Home canning requires a certain amount of equipment.
It can be expensive in your first year of canning as you acquire the basics. After that, though, mostly everything (except the single-use, throw-away metal lids) is re-usable year after year.
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Home canning equipment topics
- 1.1 Ball
- 1.2 Ball HarvestPro Sauce Maker
- 1.3 Bernardin
- 1.4 Bernardin History
- 1.5 Bernardin Jars
- 1.6 Bernardin 750 ml jars
- 1.7 Bernardin Vintage Jars (Green)
- 1.8 Bernardin Vintage Jars (Purple)
- 1.9 Canning Jars
- 1.10 Atlas mason jars for home canning
- 1.11 Bail Lid Jars
- 1.12 Canning Jar Sizes
- 1.13 Frutta del prato jars
- 1.14 Gem Jars and Lids
- 1.15 Golden Harvest Mason Jars
- 1.16 Kerr Jars
- 1.17 Kilner Jars
- 1.18 Le Parfait Familia Wiss Mason Jars
- 1.19 Le Parfait's hinged-lid jars
- 1.20 Leifheit Jars
- 1.21 Lightning Jars
- 1.22 Quattro Stagioni Jars
- 1.23 Re-using jars from store-bought products
- 1.24 Weck Jars
- 1.25 Canning supplies in Canada
- 1.26 Dealing with stuck canning rings
- 1.27 Funnels for home canning
- 1.28 Jelly Bags
- 1.29 Lids for home canning
- 1.30 Ball SureTight Lids
- 1.31 BPA and Canning Lids
- 1.32 Buckled Lids
- 1.33 Magnetic Lid Wand
- 1.34 Mason Jar Lid Tighteners
- 1.35 Mason jar storage caps
- 1.36 One-piece lids for home canning
- 1.37 Pinholing in canning jar lids
- 1.38 Plastic Storage Caps
- 1.39 Tattler Reusable Canning Lids for Home Canning
- 1.40 Newell
- 1.41 pH Meters and Home Canning
- 1.42 Storing Canning Rings
- 1.43 Water Seal Canners
- 1.44 What do you call your canning jar rings?
Home canning equipment topics
Ball
Ball is a brand of home canning supplies. Home canning advice given by Ball is generally considered to be amongst the most reputable advice in the world from the private sector.
Ball HarvestPro Sauce Maker
The Ball® HarvestPro™ Sauce Maker is a good mid-range tomato mill product, and very good value for its price point.
It's among the least expensive of the electric food mills, but comes with some very desirable features, such as a splash cover, a wi...
Bernardin
Bernardin, a sister company to Ball, is the brand name under which Newell distributes its home canning products in Canada. Many products are shared, for instance the Ball / Bernardin Complete Book of Home Preserving actually published in Canada.
Bernardin History
Bernardin was originally just a bottle cap and lid company. It transitioned into a mason jar lid company making lids for other companies' jars, then a Canadian company. It did not actually start selling its own mason jars until possibly as late as the...
Bernardin Jars
Bernardin is the largest supplier for canning jars for the Canadian home canning market. The jars, made in the U.S., are denominated in metric sizes which are very similar to the U.S. sizes.
Bernardin 750 ml jars
Bernardin makes tall, slim-line wide-mouth mason jars with a capacity of 750 ml / ¾ litre / ¾ US quart. They are sold in packs of 9. This mid-range size could be useful in many households.
Bernardin Vintage Jars (Green)
Bernardin released "vintage" green jars in the spring of 2015: a pint and a quart. They have a vintage Bernardin logo on them and say "1881" on the back. They are safe for all home canning.
Bernardin Vintage Jars (Purple)
Bernardin released "vintage" purple jars in the spring of 2015 in quart size. They have a vintage Bernardin logo on them and say "1881" on the back. They are safe for all home canning.
Canning Jars
Jars for home canning must have several characteristics including being made of heat-safe, food-safe glass intended for continual re-use, and having a re-usable lid system that can hold a vacuum seal reliably.
