Customer Reviews

All-American 10-1/2-Quart Pressure Cooker/Canner

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Every serious gardener needs two canners; a huge one that can handle days of large harvests, and a small one for when you come into the house with just a handful of veggies that you don't want to consume that day, but that you don't want to feed to the livestock or otherwise waste. This sturdy little canner is wonderful for those mini harvest days. Many times I've used it to process just one or two pints.

It holds 7 pints or 9 half pints (the ninth doesn't quite make it to the bottom if it's the tapered style, but you can rest its lowest thread, just below the metal band, on two neighboring jars).

I like the fact that it doesn't require a rubber gasket (which eventually deteriorates) and its single wiggle-weight does your choice of 5, 10, or 15 pounds of pressure. Its smaller size allows it to both heat up and cool down more quickly than its jumbo cousins, which can give you a firmer product by reducing the time that it's cooking before and after reaching pressure.

I've had mine for several years and nothing on this little workhorse has needed replacing. I recommend it highly.

I really like the all american cooker/canners but this one is labeled as accepting 4 quart jars. 4 quart jars do indeed fit, but any method that requires total submersion of the jars wont work as the cooker is not tall enough. If you do a lot of canning with quart jars you need the 21.5 quart model or larger. Generally total submersion is only required for hot water bath methods used for high acid foods like pickles. You don't need a pressure cooker for these but just a large pot. However, I like to think of my pressure cooker as my go to device for all canning needs as well as a pressure cooker. I don't want to have to also purchase a large pot. I would like to see this firmly stated somewhere (other than in the middle of page 18 of the manual) as I would not have bought this small model had I known. For bad advertising, and my ruined pickles, it gets 3 stars.

This is the second All-American I have (I have #921 - 21 1/2-Qt also), and I love it!

The smaller size means that it sits on top of the stove at all times, ready to be used. While making dinner on the front burners, I often have this canner working on the back burner. After we finally get up from the table (noone ever seems to want to!), depending on what I canned, but usually something that goes for 90 minutes at 10 psi, it is time to take jars out of the canner. There are some steps to do in between, but our table is in the kitchen, so I get up to check on/turn off burner, etc., while still being able to enjoy the wonderful conversation and shananigans going on at the table. Once the canner is cool, it gets a vinegar & soap bath (I have hard water), dried and put on back burner for next load, jars are on a towel ready to cool and seal overnight, and then be put away in the morning while the coffee is perking.

The smaller size means I don't feel guilty if I don't have two levels of jars to can (one on top of the other). If I only have 4 pints of picadillo to can, then I only can 4 pints, and no guilt about all that space being wasted. :-)

Don't get me wrong, I love my 921 also - I would not know what to do without it, but this 910 has just as much place in my kitchen.

I own a very large canner, but when we moved to our present
home, I have a counter-top Jenn Aire range. There is no
way my canner would fit on this stove.

This 10-1/2 quart All American Canner fits exactly on my eyes.
And besides this, there are only two of us at home now, so
I don't need to can as much.

This canner has worked perfectly for my needs. I would
recommend it to everyone. One of the best benefits is
that you do not need a gasket with this canner. All you
do is oil between the top and canner. I also had a question,
so I called Customer Service with All American, and got right
through (to an English speaking representative). They were
very helpful and answered all my questions.

We had been considering the purchase of a pressure cooker for years and after seeing one used on a recent television cooking show, we decided not to put it off any longer. Our only criteria was that we wanted to buy one made in America, if at all possible. The All-American Pressure Cooker/Canner fit the bill perfectly. When it arrived we read and reread the instructions and still felt a little nervous the first time we used it, but the meal we prepared, beef short ribs, turned out better than we could have ever imagined! The meat almost melted in our mouths. There used to be a barbecue restaurant here in town whose slogan was, "you need no teeth to eat my beef." That slogan describes the All-American Pressure Cooker/Canner prepared meals to a "T."

Here's a couple of hints for meat recipes: After you brown the meat, line the bottom of the pan with sliced yellow onions before placing the meat back in the pan. And use a medium heat setting on your stove. We often make a dipping sauce, and our favorite recipe uses a 50-50 liquid mixture of 1 cup of water and 1 cup of our favorite barbecue sauce, whisked, and poured over the top of large, browned, beef short ribs, just before sealing the pressure cooker. 40 minutes later, you will not believe how fabulous it tastes!

