Can You Can in an Instant Pot or Multi-Cooker? No, Even With a Canning Button

It is a natural thing to wonder. The pot builds pressure, it sits on your counter, and some models even have a canning button. On low-acid foods (vegetables, meat, chicken, fish), the experts agree clearly, so here is what they say.

What does the National Center say?

The National Center for Home Food Preservation (the US canning experts at the University of Georgia, "the National Center" from here on) made its statement in 2019. You can read it in full on its site. In plain words:

• It does not support USDA canning instructions in electric multi-cookers. Many now have canning or steam canning buttons on the front.
• That holds even if the maker's directions include pressure canning.
• Its pressure instructions were not made for this type of appliance. The canner you use matters.
• Its instructions were written for stovetop pressure canners holding four or more quart jars upright.
• It doesn't know whether proper heating tests were done to back the canning advice sold with these appliances.

The statement names no brand. It is about the type of appliance. For its other statements, see what the National Center says.

Why does it say no?

1. No jar data. No USDA work has tracked the temperature inside jars in an electric pressure cooker. That temperature, and how evenly the heat spreads, is what matters.
2. Temperature, not pressure. Reaching a pressure doesn't prove the food heated all the way through. Air mixed into the steam lowers the temperature. Pressure also has to be adjusted at higher altitudes.
3. Power changes. The temperature must stay at the minimum the whole time. How would you know if a power surge or drop pulled it too low?
4. Cool-down counts. USDA instructions for low-acid foods count heat from coming up to pressure and from the early cooling. Anything that shortens the cooling, such as a very small cooker, could leave food under-heated.

What do other experts say?

• The CDC says not to use an electric multi-cooker appliance, even if it has a canning or steam canning button on the front. It adds that pressure canning is the only recommended method for low-acid foods.
• Utah State's extension service (free local food-safety advice from the university) tested three electric cookers it did not name. It put temperature loggers in the food at three altitudes. Many batches were under-heated, more often at higher altitude. Results were uneven even for the same food, cooker and altitude. It says not to use such cookers for low-acid canning. The study is not a test of any canner sold just for canning.
• Penn State says no USDA or university research shows multi-cookers can safely can low-acid foods.
• Oregon State says electric pressure cookers are not recommended for canning.
• North Dakota State says multi-cookers and other pressure cookers are not recommended for home canning.

Does my model make a difference?

People ask about the Instant Pot Max, the Ninja Foodi and the Power Pressure Cooker XL, among others. None of the statements we read names these models, and none excuses them. If it's an electric multi-cooker, the statements above apply. We read nothing showing that a higher pressure setting or a canning button changes that.

What about water bath canning in an Instant Pot?

Here the experts differ, so we put them side by side. Utah State says these cookers can be used for small batches of high-acid foods under conditions it spells out. It also says no studies have tested them as steam canners. North Dakota State lists multi-cookers as not recommended for home canning, with no exception. The National Center makes no exception for water bath use either. We won't settle this for you. A pot made for the job avoids the question. Our electric water bath canner guide shows some options.

What should you use instead?

For low-acid foods, the experts point to a pressure canner and a tested recipe. Your multi-cooker can stay in the kitchen as the cooker it is.

Our pick for stovetopAd

Presto

Presto 23-Quart Stovetop (01781)

A pot for your stove, the kind the USDA's canning steps were written for.

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Type

Stovetop pressure canner with dial gauge

Pressure canning

Yes

Water bath

Yes, quarts and smaller, per Presto

Liquid capacity

23 quarts

Jars per load

7 quarts, or 20 regular-mouth pints stacked

Altitude

You raise the pressure by altitude from the USDA tables. Water bath times also change with altitude.

Price class

Mid-range

Stated in: Presto Canner Comparison Guide (2025), read 2 November 2026

Why here: It is a stovetop canner, the type the National Center says its instructions were written for, and our main pick for that reason.

Best for: You want to pressure can low-acid foods (vegetables, meat, chicken, fish) and can stay near the stove.

• The National Center's advice was written for stovetop canners
• Seven quart jars, or up to 20 regular-mouth pints stacked, says Presto
• Also works as a water bath canner for quarts and smaller, says Presto
• Works on gas and on electric coil and smooth-top ranges, says Presto

• You watch the gauge and adjust the heat yourself
• The dial gauge needs an accuracy test every year, says Presto
• Presto does not list induction for this pot. The 01784 is its induction version

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Pressure canner vs. pressure cooker explains why size matters. If you'd rather plug in, a canning-only machine is a different type from a multi-cooker, with its own open questions. See are electric pressure canners safe.

One more point: the National Center's note leaves out the older Ball Automatic Home Canner, for high-acid foods only. Don't apply that to other machines.

What if you already canned in a multi-cooker?

Please don't taste the food to check it. The CDC says you can't see, smell or taste the toxin. Its advice is to throw out food when you don't know that safe canning steps were followed. Our botulism page has the rest.