It’s definitely worth getting one of these American Standard pressure canners. They have intrinsic safety features that make catastrophic vessel failures impossible, and they put safe preserving of low acid foods, meat and fish within your reach. 

The next couple flats of quart jars are all going to be beef, venison, and beef stew. 

Part of the beauty of pressure canning is not having one’s entire red meat supply dependent on the electrical grid and running freezers. The other great thing is speed of meal prep. Since it’s already cooked, you can just warm up a can of premium beef or venison cubes in a saucepan and it’s ready to add to whatever other dishes you have in the side. 

With the salt pork fat, garlic, and onion pieces that go into the jar with the cubes of meat prior to canning, it ends up being pretty tasty. 

 I’m going to pull the trigger soon on the electric Nesco/Cary Pressure Canner, as it seems a lot simpler. 

 One awesome thing about these American Standards is that they can be used over coals, a propane BBQ or a propane burner if the grid is down, and because the lids and the top of the vessel are machined to such a fine tolerance, they have no seals that eventually harden up, crack and need to be replaced. And the fact that they maintain pressure with a shaker weight makes them super low tech. You know you have hit the sweet spot on temperature and pressure when you can adjust your temperature with the 10 or 15 psi weight on it, and it shakes one to four times every minute. Even if the gauge isn’t calibrated you know you’re good, and achieving 240°F. 

 I’ve heard great things about the American Standards pressure cookers. A friend of mine splurged on one of these as she said the quality cannot be beat and she likes to make all sorts of canned goodies.  They just intimidate me with the horror stories of things that can go wrong. 🫣 

 I’ll have to look into this!