Pressure Cooker or Pressure Canner for flasking?

[Becca]

Hi Everyone! I know I have asked this questions before through private messages...but I just couldn't remember what the answer was since I have memory issues....would it really matter if I used a pressure cooker or a pressure canner to sterilize flasks? I would really like to get a pressure canner so I could use it for canning as well, a pressure cooker isn't supposed to be used for canning. So if someone has some advice for me I would really really appreciate it...oh....and any recommendations on what to get? I have a b-day coming up....and you know what I am going to ask for....lol. I want to make sure I get a nice quality one from the start!

Thanks!

[kavanaru]

Hi Becca, if you want to use it for canning (and you are really going to use for it ) then it may be worth to buy it.. (and I say may me, because to be honest I have no clue what it is supposed to be )

...but anyway, if your intention is mainly flasking orchids, then a pressure cooker would do a great job! (we used to work with pressure cookers in the lab, when we did not wanted to start the Autoclave for small things!)

[Becca]

Originally Posted by kavanaru

Hi Becca, if you want to use it for canning (and you are really going to use for it ) then it may be worth to buy it.. (and I say may me, because to be honest I have no clue what it is supposed to be )

...but anyway, if your intention is mainly flasking orchids, then a pressure cooker would do a great job! (we used to work with pressure cookers in the lab, when we did not wanted to start the Autoclave for small things!)

So a pressure cooker and a pressure canner will serve the same purpose and both will do an equal job for sterilizing flasks?

[kavanaru]

I don't know what a pressure canner is, but a pressure cooker will do it...

[Becca]

See below for what I have found on google for "canning purposes" on why pressure cookers wouldn't work for canning....I would assume it wouldn't have much effect on me sterilizing flasks or flasking equipment...but I don't like assuming so that is why I posted this thread.

A canner is designed to process jars of food for longterm storage, but a cooker is intended to rapidly cook food for a meal. A pressure cooker, with its smaller volume capacity, is not recommended for use as a canner because it has a shorter heat-up and cool-down period. This shorter processing time raises the question of food safety.

The USDA identifies a pressure canner as having a removable wire canning rack to lift and separate jars, AND a minimum capacity of at least four (4) quart-size jars... so that eliminates pressure cookers.

Hope this might help on being able to tell me whether or not I can use a pressure canner to sterilize flasks!

[Gin]

Interesting , mine is a canner can process jars of food for storage ..I always called it a pressure cooker .. Gin

[flhiker]

Pressure cookers, Pressure canners and autoclave are basically the same thing. They heat things around 15 psi steam and used for cooking and sterilizing. And all will do the same thing. Actually you can sterilize with just boiling water. If you plan on doing large amounts of canning and flasking then get the Canner, but if your just going to do smaller amounts of flasking get the cooker. As far as the wire rack goes You can just sterilize a pair of metal tongs in boiling water and don't touch the jars with your fingers. Good luck

[gixrj18]

I use the oven...haven't had a problem yet.

[snow]

i was wondering if a microwave oven wuold work for sterilization?

[flhiker]

Originally Posted by snow

i was wondering if a microwave oven would work for sterilization?

I don't see why not. Its a matter of killing all bacteria and I don't think it can survive microwave.
Heres a link that explains why you should not use a microwave for sterilizing jars
How Things Work - Question 1153