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Home / Pressure Canning / Pressure Canner Brands / Pressure Canner Gaskets

Pressure Canner Gaskets

Most pressure canner brands (as of 2015) use rubber gaskets inside the lid cover to help seal in pressure:

A pressure canner is a deep, heavy kettle that has a rack on the bottom for jars to stand on, a tight-fitting lid with a gasket, and a pressure gauge. The gasket keeps steam from leaking out around the cover. If the casket is worn, stretched, or hardened, replace it.”  [1] Fraser, Angela. Associate Professor/Food Safety Education Specialist. How Canning Preserves Food. Clemson University, Clemson, SC. Accessed March 2015 at http://www.foodsafetysite.com/consumers/resources/canning.html

The pressure canner brands that use a gasket include Presto, Mirro (and the now-discontinued Fagor.)

Only one brand (as of 2020) does not, which is All-American: “It has a metal to metal seal, so there is no need to replace rubber gaskets.”  [2] Utah State University Cooperative Extension. General information about pressure canners. https://extension.usu.edu/utah/files/uploads/Master%20Food%20Preservers/PressureCanners.pdf. Accessed 2015. [A vintage brand, Kook Kwik, also used no gasket.]

NCHFP recommends changing rubber gaskets and rubber overpressure plugs just as a routine matter of course every 2 years [3] Andress, Elizabeth L. Pressure Canning and Canning Low Acid Foods at Home. Cooperative Extension: University of Georgia. Powerpoint presentation, slide 36. Accessed March 2015. .

Some people say they replace their gaskets every five years (but don’t say how often they use the canner). Others say they wouldn’t push it that long: “As to a gasket lasting 6 years one of these days you will have a gasket blowout. They get brittle over time and are less stretchy. That’s when they blow.”  [4] User comment at https://www.canadianpreppersnetwork.com. March 2013. People say you’ll never know just how high you can jump until you’ve had an old, weak pressure canner gasket blow on you in mid-operation.

Some end users say they always keep a spare replacement set handy. The question usually eventually arises of how long a “spare gasket” in storage is good for. The University of Maine Extension seems to say five years: “Gaskets in unused lids work well for at least five years from their date of manufacture if stored in a cool, dry area.”  [5] Let’s Preserve: Steps to Success in Home Canning. University of Maine Cooperative Extension. #4079. 2007. Page 3.

Presto, however, says you cannot store spare gaskets at all: “We do not recommend storing them, rather buy fresh each time you need to replace the rings. The rubber can and will deteriorate over time. ”  [6] Shelly at Presto Customer Service to healthycanning.com. 4/17/2015. Correspondence on file. This could make having a gasket fail on you right at the start of a canning session quite problematic.

References[+]

References
↑1 Fraser, Angela. Associate Professor/Food Safety Education Specialist. How Canning Preserves Food. Clemson University, Clemson, SC. Accessed March 2015 at http://www.foodsafetysite.com/consumers/resources/canning.html
↑2 Utah State University Cooperative Extension. General information about pressure canners. https://extension.usu.edu/utah/files/uploads/Master%20Food%20Preservers/PressureCanners.pdf. Accessed 2015.
↑3 Andress, Elizabeth L. Pressure Canning and Canning Low Acid Foods at Home. Cooperative Extension: University of Georgia. Powerpoint presentation, slide 36. Accessed March 2015.
↑4 User comment at https://www.canadianpreppersnetwork.com. March 2013.
↑5 Let’s Preserve: Steps to Success in Home Canning. University of Maine Cooperative Extension. #4079. 2007. Page 3.
↑6 Shelly at Presto Customer Service to healthycanning.com. 4/17/2015. Correspondence on file.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Dan

    August 06, 2021 at 1:03 pm

    I do not see any way to order replacement rubber gaskets for the 22 quart pressure canner, model 92022. Lots of information, no way to order parts. That’s a pity.

    Reply
    • Healthy Canning

      September 05, 2022 at 5:51 pm

      You need to contact the maker of your pressure canner for that kind of hyper-specific canner part information.

      Reply
  2. Douglas

    January 19, 2021 at 6:54 pm

    Huh. I’ve been using my gasket for over 7 years. I guess it doesn’t know it should have failed by now!

    Reply
  3. Patricia Ruddy

    August 20, 2020 at 2:58 pm

    Can I use a mirro canning gasket in place of a presto gasket

    Reply
    • Healthy Canning

      September 22, 2020 at 12:42 pm

      Sorry, no idea. Ask Mirro.

      Reply
  4. Jeanne mclaughlin

    April 11, 2016 at 2:10 am

    Can i replace my rubber gasket lid for a metal to metal lid

    Reply
    • Healthy Canning

      April 11, 2016 at 3:05 am

      Probably not, but you’d need to check with the manufacturer of your canner.

      Reply
    • Dan Hartman

      April 13, 2022 at 10:39 pm

      No, the “only”(?) canner company that does not need a gasket to form an airtight seal is the All-American canner made in Wisconsin. They are designed and manufactured so that the canner pot mates up with the lid and forms a perfect seal. The other canners are not machined in the same way which is why an All-American canner lid will not fit a Mirro or Presto. (Not to mention that they latch in a completely different way.)

      Reply
If you need FAST or relatively immediate canning help or answers, please try one of these Master Food Preserver groups; they are more qualified than we are and have many hands to help you. Many of them even operate telephone hotlines in season.

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