Warning: I blew $30 on a store brand pressure canner and it paid off, but my neighbor swears hers nearly killed her | Cheap Dinner Wins - Opinions Matter
Warning: I blew $30 on a store brand pressure canner and it paid off, but my neighbor swears hers nearly killed her
Six months ago I grabbed a Presto canner for $85 at a farm store in Ames, then saw the store brand one next to it for $55 and wondered if I got ripped off. My neighbor Deb bought that cheap one two years back and says the seal blew on her third batch of green beans, spraying hot water across her kitchen. But here is the thing, she never replaced the gasket and admitted she ran it dry once. My Presto has done 14 batches of chili and 9 of chicken stock without a hiccup, so I feel like I paid $30 for peace of mind. Then again, another guy at the co-op says his $50 model from a hardware store in Des Moines has run fine for a decade, no name brand, no problems. Is the cheap one actually junk, or do people just misuse them and blame the canner? I want to hear from anyone who runs store brand gear hard, because I keep going back and forth on whether the extra money is smart or just fear. What is your real experience, did cheap work or did it cost you more in the end?
Doesn't the whole story kind of hinge on her skipping the gasket and running it dry? A blown seal on a pot that got boiled empty is not the canner's fault, that is just how pressure works no matter what brand is stamped on the side. Cheap gear fails when you ignore it, same as the pricey stuff, so the real question is whether you keep up with the parts and never walk away from a hot one.