Atlas mason jars for home canning
The Hazel-Atlas Company was an actual company from 1902 to 1964. They made actual Mason jars for home canning. But the Atlas "Mason" jars that you see now pasta sauces, etc., sold in are not actually made as actual, genuine Mason jars.
Bail Lid Jars
Bail lid jars have a two-part wire clasp attached to the top of them. Older-style U.S. made bail jars from the first half of the 1900s offered weak clasps. Le Parfait jars operate on a similar principle but with better-made bails.
Canning Jar Sizes
When can you change the canning jar size that a tested recipe calls for? Here are the guidelines.
Frutta del prato jars
Frutta del prato is a line of Chinese-made home preserving jars sold in many countries around the world. Depending on where you buy them, they can be more expensive than other home preserving jars, or less expensive.
Gem Jars and Lids
Gem jars had a mouth size of 78 mm, between that of regular and wide-mouth jars. They worked with both older and newer lid systems and as a result the sturdy, heavy canning jars were passed down from generation to generation for re-use.
Golden Harvest Mason Jars
Golden Harvest brand Mason jars for home canning are a lower-priced line of Mason jars sold by the Newell Corporation, which also owns Ball, Bernardin and Kerr jars. The jars are sold in Canada and the U.S.
Kerr Jars
Kerr is a range of Mason jars for home canning. They were the first company to develop the two-piece, self-sealing canning lid which is now standard.
Kilner Jars
Kilner is an English brand name of home preserving supplies. The home canning jars are made in China.
Le Parfait Familia Wiss Mason Jars
Le Parfait Familia Wiss Mason Jars are a line of extra wide-mouth, straight-sided Mason-style jars with two-piece lids for home canning.
Le Parfait's hinged-lid jars
Le Parfait is the classic French maker of hinged-lid jars. These jars are ideal for refrigerated and dry shelf storage, and have very user friendly extra-wide mouths.
Leifheit Jars
Leifheit jars are very sturdy preserving jars from Germany. They work with standard, 2-piece wide-mouth lids and can be used for both water-bath and pressure canning.
Lightning Jars
A lightning jar was a type of jar made for home preserving in the first half of the 1900s. The name came from the "lightning" wire closure on the jars, which was supposed to imply "fast" to open and close.
Quattro Stagioni Jars
Quattro Stagioni (Four Seasons) are Italian preserving jars with regular and wide mouth sizes. The jars come with one-piece lids but will work with mason jar lids and screw bands. (They also sell non-standard jars.)
Re-using jars from store-bought products
Can you use recycled glass jars as canning jars? The answer depends on who you ask, and revolves around operational safety, rather than food safety.
Weck Jars
The Weck canning jar system consists of glass jars, glass lids, tabbed rubber gaskets (sealing rings) and metal clamps. Weck jars are missing the threaded grooves that Mason jars have at the top.
Canning supplies in Canada
Overall, Canadians are as well-supplied as Americans are for canning supplies, and at similar costs. For the past several decades, the leading vendor by sales volume in Canada of basic supplies, such as jars and lids, has been Canadian Tire
Dealing with stuck canning rings
Got a stuck canning ring that won't come off after canning so you can check your seal? Here's some tips on how to deal with it.
Funnels for home canning
Canning funnels are specially designed for use in home canning. They keep jar rims cleaner and prevent waste by guiding food properly into the jars. They also let you work faster.
Jelly Bags
Jelly bags are fine mesh bags designed to strain liquid mixtures in order to clarify them into a clear liquid for use in making jellies, or for drinking as a juice.
Lids for home canning
A lid closure system must perform the function of creating an effective, lasting, reliable vacuum seal that allows a way for you to confirm it is sealed after canning, and is remaining sealed during storage.
Ball SureTight Lids
In the spring of 2017, new SureTight™ lids were released for home canning by Ball and Kerr. Ball said that the changed lids represented the most significant improvement in home canning lids in the past 30 years.
BPA and Canning Lids
Bisphenol A (BPA) is a compound often used in plastics. Home canners were concerned about its presence in the underside lining of their canning lids. In response, major mason jar lid manufacturers in North America removed BPA from their lids.
