I love my All American, ordered back in the days when it didn't take Fort Knox to mail something to Europe - the other day it proved its worth when something affected the seal and the water boiled out. It did not blow up or anything, the steam just came out the sides and the pressure fell. Since I never leave the canner longer than a quick trip to the bathroom, I knew something was wrong right away and turned off the heat.
I didn't even lose any jars, and all I had was a bit of mess at the bottom of the canner (came right off with steel wool).
I have a pressure cooker that you can, can in also but I haven't done it yet. Instead I use it for cooking and the canner only for canning.
I may want to get a new Ball book myself as my is from 1998, though I tend to pressure can a lot of things, though I often do make high acid salsa (by adding a lot of vinegar and lime juice according to directions) simply because proper pressure canning jars are very hard to get here and expensive.
In the fact they are now coming in "easier to use" packs of three which cost even more than the packs of six did grrr...(so now nearly 5 dollars a jar for quarts)...
expatriate Californian living in rural Ireland with husband, dogs, horses. garden and many, many cats