Question & answer
What Does the National Center for Home Food Preservation Say About Electric Canners?
The National Center for Home Food Preservation does not support USDA canning instructions in electric multi-cookers. Through Kansas State it also said it can't check Presto's claims. It approves no canner brand. We found no statement from it naming NESCO or Carey, so the common line that it calls electric pressure canners unsafe goes further than what it wrote.
The short answer
The National Center for Home Food Preservation does not support USDA canning instructions in electric multi-cookers, even with a canning button. Through Kansas State it said it has not checked Presto's claims and that you have to trust the maker. It approves no canner brand. We found no statement from it naming NESCO or Carey.
The National Center for Home Food Preservation is run by the University of Georgia. It is the main public source of tested home-canning instructions. Online forums often quote it in shorthand, and the shorthand says more than the Center did. Here is what it wrote, so you can see for yourself.
What has it said, in order?
- Early 2015 and before (blog): The USDA has done no heating tests with jars in any electric pressure cooker.
- 2015 (small pressure cookers): The USDA has no instructions for them. A canner must hold at least four quart jars upright with the lid on. It must let air out the recommended way and show it stays at the right pressure.
- 2019 (electric multi-cookers, even with canning buttons): It does not support USDA canning instructions in them, even when the maker's directions include pressure canning.
- 2021 (Presto digital canner, through Kansas State): Presto's claims were not checked by the University of Georgia. You have to trust the maker. Follow the Presto manual.
- 2024 (Presto digital canner, through Penn State): The Center has no information on the type or amount of Presto's research and can't check its claims. Follow only the digital canner's manual.
What does it say about electric multi-cookers?
A clear no. The 2019 statement says its instructions were written for stovetop pressure canners holding four or more quart jars upright. It doesn't know whether proper heating tests back the canning advice that ships with multi-cookers. It gives these reasons, all about multi-cookers:
- Heat inside the jars is what kills germs. No USDA work has tracked that inside an electric pressure cooker.
- Where the jars sit and how steam flows change the jar temperature.
- Air mixed into the steam lowers the temperature.
- A power surge or drop may lower the temperature without you noticing.
- You can't use the same pressure and time at every altitude. See canning at altitude.
- Heating up and cooling down count toward the total heat. A machine that cools faster may under-heat the food.
If you own one, see canning in an Instant Pot. These statements don't name a canning-only machine. They don't say whether they apply to one.
What does it say about the Presto Precise?
Not checked, and not condemned. The Kansas State note says the University of Georgia has not checked Presto's claims. You have to be willing to trust the maker, and Presto's research is not available. It also says the appliance has not been evaluated by the USDA or a university lab.
It has good words too. Presto's attention to a minimum temperature inside the canner is a good sign, and so are the full instructions in the manual.
Its practical advice is to follow the Presto manual, because the booklet lacks at least two special USDA instructions. This is where the experts differ. Presto says tested stovetop recipes work. North Dakota State says to use tested recipes from the National Center or your state's extension office. We report that conflict on our Presto Precise page. We don't settle it.
Does it approve any canner?
No one. The National Center doesn't recommend or approve any canner brand. The USDA doesn't approve specific canners. The small round badge on some Presto materials was made by Presto. Kansas State says it is not an official seal of the USDA.
What about Ball?
The 2019 statement leaves out the older Ball Automatic Home Canner, for high-acid foods only. That machine is a dedicated canner with its own instructions and heating tests. The same note mentions an electric boiling water canner from Jarden Home Brands and electric boiling water canners from Weck, and says to follow the makers' directions. It doesn't name the EasyCanner. It gives no opening for low-acid food. See the Ball EasyCanner page.
What is still open?
We found no statement from the National Center naming NESCO or Carey. We found no published results from it on any canning-only electric machine.
One expert reply from Ask Extension (a free question service) says Oregon State is working on it with the National Center, and no results seem to be published. That is one expert, not the position of either school. The picture could change either way.
To see how these statements sit next to the CDC and other extension offices, read are electric pressure canners safe.
What people ask
Has the National Center called electric pressure canners unsafe?
Not in the statements we read. Its warnings are about electric multi-cookers and small pressure cookers, and they don't name Presto, NESCO or Carey. On Presto, it said through Kansas State that it has not checked the claims. That is a gap in the evidence, not a yes or a no.
What does the National Center say about the Presto Precise?
Through Kansas State, it said the University of Georgia has not checked Presto's claims, you have to trust the maker, and Presto's research is not available. It also said to follow the Presto manual, and called Presto's temperature target a good sign.
What does the National Center say about the NESCO or the Carey?
We found no statement naming either one. Penn State says cooker-canner combos can't be recommended because research on their safety is missing. Penn State names no brand. Putting the NESCO NPC-9 in that group is our own reading.
Where this comes from
- NCHFP: Canning in electric multi-cookers (February 1, 2019)
- NCHFP: Canning in pressure cookers (September 2015)
- NCHFP blog: Can I can in a multi-cooker? (November 25, 2014, note of February 12, 2015)
- K-State Research and Extension: Presto digital pressure canner (March 17, 2021)
- Penn State Extension: Pressure canner updates (September 13, 2024)
- Ask Extension: Electric pressure canner, individual answer (March 31, 2025)
More from the shelf
- Question & answerAre Electric Pressure Canners Safe? What the Experts SayThe experts don't agree on whether electric pressure canners are safe, and nobody outside the company has published test results. Here is who says what.
- Question & answerCan You Can in an Instant Pot or Multi-Cooker? No, Even With a Canning ButtonCanning in an Instant Pot or other multi-cooker is not supported, even with a canning button. What the experts say, why, and what to use instead.
- BrandPresto PreciseThe Presto Precise digital pressure canner in all four sizes: jar counts, how the sensor works, what Presto claims, and what university experts say.
- About this siteHow we compareHow this site compares plug-in canners: we read manuals and expert advice, run no lab tests, give no processing times, and say when sources disagree.
Who writes here
electricpressurecanner.com Editorial Team
Machine comparisons & source reading
We are the editorial team at electricpressurecanner.com. We read manuals, spec sheets and the statements of NCHFP, USDA, CDC and Extension services, and we report who says what, with dates. No lab work happens here, and this site publishes no processing times or recipes of its own.
- Manuals and food-safety guidance read
- Sources and dates on every page
- No lab tests, stated openly
- No own processing times or recipes