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Canning Tools That Actually Kept Me From Burning My Fingers Last Season
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items Last summer I dropped a quart of peach preserves on the kitchen floor because my old jar lifter slipped. Boiling water everywhere, glass shards, wasted fruit. If you're someone who cans 20+ jars on a weekend and your hands look like a crime scene by ...
Sections
5
Jar Lifters That Actually Grip
Heat Resistant Gloves for Canning
Funnels and Ladles That Prevent Spills
Canning Racks and Pot Accessories
Lid Tools and Headspace Gadgets
Jar Lifters That Actually Grip
I went through three flimsy jar lifters before finding ones that don't wobble when you pull a full quart out of boiling water. These changed my whole canning day.
Grab this one first. The rubber coating on the tongs actually holds mason jars steady. I pulled 40 pints of salsa out of my water bath last August without a single slip. For anyone still using the cheap tongs that came with a starter kit, swap now.
Ball Secure-Grip Jar Lifter by Jarden
Use this if you're working with wide-mouth jars. The wider grip fits around Ball and Kerr wides without that terrifying wobble. My mom borrowed mine and immediately ordered her own the next day.
Norpro Canning Jar Lifter
Toss your old lifter and try this one. It's basic but the spring tension is solid, so you're not white-knuckling every jar. Perfect for someone just starting out who doesn't want to spend a lot.
Norpro Canning Jar Lifter
Keep this around if you do marathon canning sessions. The handles are long enough that steam doesn't hit your knuckles. I did 60 jars of tomatoes in one weekend and my hands survived.
Norpro Canning Jar Lifter
Switch to this if your current lifter leaves marks on your jars. The padded grip is gentler on glass but still locks on tight. Found this after I scratched up a whole batch of gift jars.
Farm to Table 5645 Canning Jar with Tongs
Snag this for smaller batches. It's lightweight and stores easily in a drawer, which matters if you're canning in a tiny apartment kitchen. My sister uses this in her studio and it tucks right into a utensil holder.
Progressive International Recalls Canning Jar Lifters Due
Heat Resistant Gloves for Canning
A jar lifter handles the grab, but your other hand still touches hot lids, rings, and steam. I burned the back of my hand reaching across my pot last year and learned this lesson the painful way.
Wear these under your regular grip when you're tightening hot rings. They handle up to 480 degrees and I've dunked them in hot water without flinching. For anyone whose oven mitts are too bulky for jar work, these are it.
4PCS Heat Resistant Silicone Oven Mitts Set
Try these if you need forearm coverage. The cuffs go halfway up your arm, so splashing water doesn't reach skin. I originally bought them for grilling but they live in my canning kit now.
RAPICCA BBQ Grill Gloves, 700°F Heat Resistant
Use these when you're pulling racks out of your pressure canner. The grip texture means you won't fumble a hot rack. My husband dropped a whole rack of green beans before I bought these. Never again.
Oven Gloves with Fingers
Pair these with your jar lifter for double protection. They're long enough that steam from a tall stock pot won't burn your wrists. I keep two pairs because one is always drying after a session.
HOMWE Silicone Oven Mitts & Pot Holders
Get these for handling individual jars that just came out of the dishwasher sterilization cycle. They're small, flexible, and you can actually feel what you're gripping. Great for someone with smaller hands.
Andreas Silicone Jar Opener
Grab a pack of these for the messy prep side of canning. They protect from hot brine splashes while you're ladling. Cheap enough that I replace them every season without thinking about it.
G & F Rubber Latex Coated Work Gloves
Funnels and Ladles That Prevent Spills
Pouring hot jam into a narrow jar mouth used to mean sticky counters and burned fingertips from overflow. These tools fixed that entire mess for me.
Use this for every single fill. The wide mouth fits regular and wide jars and it keeps hot liquid from running down the sides. I wasted so much jam before I started using one of these. Rookie mistake.
Canning Funnel for Kitchen Use
Switch to stainless if you're canning acidic stuff like tomatoes or pickles. Plastic funnels stain and warp over time, and this one has survived three full seasons in my kitchen without a scratch.
