Flyinlowe--Those All American canners do not have a gasket between the bottom and the lid. There is an area where they meet that is polished very smooth. When the lid is correctly in place it will seal if there is just a film of Vasoline on the surfaces where the lid and bottom meet. Also, there is a little arrow near the edge of the lid pointing down. This arrow needs to be pointing to a verticle mark on the canner body when the lid is on, otherwise you may harm the canner when you tighten the screw-downs. The lid is made to fit in one position only--when that arrow is pointing to the line. When you tighten the screw downs you do it like lug nuts--tighten them evenly, not just on one side real thigt and then do the other. They do not have to be real tight, just snug. This is made of aluminum, which is a soft metal so be careful. Do not bang the lid or body with anything on the sealing surface, a little damage and it may not seal again. All this should be in your book. If it is not, get on-line with the company, they did have instructions there. Also, not a bad idea to take it somewhere and get the gage checked to see if it is accurate. The Ext. Service does that here for free, mine was off a pound, but if it was way off that could be a problem. They say to check it every year.