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[Clansgian AT wmconnect.com]

> > You have 
> to take a canner up to a particular temp and then get it to stay at a 
> precise temp to hold a precise pressure.

Doesn't work that way and that's why I was scratching my head over the notion 
of the need for a precisely controled stove for canning.

The canner (or pressure cooker) is regulated by a weight, that thing hat 
jiggles when it's up to steam.  You get the canner to a boil so that the 
steam can 
blow through the vent and purge out the  air.  Then when you add te weight, 
it regulates the pressure.

After that all you need is enough heat, not a precise heat.  If you have more 
heat than is needed to keep the pressure the weight is enforcing, it jiggles 
all the more and more steam and pressure escape.  

Depending on your altitude the, say, 15 lb weight might maintain 13 or 14 lbs 
of pressure and you extend your canning time accordingly.  But turning up the 
heat will not give you more pressure, it will only make the canner blow more 
steam.

I suppose that if you wanted 10 lbs pressure, you could put on a 15 lb weight 
and very finely trim the heat to achieve and maintain it.  But that's a 
fool's errand.   It makes much more sense to use a 10 lb weight to begin with.


James