Looking for a new canning rack? One that is endlessly reusable and durable? The blossom trivet in this post is good, but the silicone trivet in the Ball Preserving Starter Kit is even better.
My favorite canning pot is a basic stock pot with a flat rack dropped into the bottom. I moved to this system a few years ago, after rusting through a traditional enameled pot. The one weak point in this set-up has always been rack. I typically use a round cake cooling rack
As I thought about how to solve this problem, the idea of a silicone disk popped to mind. It would be resistent to the heat levels, would do the job of lifting the jars out of contact with the heat and if it had enough holes in it, would also allow the water to circulate sufficiently around the jars. At first, I tried a basic round silicone trivet that I had in the drawer, but it wasn’t perforated enough and made a horrible amount of racket as the boiling water pushed it off the bottom of the pot.
So I searched until I found this flexible, flower-shaped trivet
What’s your most creative canning solution?
I just found what I need for my canning porpoises,but can’t buy it Amazon us doesn’t ship to UK,bummed:(
So sorry!
I didn’t like it. When you put water in the canner it floats to the top and it’s hard to put the jars in and push that down at the same time.
I’m sorry you’re struggling with it. If you pull the pot off the hot burner for a moment, the boiling will settle and it will be easy to put the trivet back on the bottom of the pot.
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because I was putting it on sideways instead of from on top!
Can’t get the metal clips to fit over both segments of silicone where indentation is cut into it for joining together-metal clip is not deep enough.
I bought 2 and hooked them together for my pot, not a good product floats to the top and curls up making it impossible to get on the bottom of the pot, might work for the first round but I’ll never use it again
If you remove the pot from the heat while you’re loading it with jars, it will stay on the bottom of the pot. It typically only floats if you have a vigorous boil going on. But I understand your frustration. Ball now makes a flat silicone rack that I prefer these days. It’s part of their canning starter kit.
I have been using a silicone flower trivet for this whole past season while canning, and it does really well. However the main issue with this is keeping the silicone flat once it’s in the water. I’ve tried putting it in before the water boils, after it boils and at the beginning, and I have to constantly flatten out the flower with a rubber spatula and a rubber spoon. Even after I put a jar in, it will close up around the one jar before I have time to put in a second one. So it just becomes a headache. I got mine from Walmart. But it’s such a headache to keep it flattened out that I rather use a canning rack and leave the silicone in the drawer.
I’m so sorry that you’re having trouble with the trivet. I have found that if you struggle to keep it flat, turning off the heat or pulling the canner off the hot burner it enough to keep it in place. When I first started using it as a canning rack, my canning pot could only fit on a back burner and I had to slide it off the burner to access the jars. So my trivet never closed because the pot wasn’t on a hot burner and the water wasn’t actively moving. That said, I totally get that it’s more of a pain that you bargained for. The good news is that Ball now makes a flat silicone canning rack that does all the things that I had hoped the trivet would do. It’s sold as part of the Ball Preserving Starter Kit.
i use old aluminum skillet pan
Maybe yours is different than mine, but the one i have folds up and wont lay flat in boiling water. Impossible to use for canning. It even has a little weights at several spots that (I guess) are supposed to help it lay flat. Doesn’t help. The thing kinda just curls up and floats around in the boiling water.
Useless.
You need to pull the pot off the hot burner, or turn the heat off while you’re moving the jars in and out of the water. Alternatively, I really like the new flat silicone rack that Ball has included in their starter kit. https://amzn.to/3kwQvYZ
Someone mentioned a problem with hard water scale. I use lemon juice to remove it, It can be watered down quite a bit for large surfaces but works quicker if.hot and undiluted. Our tree produces more lemons than we can use or give to neighbours so they would go to waste otherwise We make lemon juice ice blocks for when the tree has no fruit. I also use lemon juice for removing rust from tools.
Hi. I bought one of these recently and my problem is how do I get the silicone trivet to lay flat in the boiling water before we drop in the basket?
If you’re using a canning basket, you don’t need to use this rack as well. But the trick is to turn the heat off for a moment, calm the boil, and then place the jars in on top.
Hi I was always told not to let the jars touch how is this done I’v warped my jars in wash cloth with rubber bands to be sure thay don’t touch can you tell me any better??
It’s totally fine if the jars touch. You don’t want to cram them in to the point where they’re stuck, but you certainly don’t need to wrap them in washcloths.
What is the diameter of the silicone blossom trivet? I have Marisa’s book but can’t find info on the trivet.
I have a Fagor 10 qt pressure cooker and need a rack as it did not come with one.
Thanks
It is 8 1/2 inches.
Hey Marisa,
I love your trivet fix. I have been using rings in the bottom of my canner (which grew to a BIG stock pot this year) since the one that came originally in my enamel one died the first season, the welds on it did not hold. Also, I found that regular mouth jars didn’t fit in it as well as wide mouth ones and I would be doing 6 instead of 7. I have done the tea towel in the bottom and have even used marbles, which was great, but my youndgest son demanded custody of his precious orbs back and so I was reduced again to rings. Thanks so much for the great idea, it’s wonderful!
I have canning problems but no great canning solutions to contribute. However this trivet may just solve one of my issues. I haven’t had a great rack for my pot. I’ve resorted to using the flat colander that fits in my canning pot. The problem is that it sits about 4 inches off the bottom which means I have a hard time canning tall jars. This could be the solution I need. Ohhhh pick me.
Would love to use the trivet! I just started with canning and using cake rack. Just noticed last night that there was rust forming on rack and leaving marks in pot, yuck!
Brilliant! Can’t wait to get one and try this. I’ve tried various round cake cooling racks (chrome, black), tying together bamboo skewers (time consuming!), folded dish towels, old canning jar rings tied together with twine, and even a silicone pot-holder (which melted a bit while I was processing the filled jars and left a slick, oily sheen on the jars and inside the pot). This looks much more adaptable to different size pots. Hurrah!
This is my first successful canning year. I used a borrowed pot with a rack in it. I’d love to try the silicone trivet.
I would love to win one of these happy trivets. I’m not sure if this is where I’m to post for a change to win one but here goes.
For the past 20 years I have been using an old lobster pot for all my canning needs. It came with a big rack inside so that’s where I put my jars. It’s not bad, it fits 6 quart sized jars. But I’d sure love this little trivet instead of the cumberson basket and I think I’d be able to fit one more jar without it.
:-))) Gina
This is a wonderful problem solver. I can’t wait to try it out!
Right now I use the traditional wire rack, but I find it really annoying and difficult to use. I would LOVE to try something like this. It looks much simpler!
Thanks!
I love the design, very mid-century modern!
I saw on another blog where the person used a kitchen towel on the bottom of her pot to put the small amount of jam jars she was canning onto. I thought that sounded like a good idea, though some of the jars looked to be tilting through some of the canning process.
Hi marissa,
Are you just putting jars in water bath on trivet with no traditional rack/jar holder?
And the jars are touching? Won’t they break?
Marisa, I have been looking through your blog and haven’t found an answer to my question – I usually only can small amounts at a time – usually just pint or half-pints and I find that my jars tip over a lot. Other than filling up empty jars with water next to those filled w/what I am to preserve, do you know of any other types of canning racks that will help with tippy jars?
The best way to deal with this issue is to use a smaller pot.