11 Best Pressure Cooker For Mushrooms Reviews & Buyer’s Guide (2022)

A pressure cooker is a very important home appliance if you’re planning to cultivate mushrooms at your home. You have to keep a sterile strain for the mycelium to colonize. Otherwise, there is a possibility of growing contamination such as mycelium, mold, and fungi spores. It’s a waste of time and effort.

Pressure cooker is a pretty expensive investment in the aspect of growing mushrooms. So, you have to choose the tool carefully when you’re getting one.

Don’t worry! We have researched the market and reviewed the best pressure cooker for mushrooms to make things easier for you. Now, let’s see which pressure cooker helps better for growing mushrooms. We’ll also discuss the things you must look for if you’re doing the research yourself.

Do You Need A Pressure Cooker For Growing Mushrooms?

Technically, you don’t really need a pressure cooker for mushroom cultivation. For some strains, it’s possible to use pasteurized substrates.

However, for most strains, it is recommended to sterilize contamination from the substrate jar. The sterilization process provides more consistent results to grow an array of different strains. Pressure cookers are used to sterilize grain spawn and fight against different contamination like agar, bacteria, and spores.

What Size Pressure Cooker Do You Need For Mushrooms?

There are tons of pressure cookers that come with different quarts. You need at least a 6-quart pressure cooker to sterilize 6 half-pint jars at one time. If you choose anything below, this will greatly reduce the chance of growing mushrooms. Besides, you’ve to consider the hob size and pressure as well.

Learn more about how to sterilize the substrate for growing mushroom with a pressure cooker:

What Are The Best Pressure Cooker For Mushrooms?

Have a short look at the best pressure cookers to know which ones we loved at every considerable aspects:

• Best Quality: All American 930 Canner 30 qt Pressure Cooker
• Affordable & Durable: Presto 23-Quart Pressure Canner and Cooker
• Best Value For Money: Zavor EZLock 10 Quart Stove-top Pressure Cooker
• Affordable With Large Capacity: Barton Pressure Canner 22-Quart Capacity
• Editor’s Choice (Most Versatile): Instant Pot Lux 6-in-1 Electric Pressure Cooker
• Large Capacity & Easy To Use: T-fal Pressure Cooker, Pressure Canner
• Best For Fast Cooking Time: Mirro 92122A Pressure Cooker
• Best For Safety Systems: Fagor Splendid Pressure Cooker
• The Most Effective: Hawkings BIGBOY Pressure Cooker
• Best For Style: Viking Culinary Pressure Cooker
• The Most Affordable: Prestige Deluxe Pressure Cooker

Comparison Chart:

11 Best Pressure Cooker For Mushrooms Reviews In 2022

Selecting the best pressure cooker for mushrooms can be pretty tricky for beginners. So, our mushroom specialist team has listed the top 11 pressure cookers that you can get. Here they are:

1. Best Quality: All American 930 Canner 30 qt Pressure Cooker

All-America 930 is all about class and quality, appropriate for small mushroom farmers. This pressure cooker holds approximately 19 standard pint jars or alternatively, 14 standard regular quart jars. Therefore, don’t have to worry about the jar space while growing mushrooms.

It features an attractive and safe canning with an extra heavy cast aluminum construction. There is a double thick edge to provide additional protection on the heaviest ear point. It has 2 auto venting functions, safety control valve and overpressure plug to provide an extra safety margin.

With the positive action clamping wing nuts and sturdy handle you can easily open and close the cover. It protects your hands from burning with the help of a bakelite top handle. It’s gasket free, the steam sealing system is made of an exclusive metal-to-metal for more efficient performance.

This mushroom pressure cooker is easy to operate since it has a geared steam gauge (dial) with a PSI regulator setting. The regulator settings are accordingly 5, 10, and 15 psi. Additionally, All-America 930 pressure cooker is easy to clean due to its smooth and satin body finish.

Specifications

• Product Dimensions: 17 x 17 x 20 inch
• Item weight: 28 pounds
• Capacity: 39 Liters
• Material: Aluminum, glass
• Pressure regulator at: 5, 10, and 15 psi

Why Buy It?

