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HEN it comes to heat processing home canned food, there are two types of canners to choose from. But if you are looking to start a business, you will have to use both forms of canning.
Most canners are designed to hold seven-quart jars or eight to nine pints. There are some small pressure canners that hold only four-quart jars and some large pressure canners that can hold eighteen-pint jars in two layers or seven-quart size jars. My advice is to buy a larger size one.
A pressure canner is needed to process low-acid foods to get rid of botulism risks. While a pressure canner can also be used for acidic foods, boiling water canners are best for these foods because they are faster. A pressure canner will take 55 to 100 minutes to process a full load while processing acid foods in boiling water will vary from 25 to 60 minutes. This is because a boiling water canner needs about 20 to 30 minutes of heating to start boiling water.
On the other hand, a pressure canner needs 12 to 15 minutes of cooking before it vents, another 10 minutes to vent, another 5 minutes to pressurize the canner, another 8 to 10 minutes to process the food and lastly another 20 to 60 minutes to cool the canner before you can take out the jars.
Let's look at each type of canner and how to use them.