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 wish I’d been into canning so I would have thought to get my grandma’s set up. I desperately need a real set up. I just use the biggest pot I got for my wedding with nothing on the bottom. I know bad but haven’t had any problems yet. I would love to win this pot!!!
I use my mom’s old speckled canner. Which lives at her house, so I haul my produce there to use it. I do get to visit with her, too, so that’s nice. 🙂
I use this large stock pot (it’s half my size) for larger canning projects (like the quart and pint jars), and the smaller ones I use an old pasta pot that we’ve had for a while. I line up the insides so it doesn’t get into contact with the bottom of the pot. 🙂
I use a lobster pot and a pasta pot at the moment. The lobster pot is a pain because the walls are so high, but it fits more jars in it. The pasta pot works in a pinch. Both are stainless steel.
I use a big blue Ball canning pot for large batches, and my stockpot and blossom trivets for the small batches.
This looks like so much fun! I use an old beat up black speckled canner for waterbath canning -to afraid to try the pressure canner I got as a wedding gift.
My 35 year old Presto pressure canner does double duty as a pressure canner and water bath.
Blue speckle pot to can. Ball jars and Ball utensils. New equipment would be great. Thanks for the chance…….
I use a flat-bottom stock pot on my glass stove. Scoured the user manual to make sure it was okay! Would be nice to have it off the stove, though. Would love to can in the basement in the hot summer months.
I bought an enamel canning pot but it use an smaller old pot that was a hand-me-down from someone long ago because I make small batches of jams and pickles and less water to heat up.
I have an old boil on the stove top canner. It makes my house hot as hades, as I have no air conditioning. Of course, I would love one of these!
My mom is the grandma who taught me to can and is now teaching my young kids. She has a testy glass top stove, so I would love to gift this canner to her!
I use the traditional canning pot on the stove. Many an hour has been spent hovering nearby!
I think its great idea. I use my fathers old blue kettle after all these years. would luv to retire it to shelf. so I can pass it down to my GrandDaughter some day.
I use an enamel pot- with a full rack for putting up pears and peaches- and a small one for jams using a rack of old lid rings. I have a 4th burner pot,for that one last frozen bag of tiny wild plums- but I’m usually too exhausted by January to jam. Our house is surrounded by old orchard, so last year I made about 80 jars of jam. Then there was the whole fruit, pear chutney, grape juice, Italian soda syrup, and various pie fillings to put up. It was quite a year. It snowed yesterday though so I’m not sure which fruit will survive so quickly after pollination finished (in which case… there are always raspberries!).
So as long as I’m commenting, I might as well tell you I have really LOVED your book, in fact the pear Ginger Jam is one of my favorites. Of course it helps that 40 of my trees are Bartletts! I also made up a similar recipe that I think you would enjoy: pear raspberry jam using raspberry juice. I only juiced the raspberries so I could make a traditional jelly for my grandmother, but I had a little left and decided to use it in a pear jam instead of making one glass of soda. It was lovely, very delicate flavors that could probably be enhanced by some spice or seasoning that you would’ve come up with. I wonder if just the tiniest bit of rose water would be good? Or maybe just some almond oil?
I have an old granite enamel pot with a rack and can on a propane stove.
I have been canning with a smaller enamel pot that fits the burner on my glass top stove. My house is small and heats up fast in the summer. Plus no air conditioning. It would be great to can more jars at a time and outside !!
I have been using my Uncle’s big blue canner for the last 4 yrs. He gave me it along with untensils, jars, rings, lids. He’s now in his 80’s & stopped canning years ago. And I only started canning 4 years ago! I then got 8 Ball quart jars & 3 blue canner pots from my 90 yr old friend also! These were she had left in home from when her Mom made quarts of tomato sauce. I of course added new tools to my canning but the pots & jars ALL still work fine. Amazing considering the age of all. I do like your suggestion of canning outside in hot weather. Maybe I’ll have to buy a burner since no “old” ones around to inherit!
I have a big stock pot that I use with a round cooling rack for cakes. Not very high tech. Sometimes I lace a towel through the jars to prevent them from clinking together.
