When you have a number of jars ready to can and we do perhaps 40 - 50 pints of pickles in a day, you cannot put the jars into boiling hot water or they will break. When you have done one batch of jars in a water bath you cannot put the new batch into the boiling water. That means you must empty the canner disposing of a large amount of boiling water and refill it to heat the next batch. Lifting the full canner of boiling water and then returning with cooler water requires more strain on the back than we like to have. Then you have to wait for the that water to boil with the jars in it. With the steam canner you can empty the canner and immediately fill it again with jars because the jars do not sit in the water. All this saves electricity, heat, time and your back. Because we have a well, saving water is important to us. We have no problem with anyone using a water bath. Both get the job done.