Canning Equipment – More Than Just Mason Jars

Supplies Needed for Home Food Preservation

Jul 16, 2009 Jan Czech

Home canning makes food taste better and saves money. Here are the tools necessary to get the novice canner started.

What goes around, comes around. Grandmothers did it and so did mothers but to many, preserving food in Mason jars is old fashioned.However, home preserving is making a comeback as people realize it is practical and produces delicious food.

Canning Equipment

Many of the things one needs to prepare canned food are already in her kitchen, but, as with any specialized job, some specific tools are needed.

Canning jars

  • The glass jars used for home canning are often referred to as mason jars, the most popular and well known brand are called Ball jars after their manufacturer. According to the Pick Your Own website, mason jars were invented in 1858 by John Mason. Ball jars followed in 1883.

Jar lid and screw bands

  • The lid and band are two separate pieces – the flat lid has a channel filled with sealing compound and the threaded metal screw band fits over the threaded top of the jar, holding the lid in place during heat processing. The bands can be re used but the lids cannot.

Boiling Water Canner

  • According to Ball’s Complete Book of Home Preserving, most kitchens already contain pots large enough to double as a boiling water canner which is simply a large, deep pot equipped with a lid and a rack that is large enough to immerse jars in water – ideally at least three inches deeper than the height of the jars. Boling water canners can be purchased complete with lid and rack. The rack lifts the jars off the bottom of the pot to keep them away from direct heat. This allows the boiling water to heat the entire jar evenly. If one has a large enough pot but no rack, racks can be purchased without having to buy the canner as well.

Pressure Canner

  • If the home preserver intends to heat process low acid foods like meat, poultry or fish, or will be using recipes that contain any of these ingredients, a pressure canner is a must. In order to destroy toxins, low acid foods should be processed at higher temperatures than are possible with a boiling water canner. Pressure canners are heavier and have lids that are locked in place allowing them to process foods at higher temperatures.

Other Canning Utensils

  • As with most other culinary arts, an infinite number of tools and gadgets are available to, supposedly, make the cooks job easier. While the basic tools needed for canning are simply canners, jars and lids, the home canner may wish to avail herself of tools like crinkle cutters, cherry stoners, funnels of various sizes,canning lid racks and magnetic wands.

Home Canning Kits put everything together in one handy package, perfect for the novice canner who needs supplies.

The copyright of the article Canning Equipment – More Than Just Mason Jars in Food Trends is owned by Jan Czech. Permission to republish Canning Equipment – More Than Just Mason Jars in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
home canned jam in a Ball jar, Jan Czech home canned jam in a Ball jar
   
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