If you’re going to start mushroom cultivation, then you need high sterilization effort. All-America 930 can help you to sterilize strains with a maximum jar capacity. Its overall features and technologies make it the best quality pressure cooker for growing mushrooms.

2. Affordable & Durable: Presto 01781 23-Quart Pressure Canner and Cooker

The Presto 01781 is one of  the most prominent models on the pressure cooker market, especially for the beginners. As usual, it’s yet known to be a versatile canner for its usability and functionality. This is pretty affordable too.

First of all, it has a fairly large capacity of 23 quarts that helps you to steam a big amount of stuff. When it’s about construction material, they use a good quality of aluminum that reflects the quality of the product. The functionality of this canner helps you to sterilize any food or substrates for growing mushrooms.

With the gauge dial you can monitor the real-time pressure processing. This is very important to have a precise measurement of the pressure if you live at higher altitudes. The vent lock allows pressuring only when the lid is securely closed and prevents opening the lid while pressure is full.

Above all, the pressure canner holds 7 quarts and 7 pint jars. Alternatively, you can also put 14 quarts and half pint jars at a cooking time. The Presto 01781 provides a cooking rack, complete instruction, and recipe book along with extended 12 years limited warranty.

Specifications

• Product Dimensions: 4 x 15.1 x 14.8 inch
• Item weight: 12 pounds
• Capacity: 77 liters
• Materials: Warp-resistant heavy aluminum

Why Buy It?

If you want to boil foods or sterilize liquid strains for mushrooms at your home, go for this one. This is durable with the heavy aluminum construction and provides an effective steam performance to you. You are getting convenient features and at an affordable price.

3. The Value For Money: Zavor EZLock 10 Quart Stove-top Pressure Cooker

Zavor EZLock is relatively a new addition to the market of pressure cookers. This 10 Quart pressure cooker comes with a number of features including design, performance, usability, locking system, etc.

It works 3 times faster than an average pressure cooker, saving you a ton of time and money. Zavor EZLock comes with an automatic safe locking system that locks the lid after you close it.

After that, you won’t accidentally open the lid until the pressure ends just because of its universal locking mechanism. You can simply operate this canner since it has only two simple pressure settings. The settings orders are low(10 psi*) and high(15 psi).

Zavor EZLock uses 18/10-grade (rustproof) stainless steel that is compatible with almost all kinds of stoves. There is a stainless steel steamer basket inside this pressure cooker that fits up to 3 quart jars or 4 pint mason jars. Moreover, with the indicator you can figure out the amount of pressure inside this canner.

Specifications

• Pressure settings: low(10 psi) and high(15 psi)
• Materials: 18/10 stainless steel
• Capacity: 10 quarts
• Operation Mode: Automatic
• Dimensions: 2 x 12.68 x 12.44 inch
• Item weight: 77 pounds

Why Buy It?

If you’re looking for an easy to use and small canner, then Zavor EZLock is definitely a value for your money. This pressure canner comes with plenty of built-in safety functions and 10 half-pint jars capacity.

4. Best for Large Capacity: Barton Pressure Canner 22-Quart Capacity

Feel confident and easy with the Barton pressure canner that comes with a large capacity at an affordable price range. Barton is one of the best pressure canning for home and personal use. You can use it to sterilize the substrates for growing mushrooms alongside cooking food.

This pressure cooker comes with a rustproof aluminum and polished smooth body. With a 22-quarts capacity, it saves your cooking time and cost, especially when you have bags of substrates to sterilize. You can monitor the canning pressure with the help of a heavy gauge dial. The dial provides an accurate reading of the current processing pressures.

It significantly helps to get an accurate reading when you’re in high altitude areas. Barton releases pressure at 13psi (+/- 5%) and the dial ranges from 0 to 20psi maximum. However, the spring safety system prevents the pressurization process before the lid is securely closed. Likewise, it prevents opening the lid until the cooker is pressurized.

The Barton comes with a rack to provide a maximum canning space and prevent ingredients from sticking to the bottom. The cooking rack also helps you to sterilize the maximum bags of substrates. It’s suitable to use in a variety of options like gas burner, sealed electric, and eclectic coil.

