All American 10.5-Quart Pressure Canner Review

We purchased the All American 10.5-Quart Pressure Canner so our reviewer could put it to the test. Keep reading for our full product review.

If you want to can low-acid vegetables, soups, stocks, and meats, you need a pressure canner. No other tool makes the process safe and effective, but canner sizes can be excessive. Ones that hold 7 quart-sized jars are pretty standard, and ones that pack in 19 quart-sized jars need a team to lift off your stove. Small pressure cookers aren’t up to the task of canning, which makes the All American 10.5-Quart Pressure Canner a gem. It’s designed specifically for pressure canning, with pressure cooking as a bonus use, and holds just enough jars to make canning a fun project instead of a drawn-out chore, but sticker shock made me question whether it’s worth the cost. I spent a couple of weeks testing the All American 10.5-Quart Pressure Canner to see just how it handled processing and cooking. Here’s what I found.

Design: Sturdy, dual-use pot

Even though it’s small, this canner fits the safety recommendations of the National Center for Home Food Preservation. Four quart-size jars rest comfortably on the canning rack, and you can squeeze in up to seven pint-sized jars or eight half-pints. All American recommends this model for gas, electric, and flat-top ranges, although it does advise not dropping it onto a flat cooktop.

The canner does double duty as a pressure cooker, but it’s still a little larger than ideal for small-family meals. The canner’s instruction manual also emphasizes processing meats and vegetables in tin cans, a technique that remains popular in Alaska and Canada’s colder regions. All American has stopped recommending the unit for water-bath canning, saying the canner’s cover can stick and build up unwanted pressure. The company is designing a separate water-bath cover, but does not yet have a release date.

Setup Process: No assembly and minimal prep

This pressure canner comes fully assembled, but some features are worth learning about before you start playing with it. It comes out of the box with the wing nuts holding the cover in place; loosen these by turning counterclockwise until you can flip down the bolts, and then turn the cover counterclockwise until you can lift it free of the base.

After washing and drying the canner by hand, lightly rub the pot’s beveled edge with a little olive oil. This keeps the metal-to-metal seal opening and closing smoothly. Then, sit down with the canner’s instruction manual. It gives clear, easy-to-follow steps for correctly putting on the cover, caring for the canner, and using it. Resist the urge to peel away the large orange warning stickers; the manufacturer thinks those labels are so crucial that if they fall off, they will send you replacements for free.

Features: Unique components mean minimal maintenance

Even across the kitchen, All American’s products stand out with their bulky black wing nuts and top handle. When you flip the cover over, there’s no rubber gasket. Instead of one gauge, the cover bristles with two: a dial and a weight. These features are part of what makes these canners so popular.

Rubber gaskets typically should be replaced each canning season; here, you never even need a gasket. The rubber overpressure plug can wear out, but at least you’re only buying one part. The dual gauges also mean less maintenance. Canners that solely use a dial gauge need regular recalibration, but here the regulator weight is in control. The dial is just for reference, which is particularly helpful in high-altitude kitchens. You should swap out the dial gauge if it’s way off the mark, but All American says it never needs to be sent off for testing.

Performance: Easy to close and use

All American pressure canners are known for their sturdiness, reliability, and weight. The 10.5-quart model sat solidly on my gas stovetop’s midsize burner, where it was easy to control the pressure. At 13 pounds, it’s heavier than many larger canners when empty, but was easy to lift when full.

The moment you pull the canner from its box, you’ll notice its unique design features. This canner could be as at home in a laboratory as it is in a kitchen. Features like its metal-to-metal seal and dual gauges aren’t just for looks—they make the canner easy to pressurize and monitor. In testing, the gauge started to move within seconds of placing the regulator weight, always a reassuring sign of a good seal. Getting the jiggle of the regulator just right takes a little practice and varies from stove to stove. All American’s website has a short video clip that shows the perfect jiggle.

Price: You get what you pay for

Those special, low-maintenance features make All American pressure canners some of the most expensive on the market. Even larger pressure canners from other manufacturers tend to cost less than the smallest All American model, which usually retails for around $260.

In support of its price, the 10.5-quart model looks and feels sturdier than most of its competitors. It’s built to last, and to do so with minimal care. Just taking away the hassle of gauge testing may be worth the cost. In some parts of the country, local testing locations have become increasingly difficult to find.

Competition: Small, but mighty

If you can afford it, this All American pressure canner may well be the only one you ever have to buy, but its hefty price tag makes its main competitor’s options worth considering.

Presto 16-Quart Pressure Canner and Cooker: Presto's 16-Quart Pressure Canner and Cooker costs far less (it retails for around $98) and adds water-bath canning to its list of uses, but you will need to give it more love. Presto recommends having the dial gauge tested annually and replacing the sealing ring and overpressure plug every three years.

Presto Precise 12-Quart Digital Pressure Canner: If you don’t blanch at All American’s cost, you could consider the next evolution in home canning. Presto’s self-contained electric model takes some of the fuss out of pressure canning and doubles as a water-bath canner. It’s so new that I'm waiting to see how it holds up over time. This product retails for around $250.