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8:43 pm
February 8, 2009
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This just came up again on Canning2 and I don't think it's been shared here.
When you are canning and have most of your stove occupied, keep your lids hot and ready to use by holding them in water in one of those Lil Dipper crockpots on the counter. With the lid off they hold at 140 degrees. lid on, 180 degrees. This was a brilliant idea of a hubby of a C2 member a few years ago and it's GOLD. Super terrific on a marathon canning day – no water to reheat, reheat ……
dede
3:35 pm
February 8, 2009
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Anyone who gets the Redplum coupon flyer in your Sunday newspaper – there are canning coupons TODAY!
$2.00 off Ball Canning Discovery Kit
$1.50 off a case of any size Kerr or Ball canning jars
FYI here is what is in the Kit (which is on back-order according to the website)
Kit Inclusions:
- Polypropylene rack with separate, fitted lifter that works in
standard stockpot - 3 Pint jars
- Illustrated, simplified canning instruction
Recipe book - Bounce-back coupons for additional jars
Now, this 'rack' looks really slick EXCEPT I can foresee hot boiling jars just a'banging together in that lifter ….. ?
(there's a good view of it on the coupon page)
4:29 pm
December 28, 2008
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Have seen what is probably that poly rack, Dede. It was tempting to get one just to have another option for a small batch, or those last few jars, or whatever. It you already own a proper jar lifter, I don't know why you would want to not use it, though! But, yeah, they nearly got me to get one but backed away until it on clearance!!
Funny you should mention the Lil Dipper. I was wondering if using my little potpourri simmering pot might work nearly a well – at least to hold the lids after heating properly. Hmmm. Will have to take a temp of what that little mini-crockpot looking outfit produce. It must be fairly hot…
4:47 pm
October 17, 2008
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ACK!!! I'm glad you posted the crockpot tip, Dede!!!! I purged my appliance and gadget cabinet a month or so ago and it's all in a tote on the back porch waiting for donation………there is one of those little crockpots in that tote that I got (with rebate) for free and have never, ever used it. There's something for procrastinating about getting that tote down to the thrift shop! But it will work great on those all-day canning days!!!! I can now move it to my canning cabinet!!!
8:25 pm
June 2, 2010
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Just in case you don't have the lid for the little crockpot, I've found that the lid to the smallest Revereware saucepan fits perfectly. I picked up a lid for $0.25 at the thrift store. I got my little dipper crockpot at a yard sale for $0.50 last year. I'm looking for a spare just in case I get clumsy.
I also heat my jars in the oven at 200 degrees, keeps them warm and frees up a burner also.
9:13 pm
February 8, 2009
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Good tip on the lid Kelly, because they are plastic and many I see in thrift stores have no lid. The one I have right now does, but …. LOL. I also see some of the Lil Dippers in thrift stores with melted/hardened wax still in them from a bad idea actually tried. Good grief. I heat my jars in the oven also unless it's one of the miserablly hot and humid WV summer days and then I resort to a sink full of hot water. I prefer the oven – dry jars are not slippery ;)
dede
11:22 am
May 5, 2010
Online
Oh, the little crockpot idea is stellar! … although I haven't gone into full bore canning in one day that fetching my Walmart minipot ($6?) out of the garage storage would be worth the stepstool, etc. Usually it's a 6 to 8 pints in one pass.
I fudged my BWB rack at the bottom of an 10qt(?) enamel pot with a non-stick trivet intended to support pot roast cooking in a pot … has worked swimmingly so far as I can't find a small enough lift-out rack to fit this pot. I just lift jars in and out one at a time. I do have a bigger pot with rack (garage sale) but could never fill the thing with one recipe so back to the smaller pot near everytime. The rack is plainly meant for BIG jars as the little 'uns tip about … makes me nervous! So, is there a better advantage to the rack that comes with the big pot? … I'm skittish about lifting a heavy filled rack with hand grip issues. Thanks!
