Pressure Canner Gauge Testing

Pressure canners with only a dial gauge need to be tested annually to ensure dial gauges are accurate.  If your dial gauge is not accurate, it is not correctly reading pressure which may result in under or over processing and unsafe food.

UCCE Master Food Preservers of El Dorado, Amador/Calaveras and Tuolumne Counties have devices to test Presto Brand pressure canner gauges and offer free pressure gauge testing at our offices. Call the office nearest you to set up a drop off of your canner and you will reserve a phone call when it has been tested and is ready for pickup. Usually testing can be done within a week.

Please contact the Master Food Preservers nearest you for testing procedure:

Amador - 209-223-6482 or acmfp@ucanr.edu 
Calaveras - 209-223-6482 or acmfp@ucanr.edu 
El Dorado - 530-621-5506 or edmfp@ucanr.edu 
Tuolumne - - 209-223-6482 or acmfp@ucanr.edu 

If you need to mail your gauge in to be tested, please send it in with our Pressure Canner Gauge Tesing waiver signed, with a prepaid label for us to use to return it to you.

Please note the only canner that needs to have its dial gauge tested is a Presto. (The others are all weighted gauge canners and only need the dial gauge to tell when the pressure drops to 0.)  You can easily convert your dial-gauge Presto pressure canner to a weighted gauge by swapping out the deadweight for a 3-piece weighted regulator.

Here’s the link to the product on Presto; many online suppliers carry it: https://www.gopresto.com/product/pressure-canner-pressure-regulator-50332. This way you don’t need to worry about checking the dial gauge, you can use the canner as a weighted gauge canner.