Yeah, I caught that commentary about non-FDA-approved old canning styles. Scratching my head over it. (did the right things to prevent botulism, etc. so what's so dangerous?)
What's the sizing difficulty? Depth so the jars are immersed enough?
The 'canner' _did_ seem almost redundant, and that its main charm was the aluminum insert preventing glass breaking(eh). I'd imagine one could accomplish this with a pie plate too. *g*