When I put “pressure canning” on my yearly homesteading to-try board, I didn’t realize it would be ELECTRIC (or digital) pressure canning but here we are. Honestly, I couldn’t be happier with the decision! Here is my honest review of the Presto 12 Quart Digital (Electric) Pressure Canner.
DISCLAIMER: I am not affiliated or paid by Presto to write this review. I researched other reviews to help make my decision and purchased this pressure canner with own money. With that said, Johnson Home NC is an Amazon affiliate. Links provided in this post, if used by you, will earn me a commission at no additional cost to you. I will always encourage first shopping direct, small, and local!
My first pressure canning experience
I’m very new to pressure canning and to be honest, scared to use a traditional pressure canner.
I grew up around a traditional pressure canner and my mom still uses one today but she never showed me then how to use one.
She’s promised to show me now and even purchased me a pressure canner years ago but I’ve only used it for water bathing larger batches. I’m still holding out hope she’ll teach me her ways and give me the courage and new skills should I need them.
Traditional pressure canner users claim they are easy and safe to use and I believe them and their experience but for me, for now:
ELECTRIC/DIGITAL PRESSURE CANNER is the TICKET!
Is a pressure canner like an Instant Pot?
I love my Instant Pot pressure cooker.
But NO, pressure cookers and pressure canners are NOT the same and cannot be used the same way!
What I mean is that the Instant Pot is a pressure cooker and I am not afraid of it. I use it multiple times a week to cook a whole chicken and make homemade raw milk yogurt.
The Instant Pot is NOT made for pressure canning to preserve foods. Please do not attempt!
Reading up on the Presto Digital Pressure Canner, I considered how similar in design and use it is to the Instant Pot.
That helped me make the decision to purchase the Presto Electric Canner for preserving the garden harvest.
Also for making shelf stable all the frozen left over chicken bones from raising our own meat birds into chicken bone broth.
Pros and Cons of the Presto Digital Pressure Canner
As a novice pressure canner, having only ever pressure canned with this Presto Digital Pressure Canner, I have not much to compare.
Here is my list of pros and cons just the same. I will explain what I mean about each:
Pros: safe, easy to use, walks you through all the steps, frees stove space
Cons: the knob is too sensitive (possibly user error), small batches only, needs electricity, storage space
Pros Breakdown
Safety
Sure, many expert pressure canner users will say the manual pressure canner is safe to use too. Perhaps they are correct.
For me, this electric canner is safe because of the features that won’t allow the lid to be removed when it’s not ready and the pressure amounts are preset.
There is also no need to adjust for altitudes using this digital pressure canner.
Easy to use/walks you through the steps
The beeping could possibly be annoying for some as the pressure canner indicates it needs your attention or that it is proceeding to the next step in preserving your food.
For me, the beeping is welcomed! I’m slightly ADHD in the kitchen and generally have at least 3 things going at once. Efficiency, am I right? (At least in my brain…) I need the reminders to put my attention back on the canner when it is needed.
The Presto Digital Pressure Canner comes with a user manual as well as a one sheet, quick reference guide.
It is advised to read through the manual your first and second time using the pressure canner to make sure you’re doing it right.
Also to have access to tried and approved recipes for both pressure and boiling water canning. The manual comes with several tested recipes.
Once you get comfortable with this pressure canner, you can simply use the one sheet as a quick guide as you pressure can your foods.
Frees up stove space
I do a lot of water bath canning so I understand the need for all 4 eyes of the stove to be usable while canning.
This electric/digital pressure canner is fine to sit on the counter top while processing. Be sure to read the user manual on suggestions for counter tops.
Make sure there is something under it like a large cutting board to protect your counter top from the heat and/or steam.
Also, the canner, when full, gets pretty heavy. Be sure the surface it is sitting on can handle the weight.
Cons Breakdown
Presto Digital Pressure Canner’s knob is too sensitive
This could be a user error but the knob you turn to switch from pressure canning or boiling water is very sensitive.
Recently, I thought I had selected boiling water but apparently I was too heavy handed and didn’t pay close enough attention to the screen. I was actually pressure canning. Per instructions, I had too much water in the canner for pressure canning. It was requesting the regulator be put on which I specifically remembered boiling water bath said NO to that. Then I realized it was on the WRONG SETTING.
