Pressure Canning and Bottling Equipment

What is Pressure Canning?

Pressure Canning has been around since the Ball brothers went into jar mass production around 130 years ago. The jars that they produced subsequently enabled the use of high pressure processing of home-grown produce countrywide in the US.

When Do You Need a Pressure Canner

If you would like to expand your repertoire to include soups, stews, low acid foods like vegetables then you will need the services of a pressure canner. It works on the same principles as a pressure cooker but has a gauge which enables a precise control of pressure - the pressure increases the heat beyond the boiling point of water and destroys bacteria - something that the water-bathing method cannot achieve.

Pressure Canning is therefore a mature method of food preservation and the United States Department of Agriculture has undertaken extensive testing of recipes over the years. The Manual that they have produced as a result is considered to be the definitive benchmark for safe pressure canning across the world - we include a copy with each canner sold.

How we support the UK Canning community

We are very happy to enable this same incredible means of home food preservation to our customers by regularly importing Presto and All American pressure canners, and spare parts. We supply a range of jars suitable for pressure canning, and provide information and teaching via our pressure canning workshops.

Le Parfait Jars for Pressure Canning

The Le Parfait range of screw top Familia Wiss jars that we offer is unchanged in design over the years, providing strong jars of tempered glass that resist damage well and very strong seals that will not buckle under the pressure of processing.

We walk the talk to provide you confidence

I have used the Presto equipment and Le Parfait canning jars myself for our own home processing for the past 15 years - I have never had a jar break or a seal buckle. The Presto canner is easy to maintain by following the clear instructions - there are just a few minor maintenance jobs to carry out each time you use the canner - pre-flight checks if you like.

Sadly we are not able to offer Ball Mason products at this time due to market restrictions put in place by the company, but we are always monitoring and will take an opportunity that arises in the future.

Why Pressure Can?

Pressure Canning is a preserving method which dates back around a hundred years but is bang up to date in our modern world. It provides longterm shelf stable food preservation - with no ongoing cost. No further energy requirement beyond the processing, food which is safe to eat striaght from the jar if necessary, and the cost of that food is locked in on the day that you process it. You might not eat it for a year, two years - and who knows how prices will have risen by then?

Yes, you need the right equipment which costs - the only comparable process is freezing for which you will need an adequate sized freezer for storage and continuous power to run it - there is a favouble price comparison.

For extensive information please visit our pressurecanning.co.uk website which examines every aspect and will almost certainly answer many questions you may have. Alternatively, give us a call!

Rosie x

What Do I Use for Bottling?

I use the Tom Press steriliser which is quite like the old Burco boiler, for those of a certain age. This is a brilliant piece of kit, has a large chamber to stack jars or tall bottles, and a thermostat and timer. It is very, very good and you can even use it to sterilise loose fruit juice and then use the tap to fill sterilised bottles.

The fact that the pressure canner is much taller than a domestic pressure cooker means that lots of jars can be processed stacked on top of each other which makes the job very efficient.