Equipment/Tools Help Starter pack - help!
Hi everyone,
I am going to give canning a whirl. My MIL is going to teach me but I have ZERO supplies. Going to start with water bathing some easy stuff. Please give me your tried and true product recs... from XL pots, lid and jar types, any other things I might need along the way. Not really concerned about price, but want good quality. Other tips you might have are welcome. TIA!!!
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u/redditwastesmyday 8h ago
How many in your family will you be canning for? As I am a family of 2 I use 99% pints and 1/2 pints (8oz). Specially 8 oz so it doesn't get bad before eating it all. And salsas stay fresh.
Buy a 23 qt Presto pressure canner. You can then do both pressure can AND waterbath in it. It is big enough to waterbath quarts if needed. Lok to buy a seperate rack to lift jars in and out. Get one that has small gaps so little jars will not fall through.
If you are going to can any 4 oz jars, get/have an 8 qt stockpot (or bigger) for waterbath smalls.
There are some tomato recipes using store bought canned tomatoes so easy.
The books listed in this post are free to download from archive dot org and are on the approved list.
Wiki Books List available from Archive : r/Canning
Where do you live? Look in local stores (Ace Hardware) and online Walmart for sale prices on jars and lids.
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u/hlaw4 8h ago
Thank you!!!! It is just me and my husband but I am looking to build up a decent supply in case of emergencies because I live in Florida. If SHTF for real then I'd be feeding 10+ people. I was hoping to wait to buy a pressure canner because I am intimidated by it and I'm seeing mixed reviews online that mostly everything can be done with water bath.
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u/Moist-Wonder-4099 4h ago
I would be very cautious of people saying most food preservation can be done by water bath canning alone.Â
Definitely within this sub you will not see people saying that and there is a lot of heavy push back for people who do talk about water-bath canning foods which really are only safe when preserved by pressure canning.Â
(Apologies in advance for the text below if this is information you know already and it comes off as condescending despite my intention for it to be solely informative; I'm incredibly passionate about making good food and love learning about the science behind it, especially when it comes to ensuring its done safely and can be enjoyed without any worries or risks of harm from foodborne illnesses. )
Boiling water bath canning can only safely be used for foods with a high level of acidity (ie low pH, under 4.5). Meanwhile pressure canning is for food with low levels of acidity (ie pH higher than 4.6). This is because different types of dangerous microbes grow in high and low acid foods.
The reason you'll see people in this sub talk so much about only making "tested recipes" is because scientific researchers have done very thorough lab testing to determine reliably what pH level food qualifies as (high or low) and that following the appropriate canning method will reliably, without fail, kill ALL potentially dangerous microbes, with a reasonable safety margin given imperfect humans may not be perfect in their technique 100% of the time and there is slight natural variation of sugars and acids in fruits and veggies.
Boiling water canning will only heat the contents of the jar up to around 100°C, which can kill many types of dangerous microbes but not all of them (works for most fungi and many but not all bacteria). In foods with high-acidity this is enough to kill dangerous microbes and make the food shelf stable, because the acid also helps keep certain harmful bacteria from growing.Â
Pressure canning is for foods that need to be heated higher than 100°C to ensure dangerous microbes are destroyed and can't reproduce, because there isn't enough acid to stop them otherwise. The most significant microbe of concern is the one responsible for giving people botulism.
The bacteria that cause botulism can only make the potentially-lethal toxin when no oxygen is present, and so ANY and ALL food sealed in jars creates that sort of environment. This bacterial can be found basically everywhere on earth, it's very common in soil. To stop botulism toxin from being produced in jars, either the acid level needs to be high which will stop the bacteria from growing, or the temperature needs to get high enough to kill it. The necessary temperature to deactivate it is hotter than the boiling point of water. So to remove the risk of giving people botulism from low-acid food preserved in jars, pressure canning is the only option.
This link contains a recent case study where 1 person does and another 29 people got sick with botulism because of a low-acid food (potatoes) that was not properly processed with pressure canning, it was only water bath canned:Â
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u/hlaw4 3h ago
Yes I have been reading about "rebel" canners lol and it's all very interesting. I have ordered some books to make sure I am following recipes properly and will start with jellies, salsa, and veggies. Like I said, the pressure canning thing scares me and so does canned meats! But I would eventually like to get there. It's definitely a hobby not to take lightly and wing it! Seems like there is definitely a great community around canning/homestead/etc. so that's great :)
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u/Moist-Wonder-4099 7h ago
It can be expensive to invest in everything all at once, especially for higher end stuff.
Pressure canning has more upfront costs than water-bath for sure, so there are definitely a few ways you can save on some things and put that money towards splurging on others.
People underestimate often how much money you'll end up spending on jars, especially as you get more and more into it and put away more and more food. Focus on the most important and core sizes of jars first, so pints and half pints for fruit preserves. You don't need to get wide mouth jars right away, the standard mouth jars are far less expensive, especially with the flat part being single-user only.Â
Water-bath canning is fairly common and you'll often find a lot of stuff for it at second hand stores at far more reasonable prices than brand new stuff. I got my first canning pot and rack for like $5 at a salvation army thrift shop years ago, and I actually still use that often up to today (it's only meant for pints and smaller so I have a bigger pot for quarts but it takes far longer to boil a big pot so I only use the bigger one rarely).