Again, likely user error but I had to cancel the whole process, wait for the canner to cool enough to allow opening, then start all over. What should have taken a certain amount of time now took over double to complete.
Small batch canning
I generally preserve in small batches as I have a smaller garden. It produces well but in small bunches at a time, not a whole mess ton at once.
This makes small batches fine by me.
Five quarts in the canner at one time is usually plenty for what I’m preserving from my garden that day.
If you preserve in much larger quantities at one time, the Presto 12 Quart Digital Pressure Canner may not be right for you.
Needs electricity
This pressure canner is electric meaning it needs power to work.
For some, that is a turn off especially if trying to learn off-grid skills or to be come less reliant on the power grid.
I do my canning in the house mostly. I also have a glass top electric stove in my husband’s work shop for canning too. Both are glass tops and generally not recommended for use of a manual pressure canner due to the weight. It is recommended I call my stove manufacture to make sure the top can withstand that much weight put on top.
In addition to this, my glass top stove is also electric. For me, I would still need power to use a manual pressure canner.
Storage space
Just like a traditional pressure canner, the electric one is also a big girl.
They both take up a lot of space. Space I don’t really have at the moment until I can declutter the pantry floor.
For now, the digtial pressure canner sits on the floor near the kitchen since I am using it about once a week currently.
It is August in North Carolina as I type this and that means the garden is in prime producing mode. Slowing down a bit, sure, but still GIVING.
This canner is getting used enough that I need not put it in a place inconveniently located to drag out once a week.
Is the Presto 12 Quart Digital Pressure Canner worth it?
In a word, yes.
So far I have pressure canned by the instructions and recipes within the user manual, chicken broth and green beans. I have boiling water bathed a salsa recipe too.
Though I have not eaten any of these preservations yet, I am confident the pressure canner did its job as long as I did mine. My job being to follow the instructions and watch for sealing issues while in storage.
The ease of use and safety I feel while using this electric pressure canner have been the biggest selling features for me.
The price for this canner is higher, I admit it. This was something I’ve been considering for months and decided to save towards it. It was not an impulse buy and not with borrowed money (credit).
She has definitely been worth the investment thus far.
I look forward to stocking my pantry shelves with many more pressure canned products like meat and potatoes and other low acid foods.
Update: December 2024
I have since used multiple jars of chicken broth for soups and they have all been just fine, 4 months later!
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Traditional/Manual Presto Pressure Canner 16 Quart
Digital Presto Pressure Canner 12 Quart
Instant Pot Pressure COOKER 6 Quart
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Have you used this same digital pressure canner or want one for yourself? Leave a comment below. I hope this review was helpful in your decision making.
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Hi!
Using my Presto Digital Pressure Canner for the first time. My regulator looks like yours, not like the ones in the videos. It’s just round. No little triangle “handle” coming out. My regulator let steam out the whole time I was canning carrots. This doesn’t seem normal. Are you supposed to push the regulator on forcefully? I’m afraid of breaking it. Can’t find info about this anywhere.
Hey! I honestly haven’t paid attention to the steam while processing. Maybe it did. Not sure. I will have to pay closer attention next time! I bought this Presto because I am SO ADHD in the kitchen!! I need to be able to set it and go about my other chores. The beeping reminds me to come back. HAHA! I just place the regulator on, no pushing required. It works like it is supposed to. That may not be much help and maybe I am too trusting but I followed the directions to a T for pressure canning chicken broth and green beans so I have just trusted the process that as long as I do my part each time it beeps, the machine will do its.
In a regular pressure canner it releases steam throughout the whole process time. The regulator prevents too high pressure from building. As long as you followed the instructions from the manufacturer you should be just fine!
I am positive you (and my mom!) are right about this. 🙂 Thank you for the encouragement!
You can pop it in fairly firmly. If it can stand the pressure build up in the canner it can handle a firm pop to get it in place
Hello. Thanks for the review. I keep waffling between the Presto Electric Canner and the Nesco/Carey . A possible solution to the glass stovetop is a single burner stove top like used for camping. Yes it plugs in however it will accommodate your canner. Or a small 2 burner camp stove that uses butane or propane might be another alternative.
I have no experience with the Nesco but went with the Presto from other reviews. Thanks for the campstove tip! I have heard about that one and will keep it in mind for whenever I try out my traditional Presto! Thank you for reading.