Norpro Stainless Steel Wide Mouth Funnel
Pair this with your funnel. The pour spout on the side means you actually hit the funnel opening instead of your counter. For anyone who's been using a regular soup ladle, the difference is night and day.
Fox Run Farm To Table Stainless Steel Ladle
Try this if you want something that collapses for storage. It fits in a drawer and pops open when you need it. Perfect for someone who only cans a few weekends a year and doesn't want gear everywhere.
PrepWorks Canning Funnel for Easy
Snag this for big batch days. The handle stays cool longer than my old metal one, and the capacity means fewer scoops per jar. I shaved real time off my tomato sauce sessions with this.
Granite Ware 9 Piece Enamelware Water bath Canning
Get this if you make a lot of preserves and jellies. The narrower spout gives you more control so you're not overfilling. I stopped wasting headspace measurements after switching to this one.
Kitchencraft Home Made Stainless Steel Maslin Pan
Canning Racks and Pot Accessories
Without a proper rack, jars bounce around in boiling water and crack. I lost four jars of pickled jalapeños in one batch because my old rack warped. That was an expensive afternoon.
Toss this into any large stock pot and you've got a functional water bath canner. The handles fold up so you can lower and lift jars as a group. Way easier than going one at a time.
Granite Ware Canner Rack (Fits 11.5qt Canning Pot)
Use this if you're just getting into canning and don't want to buy a full setup yet. It fits inside pots you probably already own. Saved me from buying a dedicated canner my first year.
Ball Canning Rack
Grab the stainless version if you're tired of racks that rust after two seasons. This one still looks new after years of use. Worth the few extra dollars for anyone who cans regularly.
Harvest Stainless Steel 20 Qt Canning Pot
Switch to a real canning pot if you've been using a pasta pot. The height matters because jars need full water coverage. I underfilled my old pot constantly and had seal failures because of it.
Cook by McSunley 21.5Qt Stainless Steel Canner
Try this for a mid-range option that includes the rack. The glass lid lets you see the boil without lifting and losing heat. I knocked 10 minutes off my processing time just by monitoring better.
Roots & Harvest Water Bath Canner 7.13 gal 1 pk
Keep this as your workhorse canner. It's not fancy but it holds seven quart jars and heats evenly. Mine has survived six years of weekly summer use and the enamel is still holding up.
Granite Ware Covered Preserving Canner with Rack
Lid Tools and Headspace Gadgets
Getting the right headspace and sealing lids properly used to be guesswork for me. I had a whole shelf of jars that didn't seal because I was eyeballing everything. These fixed that.
Use this before you seal every single jar. Air bubbles trapped in hot preserves cause seal failures, and this thing costs almost nothing. I wish someone had told me about it my first year instead of my third.
6pcs Plastic Canning Bubble Remover Tool
Grab lids out of hot water without burning your fingers or contaminating the seal surface. The magnet is strong enough to hold a lid steady while you position it. Tiny tool, huge difference.
Norpro Magnetic Lid Wand, 1 Ounce, Green
Keep this next to your pot at all times. Fishing lids out with tongs is awkward and you risk denting the sealing compound. For anyone who's been using a fork, please stop. This is like two dollars.
Kitchen Crop Canning Tools (Lid Lifter)
Swap your gasket if your pressure canner has been losing steam. A worn seal means unreliable pressure, which means unsafe food. Check yours before the season starts. I learned this after a batch of green beans didn't process right.
09985 Presto Pressure Canner Sealing Ring 23qt
Stick these on before you gift or store jars. They dissolve in water so you're not scraping adhesive off glass next year. Perfect for anyone who reuses jars season after season and hates the sticky residue.
Ball Dissolvable Canning Labels, 120 Count
Write the date and contents on your lids directly. Sounds basic but I found unlabeled jars from two years ago in my pantry and had no idea what was inside. A marker on every lid saves future you a lot of confusion.
Sharpie Permanent Markers Fine Tip Black 12