" But I see the steam canner I would need for my glasstop stove is about the same price as a pressure canner."

That all depends on which brand and model of pressure canner you are looking at. Steam cannersa re for sale at Walmart for $37. You won't find a quality PC for that price. Brands are not all the same quality and you can do different things with different (more expensive) PC models. Plus there are PC models that cannot be used on glass top stoves and other issues with trying to pressure can on a glasstop even with the approved models. So it may not be a valid comparison.

" since I read on here you can do same time as water bath at 5 lbs.
pressure? I'm assuming the heating time would be about the same since
both use about the same amount of water?"

I'm afraid there is some misunderstandings here. While some deep models of PC can be used as a boiling water bath canner the jars must still be submerged and no pressure is used.

"I read on here you can do same time as water bath at 5 lbs.
pressure" would not be accurate or was taken out of context. Could you point to that comment? The overall processing time would end up being longer than the BWB time called for simply because you would have to vent and bring it up to pressure. That could easily affect the quality of some foods.

Bottom line the only advantage to spending the money on a PC vs. a steam canner would be if you plan to actually use it for pressure canning. If all you can is high acid foods that would normally be BWB processed then the steam canner is the better deal IMO.

Dave

I would buy the $80 stainless Victorio steam canner for my glasstop. Basically a big pot with a temp. guage built in the lid. I would go with the more basic ones but pretty sure none have completely smooth bottoms. They may work but experience tells me go for the smooth bottom. That's when I was looking at the Presto pressure canners and saw they were comparable in price.

Can't say exactly where I was reading about doing pressure canning at the low pressure instead of water bath. Someone was thinking the same as I and figured if anything it would be overkill on safety. But I can see it would affect the consistency/texture. And already having a pressure cooker, I know they aren't as quick as you think with the added time to build pressure.

Looks like I'll just have to go with the steam canner which was my first choice but was kind of hoping I could do a 2for1 deal. Too bad they hadn't done the testing on the steam canners before I bought this big 'ol pot for water bath.

Thanks for the insight.

Becky

Curious why you want the completely flat/smooth bottom. That traps the heat and causes the burners to cycle off and on. Most find the raised bottom pots better as they allow for heat to escape and reduce the risk of fracturing the glass top. Plus you don't have to deal with the cycling burner problems.

Dave