In my last post I talked about the “Must Haves” of canning equipment, and in this post — we get into some details about that equipment!

Must Haves:

Ball Blue Book of Canning

Canning jars

Deep kettle with jar rack

Canning jar lids and rings

Lots of old kitchen/ hand towels & hot pads

Tongs & a Wooden Spoon

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Let’s get started! First and foremost– a Ball Blue Book of Canning is a must have. I found mine at a Walmart many years ago, you can still find them there if your Walmart has a canning section (some do, some don’t!) you can find them at numerous places online and just about anywhere that carries canning equipment will carry this book, it is the canners bible. I constantly refer back to mine each year for times, if nothing else and that is a huge factor in canning.

Jars! You can buy canning jars, again, at any store that carries canning equipment. They can range, from $8 to $15 per case of 12. I scour garage sales in the summer hunting good canning jars. In fact this past Friday I found 3 boxes with 15 or more each in them for a total of $12.00. That is a pretty good deal! When buying from a second hand source, be SURE to pick up every jar and inspect it for cracks and for nicks in the mouth of the jar. If the mouth of the jar has one little nick in it, the lid will not seal or if it does it won’t hold or will result in bad food that could possibly make your family sick. Make sure to double check the jars!

I often hear ‘what size jar do I use’ ? Well, that is relative to your family. Are there 2 of you? More than likely half pints & pints will work (depending on what you are canning and your preferences) if you have 10 or more in your family, chances are a half pint of anything is a waste of time & effort– you might want to can in only quarts! I use a variety from half pints to quarts, depending on what I am canning. Anything larger is NOT recommended, as you may not get your food evenly canned inside the jar due to its size and therefore your food can end up being unsafe.

A deep canning kettle and rack are for water bath canning and can be bought online or anywhere that sells canning equipment, or look to relatives that possibly don’t can anymore, estate, garage or tag sales! I picked up the 2 I have at garage sales for $1.00 or less each–they’ve served me for years!

Canning Jar lids & Rings; you will need brand new lids to seal your jars. Lids have long been that of the metal with rubber seal, one time use only, variety. Those are great, I’ve used them for years—and the rings, are obviously something you save and use repeatedly. I’ve stocked up on these through a couple places that I found the best price: Azure Standard www.azurestandard.com  as well as at Lehmans www.lehmans.com where you can get a great deal on them in bulk!   I’ve also discovered REUSABLE canning jar lids! These are fantastic, and can be found at www.reusablecanninglids.com I’d highly recommend checking into them. Great to have on hand, especially when ‘running to the store’ for more disposable lids, is not an option.

You will go through a lot of towels between setting jars on them, to wiping rims (the rims of the mouth of the jar must be perfectly clean to meet with the rubber on the lids and form that ’seal’)—and the occasional mess clean up! Have a bunch on hand; garage sale or thrift stores are a great place for these if you don’t already have them on hand.

You’ll want tongs, a fork and a wooden spoon as well; simple things that make the job easier. Tongs or a fork will lift your lids out of very hot water; enough said. (Unless you are blessed with a magnetic wand lid lifter–see below!) Having a wooden spoon on hand is great for poking down into your filled jars to release any air bubbles. I pick up extra wooden spoons at garage sales often, I love to cook with them and the old ones are sturdy and last!

Some other ‘nice’ but you can ‘get by without things’ are the canning funnel to keep your foods IN the jar and save you messes and loss of spilled/lost food, I have a plastic one and it does the job; however if I was buying one today, I’d buy stainless steel.  A jar lifter is quite handy, really great tool to SAFELY lift your jars out of the water– this should be on the MUST HAVES LIST, but you can let your water cool and then get them out too. The magnetic wands they have out these days are pretty nice too–but then again an old pair of tongs or a fork will do the job as well.

As you can see, much of your canning equipment can be picked up pretty cheap, and it’s completely worth it– the food you preserve is tastier, healthier and just all around better for you and yours; not to mention it is a great way to stock the pantry as foods are in season and at their best price!

Look for our next post this week on Water Bath Canning

~Lisa