Canning Jars & Equipment

 

I am into small batch canning using simple and very basic equipment.  My personal preference in canning jars is the Mason or Ball regular mouth pint jars.  They are the most affordable, easiest to get and suit my needs quite nicely.  Pint jars are the perfect size for feeding one or two people and they fit in my electric pressure canner.  My pressure canner will not do quart jars.

 

Water bath canner

I have both a water bath canner and an electric pressure canner.  I use the water bath canner for canning jams & jellies, fruit, salsa, tomatoes, relishes and pickles.  I use the pressure canner for meats, beans, soups, chili and vegetables.

 

Traditional stove top pressure canner

In addition to the canners and jars I find a jar lifter as well as a canning funnel to be quite useful.  I don’t have a special debubbling tool, I use a chop stick.  I don’t have a magnetic lid lifter, I use my fingers.  I use towels to rest my hot processed jars on to cool.  There is nothing fancy about the way I can.  To sterilize my jars for water bath canning I will either boil them in the canner filled with water, run them through the dishwasher or place my jars in a hot oven depending on my mood.  I’ll usually just use the oven if I’m also planning to bake something.  Boiling water is what I use most often.

 

My electric pressure canner

A sharpie marker is a good item to have on hand so you can write the date and what is in the jar on the lid.  I don’t use labels unless I’m planning to give something as a gift and then I might run some mailing labels through my printer, but for the most part a simple description and the date is written on the lid.

 

I use regular flat lids, my preference is Ball lids, but sometimes I don’t have that option so I have to find others.  Rings will come with your jars and can be reused.  There is some debate as to whether you should reuse lids so that is up to you, but I will sometimes reuse a lid if it is in good shape to can jams or jellies.  I personally would not reuse a lid to can other foods.

 

That about covers it for now.  The rest of the equipment you might need for canning likely already exists in your kitchen.  Bowls, pots & pans, knives, cutting boards, spoons, etc.  Next time we will start canning something for the pantry.  Get yourself some half pint jars and a water bath canner and we will get started.