Home canning supplies include containers such as double boilers or pressure canisters, as well as Mason jars in various sizes and mouth sizes. Lids, spatulas, funnels, and other tools are also necessary for the process. Decorative options, such as mason jar hats, are available. Common tools include funnels, jar lifters, and spatulas.
When choosing home canning supplies, the biggest initial purchase is often the container, which can be a double boiler type or a pressure container. A double boiler container is typically a large pan and lid. Both the water bath and the pressure canister have a grill insert with long handles. Mason jars are usually placed in the rack, which is lowered into the pan water. In addition to jars, you’ll need a variety of preserves for home canning, including lids, spatulas, and funnels.
Mason jars used in canning come in various sizes, including knocker bottles, which have a lid attached on a bale wire that can be twisted into place to cap the bottle. In addition to the amount of product the jars can hold, the mouth sizes of the jars also vary from regular to wide. Clear glass is most commonly used, but early jars were also available in blue, designed to keep the light in and help food last longer. In addition to vases with a smooth finish, vases with quilted patterns and other designs are also available. Some decorative vases have alternating shapes, such as diamond or marquis shapes.
Canning supplies also include lids, available in a variety of styles and colors, including one-piece screw-on lids, available in black, white, and colors. Screw rings are used in conjunction with flat lids and domed lids. Security seal caps are one-piece screw-on lids with a domed center section that reverse when the jar has sealed itself during the canning process.
Old jars typically had screwed-on zinc lids or glass lids. To use the glass lids, modern canning supplies include spare rubber rings that fit between the neck of the jar and the glass lid. Decorative canning supplies include mason jar hats, which are used to add color and decoration to canned food jars; they’re made of paper and come in colorful patterns, like red gingham. After the food has been canned, many cannons make it a practice to label and date the jars, and there are labels that fit over the flat center of flat lids.
A handful of common canning supplies often helps make the task easier. Funnels help fill food jars without dripping and spilling and are available in stainless steel and plastic. A jar lifter is used to remove canning jars from a water bath, and a magnetic lid lifter can lift lids out of hot water. A long, narrow spatula is used to scrape the jars and to remove air bubbles from food-filled jars. For jars that will be reused, you can use a jar scrubber brush to help clean the bottles.
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