Essential Tools for Canning Guide

Are you ready to Can? My list of Essential Tools for Canning is a great guide to all you need to get going. Must-haves and extra things to make your experience fun and enjoyable!

Be Prepared Ahead of Time

Nothing is worse than starting a new recipe and realizing you don’t have everything you need. After learning the hard way, I now lay out all of my ingredients before I start a project. Spices, jars, lids, salt, and anything the recipe calls for. Canning can be a little fast-paced between cooking your item and jarring it. Be prepared. Makes thing so much more enjoyable!

Water Bath Canner

Water bath canning is so easy, and a great way to start preserving your foods. A water bath canner is not that expensive and you will use it so much. Jams and Jellys and so many things can be made with your water bath canner. I will be doing an in-depth blog post soon going over what you can and can’t do in a water bath canner.

Pressure Canner

The Pressure Canner doesn’t have to be scary. Was I scared, yes am I now? Nope! Well, one day I got on Youtube, found a lady canning pinto beans, following along with her everything went so easy!

It wasn’t scary and it now is my favorite way to preserve food.

Glass stovetops are a touchy subject. I have for over a year used my water bath and this pressure canner on my glass top. Do not drop, slide, or use a very large, double-stack pressure canner on a glass stop top.

Jars and Lids

Canning tools essentials are for sure your jars! There are several sizes and below I will list the ones you will use most often.

Quart Size: 32 ounces
Pint-Sized: 16 fluid ounces
Half Pint: 8 fluid ounces
Jelly Jars: 4 ounce

Ball Jar Sizes — **From the Ball Website** https://www.freshpreserving.com/

In 2020 Jars became very hard to find. Jars should range between 8-12 dollars a case of 12. I have seen amazon listings and Walmart for $50-$100 dollars for jars! Don’t do that. It is price gouging. Facebook marketplace and Craigslist are great places to find used jars. Always check the rims for chips. A great place is garage sales and auctions. I won at a farm auction a whole box of jars, for under $6.00.

canning tools , funnel jar lifter lid lifter de bubbler — *As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.* Find more information here

Funnel
De Bubbler: to remove bubbles from your jars before putting a lid on.
Jar Lifter: safely move jars in and out of canners.
Magnetic Lid Lifter: Move lids that are sanitized onto jars without touching them and keeping them sterile.
Jar wrench to tighten jars, or hold jars while you add the lids. The jars usually are very hot.
I also use a masher, a regular potato masher will do just fine.
Thermometer: used for making jams and jellies.
Ladle

For Tomatoes

KitchenAid Fruit & Vegetable Strainer Set with Food Grinder Attachment https://amzn.to/38O6mgk

I fell in love with this tool, you can skip scalding your tomatoes and just put them through this handy tool if you have a mixer. It separates the seeds and skins and leaves you with a great sauce.

I take the skins and seeds and dehydrate them , and make tomato powder!

Norpro 1951 “The Original” Sauce Master https://amzn.to/38RnVvQ I have not used this one, but I know of people who do, and if you do not have a kitchen aid, these are great.

Kitchen Aid fruit and vegetable strainer attachment — https://amzn.to/3eOw4F0

Pantry Staples

You are going to need a few items besides your basic essential tools for canning to preserve your food. Nothing is worse then finding out you don’t have something and you have your recipe started. Below are a few things you need to have.

Vinegar you will need for almost every recipe, I also add a little bit to my water bath canner and a pressure canner, it helps keep the jars nice and bright. Stops build up. You also will wipe the jar rims with vinegar.
Liquid Pectin is used for pie fillings, not to be confused with regular sure jell or pectin. https://amzn.to/3twkfHP (you can find this usually at your local grocery store much cheaper. This is just a visual of what you need.
Pectin: http://Ball Real Fruit, Low or No-Sugar-Needed Pectin
Bulk Pectin: Hoosier Hill Farm Clear Jel, 1.5 Lbs. https://amzn.to/38NeTzN
Salt: Do not use iodized salt. Canning Salt and Pickling Salt can be found cheap at most grocery stores.

Altitude Charts

Altitude is so important in your canning and preserving. I live above sea level at around 6100 feet. So I must in water bath canning add 15 minutes to all recipes. For Pressure Canning I must pressure can at 15 pounds of pressure. Here is a great chart from Ball that you can find what you need to do.

https://www.freshpreserving.com/adjust-high-altitude-canning.html

Storage

Above is a picture of all the preserving I did last year. I was so proud of those shelves! You need to find a cool, dark place to keep your jars. You do not want to put them in a hot garage, or a hot room. I have a pantry off my kitchen, but we have in-floor heating and that room is a sauna. So I made a space in my basement. If you are short of space, under a bed, a dark cupboard. I would avoid cupboards around your stove.

Resource list

Ball and Kerr Website https://www.freshpreserving.com/

SDSU Extension office https://extension.sdstate.edu/food/preservation (check your local state extension office for information also. I just found this one very helpful)

Altitude Charts https://www.freshpreserving.com/adjust-high-altitude-canning.html

This Essential Tools for Canning List should give you a good start on your new preserving adventure. I will be adding lots more content in the near future on canning. If you have any questions or topics you would like to see me cover, please comment below! Happy Canning!