Over the last decade, the Ball Canning folks have brought a handful of canning appliances to market. The first was the FreshTECH Jam and Jelly Maker in the summer of 2012. The FreshTECH Automatic Home Canning System was the thing during the 2014 canning season. And now, we have the Ball FreshTECH Electric Water Bath Canner and Multi-Cooker.
This electric canner is exactly what I know a number of you have been hoping for. It’s a giant pot that has an independent element so that you can move your processing pot off your stove top and over to the counter.
It holds 8 quarts, nine pints, or a dozen regular mouth half pints (that means that if you stack them, you can process 24 quarter pint jars at once). It’s particularly great if your stove is slow to boil water or if you’ve been warned off canning on a glass top cooktop. It works like any other boiling water bath canner, so if you live at higher altitudes, you will still need to adjust your processing time upwards.
It has a spout on the left side of the canner, so if your kitchen is arranged in a way where you can set the canner to the right of your stove, you can drain the water directly into the sink. The canner comes with a steaming rack as well as a canning rack, so that you can use it for all your high capacity steaming needs (I could see it being perfect for tamale parties).
It can also be used as a portable cooker, so can work for large amounts of soup, chili, or even something like mulled cider. Nice if you help with community potlucks or church suppers.
I’ve now run a number batches of jars through the canner and I am really happy with it. It’s not going to become my primary boiling water bath because I make a lot of small batches and it doesn’t make sense to heat up this much water for two or three pints, but for larger batches, it’s a boon.
It’s also incredibly useful during tomato season and I’ve started bringing it with me to my classes and workshops where I know we’re making multiple batches and so we’ll need more canner space.
This canner does cost $149.99, which is a pretty penny if you already have a canning set-up you like. If you like the idea of moving your canning pot off your stove top but can’t swing that price point, there is a more affordable way to create something similar.
Get yourself an induction capable stock pot (a classic speckled canner with a flat bottom will work) and the induction burner I have (it’s just $60) and you have a canner you can run anywhere (I highly recommend outdoor canning on really hot days).
My bottom line on the Ball FreshTECH Electric Water Bath Canner is that it’s a great tool for people who do lots of large batch canning. If you have the budget and storage space for it, I highly recommend it.
Disclosure: The folks at Ball Canning sent me a FreshTECH Electric Canner for review and photography purposes at no cost to me. They are also provided a giveaway unit. No additional compensation was provided for this post and all opinions expressed are my own.
I have a newer rig that I use on my stove, my grandmother’s was passed to an aunt and Mom doesn’t can. Would LOVE this canner for my teeny-tiny 1920s kitchen!
I have an old water bath canner but I hate to pull it out it is so bulky and when full of water it is very heavy. I tend to make small batches that can fit in a stockpot with a trivet.
I’m using the speckled enamel canner that I got in 1971. There were many years that I didn’t preserve, but for the past several I’ve been back at it. I’m almost through everything I put up last year and I’m eager to get busy again. It would be wonderful to move the heat of the canner outside.
I’m just starting out so winning would be amazing! Im not sure what I’m doing…yet. I did get a water bath canner for Xmas last year and we canned as kids with mom and grandma, but it’s been too many years since then! I’ve recently developed an obsession for gardening and want to preserve what I grow for the cold winter nights! Fingers crossed!
Wow! This does indeed look like a winner.
We have both indoor and outdoor setups. Three burner camp stove outside on an east facing porch, which is great on hot days. Inside is easier, with the sink handy, but either way is great. Theoretically, both could be utilized at the same time.
I have a regular stove top pressure canner/cooker I bought second hand at a yard sale. It works fine, but I have a very old stove I got second hand and the electric burners do not heat evenly most of the time so it is a challenge to keep my canner at the correct pressure consistently. I would love one of these electric units so I could get consistent canning and I could use my stove top while I am canning.
This year has been especially tough, my partner and I had to close our store last august and we have struggled to find adequate employment since then and our gardens didn’t yield well last year.
This year my partner has finally found a decent job but it just barely covers our non-grocery expenses, so I am gardening in earnest this spring in hopes I will have a lot of fresh produce to can up to get us through the coming winter and next spring. This unit would help me immensely.
I use my MeeMaw’s mustard yellow pressure canner and I love it for its sentimental reasons, but this would be awesome to have!
I have an old-fashioned canned, but love, love this system….
i have several different kinds of water bath canners. Black speckled one is fairly new as the old one was used so much it finally rusted and got a hole in it. Would love to see how this works.
I use 2 second hand water bath canners and a pressure canner. I like the water bath canners, but it is difficult to use them at the same time, because of stove top size. A countertop canner would be great!
My canning setup includes a hand-me-down canner that’s seen better days and a set of ball tools that’s proved invaluable!
I use the speckled canners, love to try something new.
I would love one of these! I need to upgrade apparently because I still use the “classic speckled canner with a flat bottom”. It is newer than my mother-in-laws I used to use, at least until I let the kids use it to build a snow fort. I regretted that once I found it again when it melted out of the snow banks.
I use a stock pot for water-bathing, and a friend gave me a version of the British pot her mother used for making jam. Canning outside in the summer sounds like a great idea!
I started canning when I got married 26 years ago. I use many of my Husband’s Grandmother’s recipes. My Father In Law taught me the first year I was married. Since then I have expanded what I make and can. When the garden comes on I am canning everyday. Everyone in the family has their job they do to help. This year I look forward to canning with my daughter and Future Daughter In Law and splitting what we can. This canner would be great as the flat top stoves can’t tame the weight of the pan, water, and jars. I could get twice as much canning done if I have one of these!
That is an awesome canner!!! I currently use the traditional pressure canner for my water bath (take out the stopper on the lid).
