How to Use an All American Pressure Canner for the First Time
An All American pressure canner is the one canner you can open, look at, and get nervous about, because it does not work like anything else in your kitchen. No rubber gasket. No plastic parts. Just two machined metal surfaces, a ring of clamping wing nuts, and a dial gauge that looks like it belongs on a submarine. Here is the good news before we start: the first-time steps are short, the machine is nearly impossible to break, and once you have done a single run the whole thing stops being intimidating. This is your walkthrough for that first run, start to finish, from the box on the counter to jars cooling on a towel.
We ship a lot of these at Kooi Housewares, and the questions we get are almost always the same three: how do I seal it, how much water goes in, and why is steam leaking. All three are answered below.
Why an All American canner has no gasket (and why that is a feature, not a missing part)
Most pressure canners seal with a rubber gasket that sits in the lid. It works, until the day it dries out, cracks, or hides in a drawer while you have a counter full of tomatoes. All American canners skip the gasket entirely. The lid and the pot each have a precision-machined bevel, and when you clamp them together, metal seals against metal.
What this means for you on day one:
- Nothing to wear out. There is no gasket to replace every season, so the seal that ships in the box is the seal you keep.
- It seals better with age. The two surfaces mate more closely the more you use them, as long as you keep them clean and lightly oiled.
- One catch: those bare metal surfaces need a thin film of lubricant, or they will stick and can leak on the first heat-up. That is the single step new owners skip. Do not skip it (more below).
Before the first use: wash it, oil it, meet it
Straight out of the box, hand wash the lid and pot in hot soapy water to remove the manufacturing oils. Do NOT dunk the dial gauge, and do not run the canner through the dishwasher. Rinse, dry, and while you have it apart, take a minute to learn the anatomy. It is a short list.
The parts you actually touch:
- The dial gauge reads your exact pressure. It is the number you watch the whole time.
- The pressure regulator weight drops onto the vent pipe and caps pressure at 5, 10, or 15 pounds depending on how you set it.
- The wing nuts are the clamps that pull the lid down onto the seal. There are six on the smaller models, more on the big ones.
- The overpressure plug is a small rubber safety valve that blows before anything dangerous can happen. Cheap to replace, and one of the few rubber parts on the whole machine.
- The rack sits in the bottom so your jars never touch the pot directly.
Now the step everyone forgets. Wipe a thin film of lubricant onto the beveled edge where the lid meets the pot. Extra virgin olive oil is the easy choice, and plenty of people just use Vaseline: a little on your finger, run once around the edge, done. Use just enough to wet the surface, not so much you can see it pooling. Dab a little on the wing nut threads while you are at it. Repeat every third or fourth use. That is the entire maintenance routine.
Sealing the lid: tighten like lug nuts, not like a jar
Here is where new owners get a lopsided seal and then blame the canner. You do not tighten the wing nuts one at a time, all the way around. That pulls one side down while the opposite side lifts, and steam pours out the high edge.
Instead, tighten them in opposing pairs, two at a time, like the lug nuts on a car wheel:
- Set the lid on so the arrow on the cover sits just right of the notch on the body, then rotate until they line up and the clamps engage.
- Flip up two wing nuts directly across from each other and snug them together, evenly.
- Move to the next opposing pair and repeat, working around the lid until all are hand-tight. No wrench. Hand-tight is the spec.
- Sight down the seam at eye level. The gap should be even the whole way around. If one side rides lower, back off that pair and bring up the opposite pair until it is level.
If you want spares on hand, the clamp bolt, pin, and Bakelite knob kit ($16.49) rebuilds the whole clamp assembly, though most people never need it.
How much water, and the 10-minute vent you cannot skip
Add 2 to 3 inches of hot water to the bottom of the pot, set the rack in, and load your filled jars. Use hot water, not cold, so the canner heats faster and your jars are not shocked. This is a pressure canner, not a water bath, so the jars are not submerged. The steam does the work.
Clamp the lid down as above, then leave the weight OFF and turn the burner to high. You will see a steady column of steam start jetting from the vent pipe. When it becomes a strong, continuous stream, set a timer for 10 minutes and let it steam the whole time. This vents the air out of the canner. Trapped air throws off your pressure reading and can leave jars under-processed, which for low-acid food is the one mistake that actually matters. Ten minutes. Every single time.
Weight on, pressure up, and the altitude number you have to get right
After the full 10-minute vent, set the pressure regulator weight on the vent pipe at the poundage your recipe calls for. Pressure will begin to climb, and you will watch it on the dial gauge. As the needle gets within a few pounds of your target, turn the heat down to medium or medium-low so it creeps up rather than blows past. When the weight starts to rock and hiss and the gauge holds your number, that is when you start your processing timer, not a second before.