Specifications

• Capacity: 22 liters (quart)
• Item dimensions: 14 x 19 x 14.25 inch
• Item weight: 78 pounds
• Material: Polished aluminum
• Pressure release: Yes, 0-20 PSI

Why Buy It?

Barton pressure cooker works incredibly well since it uses a spring-lid safety mechanism along with the durable gauge dial. Moreover, it provides a maximum capacity of 22-quart that greatly helps to sterilize the mushroom substrates. This one is an inexpensive pressure cooker indeed if you look at the price.

5. Editor’s Choice: Instant Pot Lux 6-in-1 Electric Pressure Cooker

Do you need a pressure cooker for mushroom cultivation? Wait, we have a great one for you. Instant Pot introduces an electric pressure cooker to enjoy maximum sterilizing for substrate jars. It comes with tons of stunning features one after another. Here they are:

First thing first, this electronic multi cooker works very fast and saves your time, energy, and money. Experts say that it can cook up to 70% faster than other canner appliances on the market. Instant Pot Lux features the most popular size 6-quarts that is perfect for family and smaller households.

It greatly helps to sterilize contamination from a large amount of substrate jars at 15psi. This electronic cooker has more than ten safety features, overheat protection and safety-lock system are the major ones, for instance. The inner pot uses high-quality stainless steel with a 3-ply bottom for extra durability.

Instant Pot offers a variety of accessories including a steam rack, rice-paddle, soup spoon, and measuring cup. Cooker and accessories are very easy to clean with a dishwasher.

The smart touch-panel provides pressure and adjustable temperature settings. It has 3 temperature settings including Less, Normal, and More with an auto pilot mode. The ‘Keep Warm’ function helps you to warm the meal for an extended period if necessary.

Specifications

• Material: Stainless steel
• Capacity: 6 quarts
• Item Dimensions: 18 x 12.2 x 12.5 inch
• Item weight: 53 pounds
• Control method: Touch capacitive
• Operation mode: Automatic

Why Buy It?

Finally, if you’re passionate about mushroom cultivation, you should check this multi-cooker Instant Pot. This electronic pressure cooker works very fast with a 6-quart capacity. The safety features and top-notch control panel are added as an extra convenience.

6. Large Capacity & Easy To Use: T-fal Pressure Cooker, Pressure Canner

T-Fal offers one of the best cookwares that is very easy to use for any average user. This would be an excellent pressure canner ever needed for mushroom cultivation at home. Let’s have brief look at the major features:

When it’s about capacity, the T-Fal 22-quarts vessel can hold 16 pint jars and 26 half pint jars(double stack). Alternatively, you have an option to keep 7 quarts jars at a time. The canner comes with 2 racks to provide a maximum space and prevent sticking to the bottom.

For the body construction, T-Fal uses a heavy gauge polished aluminum to ensure quick heat, rustproof, and long-lasting performance. A sure-lock system lets you pressurize if the lid is securely locked. Likewise, you can’t open the lid if the cooker is pressurized.

There is an overpressure safety component that maintains internal pressure. It helps the vent tube on the lid for a proper release of the hot steam. The pressure gauge dial helps to monitor pressure with a device built into the handle. Moreover, the selective control offers 3 convenient options including 5, 10, and 15 psi.

Specifications

• Product dimensions: 33 x 15.39 x 16.26 inches
• Item weight: 77 pounds
• Material: Heavy gauge aluminum
• Capacity: 22 quarts
• Certification: (UL) Underwriters Laboratories Inc.
• Operation mode: Manual

Why Buy It?

T-Fal provides very easy and fast pressure canning with a maximum capacity of 22 quarts. In addition, several safety components ensure extra safety for its users. If you want a great usability with large canning space then this T-Fal is the best bet for you.

7. Best For Fast Cooking Time: Mirro 92122A Pressure Cooker

Do you want a fast, efficient, and stylish option over other stovetop cooking methods? Don’t worry! The Mirro 92122A pressure cooker comes with super-fast performance, an elegant look, and design. You can also cook multiple ingredients within a short or faster time. Let’s look at the features.