11:34 am
February 8, 2009
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My jars go in the pot and come out of the pot ONE at a time. I tossed those *^#%$& racks out a few years back. In my opinion they are dangerous, unwieldy and most of them rust. It was quite freeing to give them a pitch 
, truthfully LOL! I now use either the flat disc type rack that comes with pressure canners or I have several $1 cake cooling round racks that work just fine. Personally, the idea of filling that rack with hot jars as it perched on the edge of the pot, waiting to be lowered into the hot water never made sense to me. I fill one and put it in the pot while the jar and contents are hot. When I see people filling jars with hot food and having a canner load of filled jars all sitting on the counter waiting (and cooling ….) before they put them all in the pot together also makes me cringe. The less chance of thermal shock the better – well, makes sense to ME anyway 
11:56 am
October 17, 2008
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I've never used the rack, but nothing that thin looks stable enough to hold a whole load of full hot jars to me.
I have a pair of gloves that came with my rotisserie (heat and waterproof) that I use for unloading (2 at a time). They work great!
2:27 pm
December 28, 2008
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Interesting discussion concerning the racks! I do use them, but then, my pot is usually mostly full. I do put jars into as they are filled, for exactly the reasons you suggest, Dede. It's never been a problem for me because I offset the jars in such a way that they seem to support each other, almost always. Lifting the entire rack out gets them somewhat out of the the water and I just feel safer removing them from the pot. I do usually have a jar lifter in each hand and remove them 2 at a time, though, from opposite sides of the rack so that it stays balanced weight wise.
2:38 pm
May 5, 2010
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AH! thank you … evidently I've been doing the sensible thing intuitively. I've been hoisting each jar, once filled and capped directly into the hot water one at a time with the jar lifter as I filled them. I have counter space problems around the stove to begin with. Letting them sit on the counter didn't make sense if one wanted to keep contents hot, hot, HOT. Besides, if the jars are tink, tinking against each other, it seemed as if that would be just waitin' for one invisibly flawed jar to crack or worse! And lord, yes, the rack looks way too flimsy to be remotely practical.
Actually I've been sterilizing the jars in the boiling water of the canner … lift out one, tipping the water out, allowing a moment for the hot glass to dry with the heat, filling it with jam or salsa and capping it. As I return it to the canner, I pluck another hot jar. Did I mention I have space issues? So far this works for me because of the small batches … I may be moving to sterilizing in the dishwasher or oven if I get on a serious roll. Happily, ALL of the large tomato plants are suddenly setting tomatoes (we finally have full weeks of sunny days!) due extra plantings this year … ooo, I'll have an excuse soon!
Thanks for the feedback … that idiot rack is heading directly to the donation box right now having removed all doubt to its relative uselessness.
2:48 pm
May 5, 2010
Online
Oh, I was interrupted while typing the previous post (long time getting back) and didn't catch Pete's posting till afterwards. Plainly canning techniques, like so many approaches to individual life, is going to be subjective! I'm still tossing the rack … my grip issues thanks to arthritis isn't going to improve with the tick of the clock and I'm feel more secure lifting one jar at a time instead of a filled rack. DH is never handy when I need him and my adult daughter looks panicked at the mere mention of "hot jar" … LOL (eyeroll!)
One of the toughest things I've had to learn in this lifetime is recognizing your limitations … denial is so much easier … and learning to live with or around them. I really do appreciate finding out what works for others!
4:26 pm
December 28, 2008
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You are soooo right about adapting to our individual needs. The lack of hand/wrist strength is precisely why I do use the rack so that I can lift them all at once to an in between height, making the removal of the jars into a two step operation without my having to do the reach up and over to grab the hot jar at an odd angle with the wrist and hands which are not dependable. At least this way the jar can bounce on the rack should I not get a good grip on it. (which has indeed happened!)
But, we all have individual needs and make decisions on the details of "how to" based on what we can do. For myself, it is less strain to lift the rack a few inches to hook on the sides of the pot (I don't use the racks that don't hook on the sides of the pot very often). The water seem to buoy the jars just enough to make them light enough to lift the rack.
But, as we have said here a couple of times (!), each of us will figure out what works for us in our kitchens, based on experience and whatever else we just want to do because that's the way we've always done it. It took me over a year to finally stick the jars in the oven to heat them and bring out only a few at a time. A much better way than the hot water system I'd always done because I'd always done it because that's how my grandmother and the neighbors did it!