Buckled Lids
In modern home canning terms, a buckled lid is a permanently distorted metal lid on top a jar. The jar should be treated as unsealed, even if it has sealed. What causes this, and how do you prevent it?
Magnetic Lid Wand
A magnetic lid wand is a simple device used to safely fish metal canning lids out of boiling hot water without scalding yourself.
Mason Jar Lid Tighteners
Mason Jar Lid Tighteners are devices to help you apply a ring band with just the right amount of force. You place it on, and then turn until two arrows meet each other, indicating the optimal tightness.
One-piece lids for home canning
There are one-piece metal canning lids such as you see on commercially-purchased bottled goods sold for home canning use. In North America, they are specifically recommended against for home canning.
Pinholing in canning jar lids
Pinholing (aka pitting) is the appearance of small holes or corroded areas on the undersides of the metal lids of your home canned foods. The food in the jar will still be safe unless the holes have gone clean through the lid.
Plastic Storage Caps
There are one-piece plastic screw on lids you can buy meant for preserving jars for refrigerator storage of preserves that have been opened, or, for shelf-storage of dry goods such as beans, rice, etc.
Tattler Reusable Canning Lids for Home Canning
Tattler reusable canning lids are two-piece plastic lids for mason-type preserving jars. Both parts are reusable.
Newell
Newell is a company that produces most of the Mason jars and Mason jar lids for North America. They do so under the following brand names: Ball, Bernardin, Golden Harvest, and Kerr.
pH Meters and Home Canning
A pH meter is a device used to measure acidity. If you are following tested home canning recipes from reliable sources, you don't need a pH meter. This is just an advanced background knowledge topic.
Storing Canning Rings
All the experts are now advising to store your canning without the canning rings on. So, what do you do with your canning rings until they are needed again? A discussion of how to organize and store them.
Water Seal Canners
A water seal was an early 20th-century stove-top "pot" designed to water bath process jars of food at temperatures slightly above boiling by means of slight pressure. This topic is for historical interest only and no preserving by this method should be...
What do you call your canning jar rings?
What do you call your canning jar rings? Many pros call them "screw bands", but Google statistics show users calling them by other names.
Kaye Lynch
I am looking for a hot plate that will be heavy and big enough to put a full canner on it.
Any suggestions?
Matt Freije
To whom it may concern,
I have canned and gardened for years, but since last year my supply of regular and wide mouth lids is almost gone. I tried to resupply like last year but was unsuccessful. Can I order directly from Ball in order to insure I get the materials I need prior to my canning season begins?
Healthy Canning
Ball stopped selling products directly a couple years ago.
Aaron Mclain
I am looking for plastic snap-on lids to fit my jars 2 & 5/8 inch diameter. Help! If you know of a source please email to [email protected]
Linda Popp
Can I use the quilted jars in a pressure cooker , or are they only for hot water baths?
Healthy Canning
Make sure you are using a certified pressure canner, and not just a pressure cooker. See: https://www.healthycanning.com/pressure-cookers-versus-pressure-canners/
Those jars are fine to use in pressure canners.
Rach Bartlett
Live in NZ where supplies are hard to come by. Was wondering if tin foil could do the trick instead of lids? A heavy duty one perhaps?
Healthy Canning
No. Freeze instead.
Monique Haggar
I have Atlas Mason jars and need lids of 2,25 in or 57.15 mm width – don’t seem to find them anywhere in Canada. The jar is squarish. Any suggestion?
Jill Hoggard
I lent my steam caner out and it came back without the direction manual.. Where do i go to print another copy?
Healthy Canning
What make and model is it?
Babbette
Is it safe to can with quarter pint size JARS.
Healthy Canning
Yes. See here: jar sizes
Lyn
What do you know about Orchard Road canning jars? I don’t see any mention on them here?
Healthy Canning
No experience with them, but people seem to be happy with them so far, and people seem to like their smooth sides as they are easier to label than Ball jars.