All American canners give you both a dial gauge and a weighted regulator, which is a gift: the weight caps the pressure and the dial gauge lets you hold an exact number. That matters most when you live above sea level, because pressure canning requires MORE pressure at higher altitude, not less. Here is the standard dial-gauge adjustment:
| Your altitude | Dial-gauge pressure (most low-acid foods) |
|---|---|
| 0 to 2,000 ft | 11 lbs |
| 2,001 to 4,000 ft | 12 lbs |
| 4,001 to 6,000 ft | 13 lbs |
| 6,001 to 8,000 ft | 14 lbs |
| 8,001 to 10,000 ft | 15 lbs |
Always follow a tested recipe. The chart above is the standard dial-gauge guidance for most low-acid foods, but your specific recipe from the National Center for Home Food Preservation is the final word on both pressure and time. When your recipe and the chart disagree, the recipe wins.
Cooling and opening: the part where patience is a safety feature
When your timer goes off, turn off the heat and walk away. Do not lift the weight, do not run it under cold water, do not touch the wing nuts. Let the canner come down to zero pressure on its own, which can take 30 to 45 minutes or more on the big models. When the gauge reads zero and the overpressure plug has dropped, then you nudge the weight off, wait a moment for any last steam, loosen the wing nuts in pairs, and lift the lid away from your face so the escaping steam goes anywhere but at you.
Lift the jars out, set them on a towel, and leave them alone overnight. The ping of lids sealing is the best sound in canning.
Why is my canner leaking steam? (usually one of three things)
A little steam on the very first heat-up, before full pressure builds, is normal while the metal surfaces seat themselves. A steady stream is not. Ninety percent of the time it is one of these:
- Uneven wing nuts. The lopsided-seal problem from earlier. Loosen the low side, tighten the opposite side, get the seam even. This is the fix most of the time.
- A dry seal. You skipped the thin film of oil on the bevel, or it has been many uses since you re-oiled. Cool it down, wipe on a fresh film, try again.
- A tired overpressure plug. The little rubber safety valve hardens with age and can weep steam. The overpressure plug ($5.49) is a two-minute, five-dollar swap.
If your dial gauge ever reads oddly or takes a hard knock, have it checked, because an off gauge is the one part that can quietly undercook low-acid food. A replacement tested steam pressure gauge ($26.49) ships ready to read true.
Cast in the same Wisconsin foundry since 1930
Part of why an All American feels intimidating is that it is built like it will outlive you, because it often does. These canners have been cast from high-grade aluminum in the same American foundry for nearly a hundred years. There is a real chance the one you just bought will can tomatoes for your grandkids, which is exactly the kind of cost-per-use math we like around here. The sticker price is real, but so is the fact that you will likely never buy another.
Every new canner also ships with the manufacturer's own All American instruction and recipe booklet ($7.99) if you ever misplace yours or bought a used canner without one. Keep it in the drawer with the weight.
FAQ: the questions we answer at the counter every week
Do I really need to oil the seal on an All American canner?
Yes. The metal-to-metal seal needs a thin film of extra virgin olive oil or petroleum jelly (Vaseline) on the bevel to seal cleanly and open easily. A little on your finger, run once around the edge, is all it takes. Apply it before the first use and again every third or fourth use. A dry seal is the most common cause of first-time steam leaks.
How much water do you put in an All American pressure canner?
For pressure canning, add 2 to 3 inches of hot water to the bottom of the pot before loading jars. The jars are not submerged the way they are in a water bath canner. Steam, not water, does the work. Always vent the canner for a full 10 minutes before adding the weight.
Why is steam leaking from around the lid?
A little steam before the canner reaches full pressure is normal as the seal seats. A steady stream usually means the wing nuts are uneven, the seal needs a fresh film of oil, or the overpressure plug has aged out. Tighten the wing nuts in opposing pairs, re-oil the bevel, and check the plug in that order.
What pressure should I can at with an All American canner?
Follow your tested recipe. For most low-acid foods at 0 to 2,000 feet, that is 11 pounds on the dial gauge, increasing by 1 pound for every additional 2,000 feet of altitude. Your recipe from the National Center for Home Food Preservation sets both the pressure and the processing time.
See the full All American lineup
Shop All American pressure canners, parts, and gauges →
Every size we carry, plus wing nut kits, gauges, and replacement plugs. Note: the mid-size 915, 921, and 930 sell out fast every summer and are currently out of stock, while the compact 910 and the big-batch 941 are still in. Current availability is shown on each product page.
Related reading: new to canning season entirely? Start with our canning season prep checklist and our breakdown of how many canning lids you actually need per season before the tomatoes come in.
Still have a question about your specific canner or model? Email us at support@kooihousewares.com and a real person in Muskegon will answer. Phone is (231) 563-6539 if you would rather have it on hand.
