KIS - Canning Essentials

I enjoy canning and preserving food to stock in my pantry.  However, I don’t can a ton of stuff.  I'm more of what I like to refer to as a small-scale canner.  I can in small batches and use the water bath method.  Most of what I can goes in pint jars - pears, peaches, applesauce, tomatoes and salsa.  I use half pints for jam, jellies, relish and salsa.  Quart jars work great for pickles.

These are the items I consider essential for this type of canning:

Water bath canner with jar rack

Assorted canning jars

Flat lids and rings

Jar lifter (to safely remove jars from canner)

Jar funnel

Depending on what I am canning I find that I can get by quite nicely using what I already have in my kitchen for preparation.  I love to use my dishwasher to sterilize my jars and rings.  The canner filled with boiling water works well too.  I sterilize my lids simply by placing them in a saucepan and pouring boiling water over them.  I cover the pan with a lid until I'm ready for them.

Canning half pints of strawberry jam in great grandma's aluminum dutch oven

I love to use my slow cooker to make applesauce and apple butter.  My great grandmother's aluminum dutch oven gets a workout for blanching peaches and tomatoes to slip the skins.  I also use it to make my relishes, jams and jellies.  I like to cold pack my pickles.

All in all I keep my canning processes as simple as possible.

Need more canning tips and information?  Check out this website.