It’s fast. They’re really fast. The Mirro 92122A pressure cooker performs and completes cooking 70% faster than the equivalents. Besides, it takes a short time to steam even more solid food and recipe ingredients, including ribs, stews, vegetables, grains, etc. Thus, it saves your time in cooking and sterilizes spawn jars too.

This 92122A pressure canner comes with rustproof polish heavy-gauge aluminum that makes it more durable. The heavy-gauge construction also helps in heat distribution for safety protection. You can also maintain steady with its THREE(3) cooking pressure option. The available options are 5, 10, and 15 PSI.

It offers a huge jar capacity. The Mirro 22 quart pressure cooker can hold 16 pint jars. Alternatively, you can keep 26 half pint(double stack) or 7 quart jars simultaneously. There is an overpressure plug and gasket pressure release for pressure control safety. This reliable pressure cooker comes with a sure-locking lid system that prevents pressure until the lid is closed properly.

Specifications

• Cooker dimensions: 17 x 14 x 17 inches
• Cooker weight: 15 pounds
• Capacity: 22 quart
• Material: Aluminum
• Pressure: Up to 15 psi
• Operation mode: Manual

Why buy it?

The Mirro 92122A Pressure Cooker delivers a fast canning process, whether a food ingredient or spawn jar of mushroom. Besides, it also provides splendid design, effective performance, safety features, and large jar capacity.

8. Best For Safety Systems: Fagor Splendid Pressure Cooker

The Fagor splendid presents a really splendid pressure cooker with numerous safety technologies and systems. It comes with durable construction materials, precious pressure control, and auto operation mode. This pressure canner also offers more features and convenience.

First, the advanced safety technology delivers magnificent protection from overpressure. The additional safety systems include pressure control, safety handle lid-lock, Thermo Heat conduction base, etc. The Fagor Splendid canner uses 18/10 grade stainless steel, including aluminum core and magnetic stainless steel.

Secondly, It comes with a simple operation. Operating this Splendid pressure cooker is pretty easy with the single pressure settings. There is a clear indication of high pressure up to 15 psi. The settings come in the dial format to make controlling easier. It’s possible to release overpressure with an auto pressure releaser option.

Moreover, it cooks ingredients 70% faster than any other traditional system you’re following. Therefore, It’s an eco-friendly and lower energy-consuming appliance. Besides, this home appliance is UL/BVL tested and approved for the USA, Europe, and other continents. In addition, the capacity is enough for small to medium canning tasks.

Specifications

• Cooker dimensions: 15.9 x 10.5 x 9 inches
• Cooker weight: 7.5 Pounds
• Capacity: 6 quart
• Material: Stainless steel
• Pressure: Up to 15 psi
• Operation mode: Automatic

Why buy it?

If you’re looking for a safe, reliable, and durable pressure cooker home appliance, get this one. The Fagor Splendid Pressure Cooker features an advanced(triple) safety protection mechanism and durable built materials. It’s an ideal choice for novice mushroom cultivators.

9. The Most Effective: Hawkings BIGBOY Pressure Cooker

Thinking of sterilizing substrate jars with a pressure cooker? The Hawkings BIGBOY is the most effective pressure cooker for maximum performance in your kitchen or mushroom farm. It provides an effective cook and offers a large number of mushroom spawn sterilizations in a short time. Let’s look at the rest of the features along with their advantages.

The Hawkings BIGBOY pressure cooker adopts different cutting-edge technology to deliver an effective and maximum canning performance. It offers a 22 quarts large space inside this canner. Therefore, you can use it in your kitchen, restaurant, or mushroom lab to enhance productivity.

Another reason for this effectiveness is its strong built quality and materials. This HAWKINS pressure canner adopts commercially pure, virgin, and mirror-polished aluminum. Besides, it uses matt finishing aluminum for the interior and base portions. Further, there is an inside-fitting lid that effectively locks the pressure in operation.

When it’s about safety, this Bigboy pressure cooker comes with plenty of safety features. These safety features include a goof-proof lid, steam release, safety valve, etc. The goof-proof lid provides an accurate and sealed lid to ensure safety. Plus, the fingertip steam release and shielded safety valve system deliver additional safety.