I have my aunts pressure cooker and my mom’s water bath they are all very old I am getting a new pressure cooker this year
This sounds amazing. Right now I am using an old canning pot and metal trivet. The trivet is beginning to rust… though that is my fault because I let the water cool in the pot so I can water my garden and planters with the water and I am too lazy to take the trivet out. I often wonder if I ought to invest in a higher quality canning pot. Perhaps this is the solution?
I have two canners one water bath and one pressure, I would love to have a canner I could use on the back porch on hot summer days.
I use my grandmother’s old water bath and pressure canners.
I use a stainless steel stock pot, but it really doesn’t work very well! I would LOVE to try a water bath canner.
I use a canner on my glass top stove. This year on Christmas morning the largest burner quit working, so I’m not sure what I will do this summer as I haven’t had if fixed yet.
I’ve honestly only done freezer jam so this would be really fun to get me started!
I use my Mother’s water bath canner but would love to have a Ball canner to free up stove space!I have several Ball canning books, including a couple that belonged to my Grandmother! Thanks for all the recipes!
For waterbath canning I use a stainless still canner with a wire rack. My stove is electric with coil burners rather than a glass stove top. I have reinforced burners that I use when canning.
With my current set up it is difficult to adjust the temperature of the back burner, while canning as the pot butts up against the control knob. This stand alone canner looks like it would really help with this issue and would save wear and tear on my stove.
Depending on how many jars I’m processing, I use different size pans. But I recently bought a 10-quart stainless steel pan that I think will be my go-to, since it fits nicely on my electric burner.
I have a water bath canner I got at a garage sale for 50 cents! Lol! It even had the rack for the inside!
I use an aluminum stock pot with a drop in steamer/strainer basket to keep the jars off the bottom for canning pint jars. For quart jars, I use a very deep stainless pot that I used for brewing beer in the past with a round metal cooling rack in bottom.
I’ve been working my way through your jam recipes this past month – blackberry sage (my favorite so far), orange tomato jam (I added bacon – keeping this one in the fridge), peach and I made the lemon curd which everyone just adores!!!
I would LOVE to have a Ball canner!!! Thanks for all the wonderful recipes!
I use a good old enamel canner on either my flat top stove (boo, but it does work – takes longer for it all to heat up properly) or my new induction burner. The latter works well, but makes interesting noises. How I long for a gas stove! Sadly, it’s just not an option where we live.
I use my mother’s speckled pot, but with my glass stovetop this would definitely be worth switching.
I use a 21qt enamel canner on my gas stove. My kitchen is very limited on counter and cupboard space, so we use a high-top table for prep work. I heat my jars in the same canner, fill them, and put them back in. For a large batch, I have to do a little at a time because my counters are so small!
I use a stainless steel stock pot but I LOVE this idea…
Wow….,again a new product I wasn’t aware of!…..I have health issues that make me limited to only canning when someone is going to be able to lift the pot for me….I could go back to canning by myself with this!. I sure would love to win this!
This sounds amazing! I currently have a very traditional set up with the standard graniteware canning pot. I do have the special canning element instead of the regular burner. I’m always running out of room on the stove though–especially when cooking down giant vats of tomato sauce and trying to get the canner boiling.
I use a large pot, but I have to be careful because I have a glass top range. I would LOVE one of these Ball Canner/Cookers!!!!!!!! It would be awesome!
im still using the old fashion canner, but have moved. The stove is an old downdraft, but everything gets steamed up. I love this new idea.
I still use my grandma’s stove top canner. My mom used it as well (although not much). It’s hard to believe that a trusty Ball pot could last through 3 generations!
I use the basic speckled pot, but sometimes I have a hard time with water boiling over the stovetop! I like the look of this appliance, and that’s cool that this is multi-purpose!
I use a trusty old canning pot from the hardware store. Very old school, but it has served me well for years.
My canning pot has a crumpled lid….best way to describe it. I was looking at canning pots yesterday in fact at Bed Bath and beyond…..those lovely coupons.
