I’ve been canning and pickling for about 15 years now — starting with applesauce when my kids were young and then graduating to jellies and jams, relishes and pickles. But I’ve never had legit canning tools until this year — and what a difference they make.
I bought a tool set from Egg|Plant Urban Farm Supply, a fun store on Selby Avenue in St. Paul last spring. The store is full of gear for gardeners, chicken keepers and canners, both equipment and how-to books. This simple set from Ball, the kingpins of canning, included a brilliantly efficient jar lifter (no more burned hands), a magnetic lid grabber and a tool that removes air from jars and measures the headspace between the food you are preserving and the jar lid.
Monday I made eight jars of pickle relish, using my rather abundant supply of cucumbers, and today I canned 6 half pints of peach preserves. It’s a good week for canning, especially with the right tools.
I wish I had that magnetic lid lifter. What a great idea.
What a wonderfully simple idea for canning. I always have such a hard time picking up the hot lids, this is really neat. So many great ideas in your posts!
Mary, I finally tried canning a couple of weeks ago, and I’m completely hooked. I made both cucumber and zucchini pickles, pickled hot peppers, pickled green beans, and salsa. They all turned out great. Saturday I canned 17 more pints of pickles. Later this week I’ll make marinara. Now I find myself looking around at all my veggies thinking, “What’s next?”
Tom — Woo-hoo! glad you are enjoying the canning. If you have red peppers, try the recipe on the top of the blog for red pepper relish — it’s amazing.