Additionally, this 22 quart pressure cooker comes with easy-to-use features. There is a ‘whistling’ pressure regulator to control steam clogging and navigate direction. It’s also pretty easy to open and close the lid cover. You’ll feel no more overheating on the stay-cool and safe handle.

Specifications

• Cooker dimensions: 19 x 17 x 16 inches
• Cooker weight: 15.2 pounds
• Capacity: 22 quart
• Material: Aluminum
• Operational mode: Manual
• Maximum Pressure: Up to 15 psi

Why buy it?

The Hawkings BIGBOY pressure cooker features effective, fast, and safe performance for any kids of solid ingredients. It offers premium quality built materials and safety systems that deliver outstanding canning output. It’s an ideal appliance for cooking and mushroom cultivation.

10. Best For Style: Viking Culinary Pressure Cooker

The Viking Culinary features one of the most stylish and impressive pressure cookers for home, kitchen, and mushroom lab. This Viking pressure canner also comes with various innovative features in the area of durability and safety. Let’s have a look at them in brief detail. It means elegance, quality, and performance.

There is nothing to say about its design, style, and look. The Viking Culinary pressure cooker comes with an innovative clamp-style lid and handles. You’ll find a touch of elegance from every angle of this kitchen appliance. The stylish cap allows locking the cover in any position.

It features premium quality construction to deliver professional performance at work. This Viking 8 quarts canner offers a durable internal pot and base consisting of 3-ply stainless steel. The (THREE) 3-ply steel mechanism provides a quick heat distribution. They all together made this canner durable.

What’s more? Don’t be upset. It offers various features to make your canning easier. This airtight pot comes with a friendly and easy lid that allows easy opening, closing, and turning the knob. There is a fast-release valve that emits pressure very quickly. Besides, You can use a pressure dial and indicator to adjust the level of pressure.

In addition, you’ll have a cooking vessel, steam basket, and raiser for extensive performance. The interior is convenient with marks and indications of liquids measurements with the maximum point. It also offers 50% faster on all types of stoves, including an induction system.

Specifications

• Cooker dimensions: 14.3 x 10.3 x 9.4 inches
• Cooker weight: 7.4 pounds
• Capacity: 8 quarts
• Material: 18-8 steel
• Operational mode: Manual
• Pressure: Up to 15 psi

Why buy it?

The Viking stainless steel pressure cooker provides a unique and stylish design to deliver cooking performance for everybody. Plus, its professional and innovative technologies make it more durable and safe. It fits on almost all kinds of stoves.

11. The Most Affordable: Prestige Deluxe Pressure Cooker

Do you need an affordable cooker option for your kitchen or mushroom cultivation farm? No worries! The Prestige Deluxe comes with the most affordable pressure cooker with powerful performance. It also offers plenty of built-in features and benefits. We’ve discussed the features below.

This inexpensive pressure cooker is made of heavy-duty quality virgin steel. Therefore, you’ll get solid lungs and a base surface that provides a durable and safe operation. The manufacturer offers a relatively larger body size compared to a normal outer lid and pressure cooker.

This Prestige Deluxe pressure cooker comes with a 2-in-1 safety mechanism named ‘pressure indicator’ for the first time. The pressure indicator system lets you know the situation at overpressure along with a controller. The lid handle provides cool and safe handling and absorbs overheat. You’ll find an incredible finish and style as well.

It offers a separator to cook food separately in a hygienic form where ingredients don’t lose their nutrition and taste. There is also a canning rack to prevent ingredients from sticking to the bottom. The gasket technology is there for releasing overpressure. It’s very easy to use and clean with soap and detergent.

The capacity of this cooker is 10 quarts, so you can keep many spawn jars inside the canning pot. This Deluxe pressure cooker is ISI certified that conforms to a standard quality for kitchen appliances. Besides, it also comes with the UL and ETL Words Standard complaints for capacity and volume.

Specifications

• Cooker dimensions: 15 x 11 x 12 inches
• Cooker weight: 8.25 pounds
• Capacity: 10 quarts
• Material: Stainless steel
• Operational mode: Manual
• Pressure: 15 psi

Why buy it?

