, which is a sous vide capability. The Instant Pot Max is equipped with a temperature dial, meaning you'll be able to precisely control the temperature of the water in your pot to evenly cook any protein masterfully. 

The Tribune also learned just how useful the Instant Pot Max's touch screen will be: Di Meglio confirmed that you won't need to fear being blasted by steam when venting your pot because it's now done via the new touch screen. 

“You don’t have to turn the steam release handle or press the quick release button, staying completely away from the steam,” she said. “You can also program the venting, including pulse releases.”

The company hasn't released the exact sales price for the new model, but it's rumored to be upwards of $200. Keep an eye out for more information on the Instant Pot Max for when it hits stores near you later this spring. 

The original article, published on March 8, continues below: 

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The Instant Pot has lifted a lot of the burden off home cooks when it comes to putting classic dishes on the table. But the newest version, called the Instant Pot Max, looks like it will once again revolutionize some time-consuming kitchen tasks. 

The Instant Pot that you likely already own is a magical gadget that can do many things, from ultra speedy pressure cooking, to making perfect rice, and even making complicated desserts easy as, well, pie.

But, as The Kitchn reports, the forthcoming Instant Pot Max adds a couple of really nifty capabilities to the lineup, including an automatic stirring feature (hello self-stirred risotto!) and a canning function for preserving food.

That's right. The new Instant Pot Max is equipped with technology that lets the pressure cooker reach upwards of 15 PSI to effectively preserve things like jams, sauces, and fruit. The feature will revolutionize the way you use your kitchen to save the best foods of each season, like these preserved figs from the height of a summer harvest.

RELATED: If You're Using Mason Jars for Everything, Read This First

In addition to the new canning mode, and the automatic stirring function, there is a laundry list of safety features (which may or may not dissuade any fears of malfunctions). These features include a new touch screen as well as automatic slow venting, pulsed venting, and a new quick-release venting feature. 

The Instant Pot Max is expected to launch in May or June and is reportedly only available in the six-quart model. The price tag is estimated to be around $200, but that may change as the manufacturer rolls out the model into storefronts across the nation. We'll update this story with more information, and where to find your new Instant Pot,  as it becomes available.

What Instant Pot has a canning feature?

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