Items for Water Bath canning

If you are just starting out canning, or just thinking about it - here are a few things that have really proved to be helpful to me....

• A Ball Blue Book.  It has been an essential item in my canning life. You can pick one up on Amazon here*

• I also recommend getting a jar lifter, funnel, & canner.  If you want all these items, you can get them in one spot here* - 

This kit also comes with a spatula - but I'll be honest, I don't use it for everything. It also comes with a lid wand, which comes in very handy -  
but something I love even more is a lid holder!!!!                                                                    
It was the PERFECT gift for me!! You can get that here - Lehmans 

• And of course - you will need jars, lids, & bands.  All new jars come with the lids & bands.  I have reused my bands for many years, but you should NOT reuse your lids.  I know, I know - that's a real bummer!  Of course, you'll need to know what size jars you want to use in your canning.  Most jams, jellies, & spreads are in adorable 4 oz, 8 oz or 12 oz sizes.  And these can come in adorable decorative jars, or just the plain jane.  My mother started canning with my sister and I a few years ago, and she always insists on using the decorative ones since she puts the canned yumminess on display.  😍😍  You can buy these at many retailers, but here's a link to Amazon*

         


Also there are wide mouth jars/lids & regular mouth jars/lids.  I made the mistake once of buying wide mouth lids when I didn't own any wide mouth jars!  Oops!!  I now use both types of jars in my canning.  But just to start out, I would just buy the regular size jars and go from there.

• Ok, you will also need a pot to sterilize your lids (a small one does just the trick), and a pot to cook your food in.  So yes, I do normally  have at least 3 burners going on my stove while canning!  If you have a dishwasher - that works great for heating up the jars. But that might be getting ahead of myself, since this is just a post on the items needed.  Sorry!

Here's a look at my must have canning items.  

The larger one is my actual canner.  The middle one I rarely use.  The small one I use for the lids.

I know it looks like these would take up a ton of space that you just don't have - but they really don't, they all stack well together!

This is the largest canner I use at times - with all the other pots & items in it.

I wish I had the actual water bath canner for the link I posted on the kit, but I bought all my things separately - before the big craze of canning.  But that's okay, these have worked well for me for many many years.  

Important to note, that the pot you choose to water bath your jars in - you do not want to then cook food in it.  You want it to be totally used just for water bathing.  You may wonder why - but after canning a few items, you will see you wouldn't want to use that pot for anything else!

So there you go!  Now go get your items so we can have some fun together!!




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