I was thinking there was a problem with the last batch of tomatoes I was canning.

There was. Not sure what I did - or didn't do - but the pressure cooker (22 quart) has a very thick layer of scorch.

Any suggestions for how to get it off?

Try salt and vinegar.

Do you make a paste of it and scrub the cooker with it?

Pour it in and let it soak? Proportions?

fill to just above the scorch with water, add a goodly amount - a big handful - of automatic dishwasher powder, boil for a few mintues, and let stand a couple hours. See how much comes out, and you may have to repeat if it is very bad. I have used this on scorched burned pans for years.

Ammonia is supposed to remove burned stuff out of pans too. Maybe put some in the pan and seal up in a plastic garbage bag overnight, then wash.

I never canned tomatoes in a canner without them being in a jar.

I clean my burned/scorched pans with oven cleaner. Spray it on, let sit and wipe it off. Rinse throughly.

The tomatoes were in jars. I think I might not have put enough water in the cooker - and I've been canning tomatoes for almost 50 years! Yikes!

I've scraped off a lot of the soot with a razor blade.

Sorry I edited my post to add use oven cleaner and half of it got deleted by me I guess.

Sorry.... Thats all I've got !! Have reheated and boiled burnt on before and it helped. (for some reason I'm thinking aluminum and tomatoes don't mix well can't remember why, I know on foil will eat a hole thru it)

But do like those pressure cookers!!
Good Luck

I only use these for canning - so food doesn't actually touch the metal - if I can get the scorch smell gone, I'll use it again - and see how it goes.

I use Cascade. Just put hot water in the pan and dump in some Cascade and let it sit overnight and in the morning it'll swish right out. No nasty fumes either. It also works great for the iced tea jar that won't come clean anymore. Sparkling clean by morning.

I would try the oven cleaner, either the kind that works with heat, (you can warm the pressure cooker 1st) or use the kine that doesn't use heat to clean

Oven cleaner is meant to be used on porcelain covered steel not aluminum. I'd read the label really carefully before I used it on aluminum.

Thank you for the suggestions.

It is usable - but I think the bottom is a bit warped.