I use old-school – canner, stovetop – this excites me so much, I’m worried about myself
I use a hand me down canner from my aunt, I would LOVE to have the opportunity to have one of these as it would give me so much more space to use my stovetop at same time!
I use traditional blue speckled canning rig. I have considered upgrading to a stainless rig, but haven’t been able to justify the cost. This would be a wonderful addition to my kitchen! I could run all four stove burners to cook down tomato sauce AND process jars at the same time!
Let’s see. My canning setup is evolving. I have a glass top stove which I am catious with and also seems slow to boil. I have a canning pot but it’s not totally flat so it worries me somewaht (especially when water gets underneath and it makes those terrible little explosion noises). Anyway I have a portable burner my husband needs to finish fixing that runs off propane. It looks like it would be a good size for a crab pot or something like that. I’m hoping I can move that to my garage our outside, one, to be quicker and higher capacity, two, to not ruin my stove, and three so maybe it will be a little cleaner and I won’t take over the whole kitchen. If I had a more efficient setup I might do more canning … So this tool would be awesome to try out!
i use a stockpot with a round rack in the bottom. If it’s a small batch, I have used the 4th burner pot (I learned that trick from this site.) I wouldn’t spring for the fresh tech just now, but I’d love to try it!
I have an old pressure cooker and I borrow a water bath canner from my in-laws. This would be wonderful!!! **fingers crossed***
I was taught how to preserve food using the water canning method by my grandmother when I was child, and have been using it ever since. I use a stock pot which was my first major kitchen purchase for making brine. I would love this new caner as it would free up a large amount of stove top space and highly increase my productivity level.
I use a very large, very old, stock pot I got from Goodwill for my WB canning, and a pressure canner i got form a friend for PC. I would love to try this!
I have the very basic, black speckled water bath canner. I also have an older model pressure canner that tends to lose pressure, and not work well half of the time. This would be amazing to try!
my canning equipment is all hand me downs from my step-mothers mother. The trivet is a cut up pie pan with holes punched in it that her father made.
My canner is the old speckled one and I use it on my 20″ stove which is quite a challenge. This looks so much better, would love to try it!
My set up for jam is a stock pot with a round cake cooling rack in the bottom and it works great. the setup for canning peaches isn’t so great. I’ve got one of the big cheep graniteware pots and if i fill it enough to get an inch and a half of water over the top of my jars, at a full boil, the lid rattles around and water goes splattering everywhere. I’ve been thinking of replacing it with the multi-use canner from blue kitchen(http://www.bluekitchencanning.com/product/stainless-steel-multi-use-canner/) but i can’t seem to get them on the phone to order it.
I would LOVE to have this countertop canner for canning peaches. I can see how it would make my life easier and probably safer 🙂
I use an old black speckleware canner.
Wow, moving to a new home with a new kitchen, this new canner would be PERFECT!
I actually have several different pots I use for canning. A large graniteware pot I’ve had for years, a smaller one and an enamelware pot with an insert that hold just 3 pint jars that I picked up at a church sale for a few dollars.
I have a glass top stove and a limited work area around it so being able to move to counter top space would be a huge benefit. Been canning since I was a kid helping out and have seen how the process has changed over the years. This is a great idea.
I have an old school water bath set… on a glass top stove. I have wanted one of these since I first saw they were coming out!
i have my moms old blue speckled canner with a rusty jar support. I would dearly love to have new equipment like this electric canner. Your two books have finally given me the confidence to make something besides freezer jams!
Oh Wow! There are a lot of responses to this one. I actually love using my vintage gas stove in the basement close to my canning room. I have the whole kitchen set up just for canning goods. I like the classic method of water bath canning – but this new get up would be Just Perfect for my little sister who has gradually stepped up her urban – sustainable way of living. She currently only has the glass top stove and has used her grill as a burner to can. What a fantastic break through in canning inventions!
I am a beginning canner, I have only done peaches & pears so far and I have used my mother in laws supplies and completed them at her house with her help! 🙂 would love to win!!