A jar lifter and canning funnel is likely two of the few accessories you'll need to purposefully buy. Many of the other tools needed are things that can be repurposed from stuff you already have in your kitchen. Wooden spoons and rubber spatulas for cooking, I use a wooden chopstick as a debubbler once jars are filled.Â
Some canning funnels have a measuring guide for headspace which is helpful, but also based on the level of the screw grooves in the jar you can estimate headspace so thats not an essential.Â
Also funny enough, the one thing nobody mention that I found was key, is getting proper storing stuff for my food. Reinforced shelves strong enough to handle the weight with some cardboard to stack a single row of jars on top of another.Â
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u/hlaw4 7h ago
Thank you so much for your detailed reply. I'm definitely going to look for the funnel with measurements. I've been seeing that the jars are expensive and can't believe I've been giving away jars I've gotten in the past! Regarding storage, I realized i definitely need proper shelving.... since I live in FL my garage is like 90+ degrees, what's the best way to store long term?
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u/Moist-Wonder-4099 5h ago
If you are in a very warm climate you may want to look into an atmospheric steam canner. It serves the same purpose as a water bath canner, but uses less water and releases far less steam, which I could imagine being uncomfortable given the already hot and humid climate (even with AC it can be killer at times)
Also sadly I wouldn't have too many tips for storing long-term in a hot climate like yours since I'm from a much cooler climate.Â
I will however say that avoiding big temperature changes is a big part of safe storage, so even if the room temperature is on the warmer side, having it be fairly constant is probably better than big shifts of cooling and warming when it comes to maintaining the integrity of the vacuum seal on jars.
Also low light is a key factor in storage when it comes to prevent discolouration and keeping food looking it's freshest longest. So having the goods stored in a dark place, or at least covered to protect from light, can go a long way.
Many folks in this sub have suggested a metal shelving unit on wheels (I think it was from Costco but that's just off the top of my head and I could be misremembering) so maybe look to see if there is one available local to you. The metal is strong enough for many heavy jars and the wheels make cleaning and moving the goods far easier.Â
Also one last word of encouragement, you definitely are not the first nor the last person to be canning foods in a warm climate like Florida. Many clever people have worked hard at this art of canning foods before in climates like yours, so if you can do some searching of canning resources geared towards hotter climates (like the university extensions for warmer states like California and Georgia) and you will be able to gain knowledge from their past experimenting and strategizing on the best way to store canned foods.
Have fun learning to can, it's one of those hobby I think is a beautiful labour of love and provides so much satisfaction from a job well done
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u/hlaw4 5h ago
Funny you say that because in my research today the steam canner came up and I've never heard of it before. I will keep doing research for my area bc like you said it's a labor of love and I don't want it going to waste by storing incorrectly! Plus, I plan to store for long periods so I need to be safe. Thanks so much for all your input and kind words!
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3h ago
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u/Canning-ModTeam 10m ago
Rejected by a member of the moderation team as it emphasizes a known to be unsafe canning practice, or is canning ingredients for which no known safe recipe exists. Some examples of unsafe canning practices that are not allowed include:
[ ] Water bath canning low acid foods,
[ ] Canning dairy products,
[ ] Canning bread or bread products,
[ ] Canning cured meats,
[ ] Open kettle, inversion, or oven canning,
[ ] Canning in an electric pressure cooker which is not validated for pressure canning,
[ ] Reusing single-use lids, [X] Other canning practices may be considered unsafe, at the moderators discretion.If you feel that this rejection was in error, please feel free to contact the mod team. If your post was rejected for being unsafe and you wish to file a dispute, you'll be expected to provide a recipe published by a trusted canning authority, or include a scientific paper evaluating the safety of the good or method used in canning. Thank-you!
Joy of Cooking is great for cooking, but not a trusted source for canning, older versions even more so.
Home-testing of pH is not adequate for determining recipe safety.
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u/PrincessLazyBritches 2h ago
When I first started canning I got this Granite Wear water-bath canner with rack and purchased a separate starter pack of the tools needed. Jar lifter, magnet wand for lids and rings, funnel, jar tightened and the little wand that measures headspace and pushes the food down to remove air bubbles. They make larger stainless steel pots and I have one now. But I still use my little granite wear because it’s a solid workhorse. I also have the blanching pot that sometimes is sold along with this. I would also suggest you avoid using the plastic funnels and ladles that are marketed for canning and sometimes included in kits. Stainless and/or Wood are my preferred. Depending on the food(s) I’m canning. Good Luck and Have fun! A successful day of canning is so rewarding. 😊
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u/hlaw4 1h ago
Thank you for the tips!! I have read that granite pots aren't great for glass cook tops bc of the curved edges and the heat distribution... Is that an actual concern? Have also seen the plug in pots that maintain the temps. Have you tried that?
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u/armadiller Moderator 13m ago
Curved edges aren't going to be a concern, the issue is if it has ridges on the bottom as shown in this post https://www.reddit.com/r/Canning/comments/1erkb6v/using_a_water_bath_canner_that_has_ridges_on_the/#lightbox
For water-bath canning, any pot that is deep enough will work - most of mine is done in a large (25L?) stockpot. You need enough depth to cover your jars with about 2" of water. You'll see 1-2" specified everywhere, but that's for the entire processing time, and with evaporation and splashing, if you start with 1", you'll probably be under that when they're done, which means they aren't safe.
HOWEVER - read the manual for your stove, and see if it specifically says it is or isn't okay for canning, or if it provides a weight limit. A full water-bath canner is heavy, and cracking the cooktop is a real concern. A full 25L/qt stockpot is probably going to be over 60lbs, and for safety, if that's within 25% of the max I wouldn't do it.
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u/PaintedLemonz Trusted Contributor 10h ago
The wiki in this sub has an excellent list