Speaking of putting the jars in the oven, I've been using fairly small pans, like the 8x8 squares, with the jars set upside down in them so that I can pull out a smaller quantity at a time for filling, leaving the rest in the oven to stay hot. They stay pretty warm upside down, or so it seems anyway.
4:41 pm
February 8, 2009
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Ruthmarie said:
Actually I've been sterilizing the jars in the boiling water of the canner … lift out one, tipping the water out, allowing a moment for the hot glass to dry with the heat, filling it with jam or salsa and capping it. As I return it to the canner, I pluck another hot jar. Did I mention I have space issues? So far this works for me because of the small batches … I may be moving to sterilizing in the dishwasher or oven if I get on a serious roll.
Good News is that as long as the process time for whatever you are canning is at least 10 minutes – you do NOT have to sterilize the jars before filling them. HUGE time and energy saver.
dede
5:57 pm
May 5, 2010
Online
Whut? you mean there are racks that hook on the pot?! Well, fer goodness sake! Okay, okay, I'll take another look at the thing as I don't recall it having hooky thingies to clutch the pot edge (not like it came with instructions!), then I'll sic DH on it to determine durability (the lime corrosion of this used rack is intense and my trust slim) … if so perhaps a dry run at the stove as I have an overhead microwave that might make another interesting conflict. It has suddenly occurred to me that canning on a burner in the garage on a lower surface might ease the grip issue if I'm not having to lever weight above the shoulder. If it isn't one darn thing, it's another. Aging is definitely not for wussies.
NO need to sterilize!? Forgive me … another eyeroll to heaven … holy heck, YES! that would save time! Just get 'em squeaky clean then hot enough to not shock with boiling goodies. Finding this forum is turning into a godsend, thank you! 
6:41 pm
February 10, 2009
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No need as long as the jars are well washed so they're squeaky clean, and as you say they're hot, and the jars are going to get processed long enough, as Dede says at least 10 min, which pretty much is everything I process.
The racks that hang on the pots aren't exactly 'hooks', it's more like the handles have funny bends that when the rack is lifted and you pull the handles apart, the bends fit over the pot edge and so the rack is supported part way up, mostly out of the water. I've found that it's best to remove the jars from the rack in a balanced way… one from one side, one from the other, so one side doesn't get too heavy. Does that make sense? 
Hope it's clear enough!
7:17 pm
May 5, 2010
Online
Thank you, BuckeyeGirl … I've already rousted out the rack and pulled the handles apart. Spotted the crooks in the handles and went: "DUH"! Did I mention that the thing didn't come with instructions? I just needed a description for why it's shaped the way it is to figure it out. And the balance thing makes perfect sense!
7:33 pm
February 8, 2009
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Just so no one thinks that I am just giving my personal opinions on canning safety 
here's the 'powers that be' word on sterilizing
http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/quest…..ing.html#6
Is it necessary to sterilize jars before
canning?
Jars do not need to be sterilized before canning if they will be
filled with food and processed in a boiling water bath canner for 10
minutes or more or if they will be processed in a pressure canner. Jars
that will be processed in a boiling water bath canner for less than 10
minutes, once filled, need to be sterilized first by boiling them in hot
water for 10 minutes before they're filled.
I recommend that every canner or canner wannabe save a shortcut of this link to their computer desktop
http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/index.html
and of course, join Canning2 @Yahoo groups
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Canning2/
9:34 pm
May 5, 2010
Online
Never doubted anyone's verity as "to sterilize, or not to sterilize" since you've all been in the canning trenches just a tetch longer than I … and the links are terrific. I recognize the uga when I was figuring out that pumpkin is a canning no-no last year (I had pumpkin apple butter on the mind which wound up in the freezer). With a time crunch then didn't have the wit to bookmark then or look much further, lol!
New question? … why would you want to BWB process anything less than 10 minutes if sterilization occurs beyond that point? Seems to me that would be a fixed standard. Boil, baby, boil!!
10:51 pm
February 8, 2009
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I can't even recall the last time I needed to pre-sterilize jars. But am thinking that for delicate flavored jellies (maybe a flower jelly) or something like that, 5 minute water bath works, so that's one example. Hmmm brain tired and can't even think of another lol! Yes, makes more sense to just add the other 5 minutes 99% of the time I would agree.
dede
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