If you’re searching for a budget pressure cooker with overall good features, quality, and benefits then get this one. The Prestige Deluxe Pressure Cooker is one of the most affordable kitchen appliances for daily uses. It provides impressive built quality, durability, and safety at a reasonable price.

Factors To Consider When Buying A Pressure Cooker For Mushrooms

Pressure cookers help particularly by sterilizing the mushroom spawn jars and strains. But there are important factors to consider before buying a pressure cooker for mushrooms cultivation at home:

Pressure

Get a pressure cooker that can reach up to 15psi level or higher than that. It’s required to sterilize the substrate jars. You may find different models in the market who claim to reach at 15psi, but they don’t provide accuracy. Read the pressure level carefully in detail before you make a decision. Remember, without the proper pressure, the spawn jars won’t be sterilized properly.

Durability

It’s more important to purchase a canner that uses high quality materials for the body construction. Low quality of canner likely to damage in a frequent use. If you really want a durable cooker then go for stainless steel. The aluminum-made pressure canners are inexpensive hence last less.

PSI Dial

It’s also essential to monitor the pressure inside the canner. So, it’s better to have a canner that comes with a gauge dial that indicates a perfect pressure level. You might find different electric pressure canners that offer a digital pressure dial.

Size/Capacity

Choosing a pressure cooker with 20 quarts is the perfect size for growing mushrooms at home. Less than 20 quarts might struggle with the substrate jars since it has less space. Moreover, it’ll take more time and effort if you’re a busy person. You need a large one because you might grow mushrooms at a large scale in the near future. Therefore, you don’t have to buy one again.

Features

There are some features you may find very suitable while using a pressure cooker particularly to grow mushrooms. The good news is many models come with these features. Here they’re:

• A safety lid-lock system that prevents users from starting to pressurize unless you cover the lid properly.
• A built-in quick release valve along with a lid that releases the vapor from the canner.
• Choose one that offers a steam bucket/pot that helps you cook safely. It also helps you avoid sticking food to the bottom.

Frequently Asked Questions

The following is a list of questions and answers related to the pressure cooker and mushroom cultivation:

How To Spawn Mushrooms In A Pressure Canner?

Here are the steps to spawn mushrooms in a pressure canner:

Step 1: Rinse the grains and soak them in water for 10-24 hours.

Step 2: Cook the grains for 10-15 minutes to absorb water.

Step 3: Dry the entire moisture from the outside of the grains.

Step 4: Keep grains into jars and sterilize them for 90 mins at 15 psi.

Can All Pressure Cookers Reach 15 PSI?

Most pressure cookers can reach 15 psi (pounds per square inch). You may find several pressure cookers that reach near about 15 psi or 10psi/12psi/14psi with (+/- 5%) range.

How to Sterilize Mushroom Substrates Without a Pressure Cooker?

Here are some options to sterilize mushroom substrates without a pressure cooker:

1. Composting
2. Chemical
3. Cold water pasteurization
4. Scalding hot water
5. Pasteurization
6. Tyndallization

What is the Temperature Of A Pressure Cooker at 15 PSI?

The water in the pressure cooker can reach a temperature of approximately 120 degree Celsius (248° Fahrenheit).

How Long Do You Sterilize The Substrate For Mushrooms?

You can use antibacterial soap or cook substrate with water under pressure for 12-20 minutes. However, experts recommend more than 20 minutes will help you to sterilize the finest contamination.

What is the Best Mushroom Substrate?

The best substrates and spawns are:

1. Grains
2. Sawdust
3. Dowel/plug (logs and wood chips)

Final Thoughts

A pressure cooker plays a vital role when you’re growing mushrooms at home. You can effectively sterilize plenty of spawn jars or substrates with the right pressure cooker. It’s very essential to choose the best pressure cooker for mushrooms considering its capacity, pressure, and others.

However, if you’re yet to decide, we can suggest you go for the Instant Pot Lux 6-in-1 Pressure Cooker. This is the most versatile for its multi-cooking facility and special features like overheat protection, safety lock and many more. With the faster canning, it also offers plenty of safety mechanisms. The use of the touch-controls will make the operation a piece of cake.