I can no longer use my grandmother’s canner because the handle broke and the temperature gauge is inaccurate making it a little dangerous. My grandmother and I used to can together every summer but she is no longer able to because of her health. My greatest gift to give her is not only my time but something that I have canned especially for her. This would make it so much easier if I had this canner!
I am still using my mothers enamel water bath, most of my jars are hers as well. Each year I try a new Jam or jelly. Some work for me some don’t.
I’m just getting into canning and this would be perfect to help me get started.
I have an old fashioned speckled canning pot but a flat top glass top stove that takes forever to get to boiling point. This canner would be wonderful!
I currently don’t do any canning because I don’t have a setup to do it! I’m dying to get into it though, I live preserving foods!
I currently have the worst set up in the world. I have a thicker bottomed stock pot and it takes FOREVER to get the water bath to boil. My mom has promised me her ol’ speckled canner, but this electric canner looks like a DREAM!
When the tomatos come in this would be so awesome! I usually have 2 canners on the stove and jars filling the counter waiting!
I have a speckled pot that I got on scratch-and-dent clearance at Target. It’s ok, but starting to rust where the enamel has chipped. Would love to own this.
Thank you so much for offering this giveaway!
I have a couple of large pots I use for water bath canning, one is considered a “canning” pot. I also have a presto pressure canner.
I have a Granite ware waterbath. the rack is all rusted so I have to use steelwool to clean it. Not a lot of counter space, so an electric waterbath would allow me to can on my kitchen table.
I have a 20 qt stockpot and a presto 16 qt both for my ceramic cooktop. My wife thinks I’m nuts but doesn’t complain about the full pantry that requires no work on her part.
I use two big old canning pots from yard sales. For pickled beets and tomatoes, I go visit a friend in the country and we use a propane burner outside and cycle between two big pots.
I’m using the traditional speckled canning pot but always struggle with having enough room with our limited stove/counter space. This looks like it would be a great solution!
My partner and I have jimmy-rigged a couple of large soup pots with a wire wrack on the bottom. They aren’t nearly big enough for the applesauce addiction I have 😉 One of these would most definitely up the canning ante in our home!
My Mom can no longer can but she used the old fashioned, big speckled pot. I have never canned because I am so scared of not doing it right. With the Fresh Tech, I would feel confident in doing it correctly. We visit Farmer’s Markets all summer and fall and I grow heirloom tomatoes here at home. I have wished for a long time to be able to save some of these goodies for winter meals.
I don’t really have a canning set up. My aunt gave me her old canning pan/pot/whatever but we moved a couple of years ago and I haven’t found the box it’s in yet.
I use an old speckled canning pot but would LOVE to be able to free up a burner, since I usually have multiple pots simmering and boiling at once 😉
I use an All American canner for most of my canning.
I use a water bath pot that I purchased at an auction, it takes up a lot of stove space and cabinet space for only one use.
Just a beginner. Would be outstanding to start out so well equipped.
I have inherited most of my equipment- pots, racks and so many jars. But this canner is SWEET! If it makes my house less hot during the summer all the better. Now, where to put it on my counter when actually canning.. that will be the trick! I’ll figure it out…
I have several canners that I have purchased at auctions. I have one that I use outside on a turkey cooker burner, I agree with you, canning outside on the hot summer days in nice.
I am using an old set up, with items from both my grandmother and mom!
I have a big black speckled enamel pot and I use the plain ol’ gas stove in my apartment…with the A/C window unit blaring! I don’t have a dishwasher, so everything takes a little longer, too. But I feel connected to my grandma and other relatives on that side of the family who used to can in less luxurious conditions, which kind of makes the whole labor-intensive experience more meaningful in the end!
I’m using a large standard issue canning pot, with a metal insert. My husband it for me as part of a canning kit several years ago.
I use a simple flat-bottomed aluminum pot with a cake rack inside. I can fit about 10-12 jars, depending on what size jars I’m canning, but this item sounds like it would allow me to retire that set up (which I’ve been thinking about since I want a flat-topped stove, but am scared of cracking the surface during canning). I will likely switch to a separate burner this summer, when I hope to get a new stove.
I have a glass top stove and was told not to try the traditional canning methods or the glass could break. I have been looking for alternative methods to can and preserve my garden goodies. All of this is a new adventure for me and I am learning as I go. Winning and item like this would truly be a blessing to my household of 7 and help keep food on the table all winter long.
I would love one of these. I teach folks how to can, and one of these would mean I could do that without a stove on site!
A real canning set up has been on my list of things to buy for years. In the meantime, I use my stockpot with a wire trivet in the bottom for small projects or, for larger jobs, I borrow my mom’s older-than-I-am canner. This looks like it would be so much easier than either!
I have a regular old speckled pot, use with a towel in the bottom, and am saving for a pressure canner!
We have the old hand me down looking speckled pot and accessories. Would be nice to have this so we can do more at a time to get the canning done faster than normal. We only have time in the evening to can so it takes us a long time to finish and we end up going to bed too late and then very tired at work the next day. 🙂
When I saw the title of this post and before I started reading it, I thought “oh, that would just be one more appliance I wouldn’t need”. But holy cow, the more I read the post, the more I want one! 🙂 I currently use a traditional water bath canner like my mom always used. It works fine but there are definite drawbacks. With this one, I love the fact that you can do it on the counter instead of one the stove. And I LOVE the spout – I think that’s the best feature!
My husband is a home brewer, so I have plenty of large pots to choose from, but the possibility of moving everything off the stove top sounds fantastic! Thank you for the chance…This would be a real improvement!
I’m using the standard water bath speckle enamel pot too. But I haven’t canned since we moved into a house with the glass stove top! This would be great to have!