Do we recommend to anyone who reads this review that you should purchase an All-American Pressure Cooker? All we can say is, after you have prepared a few meals with this cooking style, we believe you'll wish you had gotten one years ago. We don't know anyone at All-American. We don't own any company stock (I think it's privately owned, anyway). But it's a tremendous addition to our kitchen that we wish we would have bought decades ago! And the best thing about the All-American Pressure Cooker/Canner is that it is made by Americans, in AMERICA.

None better for pressure canning. Smaller size makes it easier and quicker to process.

We bought this as a replacement for our aging Fagor Duo steel pressure cooker which we originally bought for use on an induction cooktop we had at the time.. We have since replaced the cooktop with a gas unit and can now use something other than stainless steel (aluminum won't work on an induction cooktop).. Anyway, the Fagor was starting to not behave -- likely due to an aging rubber seal. We found a reference to this brand on a forum which indicated that these do NOT have a rubber seal to replace at regular intervals and loved that idea! Anyway, we received it the other day and have used it twice over the weekend. The first time was just to try it out with water alone. We had a small steam leak which is expected on the first few uses..

Make sure you read ALL of the instructions -- the manual is one of the best I've seen in a kitchen item in a long time (nice diagrams, easy to read directions, warnings,etc. It's even got some recipes but I haven't tried any). Once you get the hang of how to tighten the bakelite clamps (two at a time, opposites) and are able to get the oil seal going (olive oil or vaseline only!) it works great! We did artichokes in it last night (we cooked 3 -- but the pan could have held 4 average sized ones or 3 huge artichokes you occasionally find) and I cooked those for ~15 minutes at 10lb pressure.

One thing to remember -- because this is aluminum, do NOT change temps quickly -- no cold water immersion after the cooking time has completed.. You need to just wait until the gauge reads zero which can take a little time!

Overall, I'm very happy with this item. Some people may think it's too small but the way I look at it is that if it's too big, it's likely too heavy and you may not want to use it too often since it can be bulky to clean,etc.

I should note that this PC will be primarily used for cooking and NOT canning. I've got a ~22qt Presto pressure cooker/canner that we bought 3-4 years ago and that is my canning pressure cooker.. Now to convince my wife that we can get rid of the Fagor Duo.. :-)

I remember Mom using a pressure cooker when I was a kid, and had thought about getting one for years. When I finally got around to shopping for one, I read the details and reviews on this unit and its imported competitors, and some recurring themes emerged. The imported ones are lighter, reportedly easier to use, smaller, and have a tendency to fail, sometimes in spectacular ways. This one is big, bulky, and utilitarian looking, but it's very hard to find any reports of serious failures. Having used autoclaves in labs, I have a healthy respect for pressurized steam, so All-American looked like the way to go.

This is now one of my favorite cooking utensils, on a par with my iron skillet. Spare ribs are on the table 60 minutes after I pull them from the refrigerator, but they taste like they've been slow-roasted in a BBQ pit all day. The cooking process is incredibly easy, too: sear the meat, add the sauce, clamp on the lid, and let it simmer for the time and pressure indicated in your recipe. I doubt I'll ever use it for canning, but just as a cooker it more than justifies its price. Of course you can pay less for a functional pressure cooker, but only if you're not bothered by the idea of metal projectiles flying around your kitchen.

If you're torn between this and the next larger model, as I was, only get the bigger one if you plan to make really huge meals (or if you need the space for canning). This one will fit a few pounds of ribs or a large pot roast with no trouble.

I got this PC today. I really like it for its sturdy structure. But, after reading the manuals, I'm very disappointed because this PC can't be used for cooking beans. My primary purpose for buying a PC is to cook a lots of hard beans like the black and red ones. If this PC can't be used for cooking beans, which PC brand can? Does anyone have any idea? I'm debating on whether I should return it.

I read a lot of reviews before purchasing my canner & was a little nervous about the lid sticking. I followed the directions & have had no issues. I love the weighted pressure gauge. I have already reccomended it to my friends, & would deffinately buy it again, though it is so well built I will never have to. My only reccomendation would be that they clarify the amount of jars better. If you use wide mouth pints, it only holds 5, not 7. Amazon had the best price I found & it was shipped quickly with no problems.