This post is all the tools you will need to start canning aka bottling. The great thing about canning is once you do the initial investment of the tools you'll have them forever. Bottles can be reused, but you do need to replace seals every time but those are only about $2-3 for a box of seals. Other than that you just have the cost of the food, pectin, and/or canning salt. So it's a great way to save money- especially if you have a garden or orchard and the food is free!
For Water-bath canning (fruits, jams)
Water bath pan with rack (they usually come with one), large funnel, jar tongs/grabber, magnetic stick(usually you can get a kit with all these tools), jars, seals & rings, ladel, and a permanent marker to label the jar lids. For jams & jellies you will also need pectin, and for some recipes you may need canning salt. I keep both of these on hand all the time.
Here are the items on Amazon which are all a really good deal.
Pressure Canning (vegetables & meats)
Vegetables and meats MUST be canned in a pressure canner/cooker.
You will need the same tools as above and instead of a water bath pan you'll need a pressure canner/cooker pan.
I got mine from ebay for about $80 which was the best price I could find at the time.
Jars
As far as purchasing jars, Costco has the best price I have seen. I got a case of 12 pint jars for about $5 at Costco where Walmart has them for about $7-8 (which still isn't too bad) Also if you check the sales you can sometimes find really good deals on them.
There are 6 basic sizes of jars. First you have the rim sizes which are: regular or wide mouth. Then you have the capacity of the jars which are: half pint (1 cup), pint (2 cups), or quart (4 cups). sometimes you can find really large jars like the size of a pickle jar, but those aren't as common or practical.
The size or capacity of the jars don't matter and you can use whatever size works best for your family. The processing time will be different for different capacity jars however so check your instruction book for those times.
I usually get wide mouth just because they are easier to fill especially when doing vacuum sealing.
My grandparents use to can. Now my parents grow their very own gardena and can tomatoes and jellies.
ReplyDeleteMy grandparents use to always can. They both passed away and now my parents can. It use to be so much fun helping my grandparents out and going to the fields to pick tomatoes and such.
ReplyDeleteThese seem like some great canning products!