I use a big stock pot with a metal canning rack. I bought a pressure canner last fall but I’m a little intimidated by it so I haven’t used it yet!
I bought the Ball water bath canner a few years back and it has served me well. I have a small kitchen, so I could see how this new system w/b helpful.
thanks!
My canner was purchased from a garage sale. When my 38 year-old son told me about his canning cucumbers and salsa, I figured I could do it. I would love to upgrade with this new electric canner.
i have a pretty old setup…looking to make things a bit easier!
I use the large speckled pot or pressure cooker according to my ball canning book. Would love to have one of these!
Wow – this sounds great! I have a the classic speckled pot for larger jars; for the smallest jars I use my stockpot with a silicone trivet (also found on your site 🙂 ) .
I don’t have much experience in canning, We sold my Mom’s pressure cookers when she passed away because we were scared of them and didn’t know enough to use them. So I freeze a lot of stuff. However, I think I could definitely handle canning with this. I also have a ceramic glass top stove so this would work great. Thanks for the opportunity
I am recently retired and was considering a garden and canning as a new long term project. This new canner would be a great way to start! Growing up my mother always canned and our meals were great.
This would be amazing to own. Love the idea of freeing up a burner on my stove in the canning process.
I picked up a speckled canner at a yard sale but it is a big one. Kind of heavy with all that water. I learned to can from a friend a couple of years ago and am enjoying it. I look for recipes online and buy books to make sure I am doing it the right way. This looks like it would be easier to drain water and I like the idea that you can use the counter. My hood over my stove is way too low for canning. Interested in finding out how you like it.:)
Wow, that’s awesome! I agree with one of the other commenters – my stove top takes a beating and it would be nice to give it a break.
I use to use a standard speckled canner, with the ridged bottom, on a glass top stove – I know, bad idea. After a particularly heavy canning season, the main burner on my stove failed. So, now I have a flat bottomed giant stockpot with a silicone trivet in it. Work great so far. Oh, and now I know how to replace the burner in a glass top stove – annoying, but very doable. 🙂
I freeze everything in the Ball freezer jars, I hate plastic! I’ve wanted to can but my ceramic cooktop won’t keep a consistent heat and I’m also a little nervous. I think this would give me a little confidence!
i am so glad that Ball decided to make this product! I can all the time and can’t wait to get one for myself!
We use an old fashion water bath canner. Upgrade would be nice.
I use an ancient Cuisinart stock pot that is missing a handle and a mis-matched lid turned upside down to fit tighter. I have a silicone trivet and a metal canning rack.
I love it, but it would be awfully nice to give my stove top a break…I feel like it takes a beating.
I have a classic ball stoneware canner with metal rack. this would clear up some stove room nicely
Currently I use an small pot you previously recommended that just holds three little jars stacked on top of each other. Ultra small batch canning!
A speckled canner and pressure cooker. With a window unit during the summer, this would be awesome to use instead.
I’ve been canning for more than 40 years, and am now teaching my daughter and granddaughters how to can. Their stove is an old Thermador gas cook top, which is not ideal because the small, round grates stand quite high – not as stable as I’d like. For safety’s sake, the Ball FreshTECH Electric Water Bath Canner & Multi-Cooker is very appealing. Plus, putting a modern spin on an “old-fashioned” activity is a nice way to sell the process to my young ones. My inherited granite-ware canners that I use probably don’t impress the granddaughters – ha ha. I never thought about using a silicone trivit but will give that a try. Obviously, I hope I win the give-away, but even if I don’t, you’ve whet my appetite for a piece of new equipment. Thanks for the opportunity. Canning has come a long way since the 1950s when I was relegated to the basement steps of my grandma’s home while Grandma, Mom, and my aunts energetically worked baskets of fruit and vegetables on a massive table centered in the cool dark basement, and canned on an old-time gas stove. In my memory, they worked together like a well-oiled machine. Ah, sweet memories in a jar.
I’m using a “real” canning pot, the old speckled metal one. It has been is use for more years than I can recall and has definitely seen better days. This new fancy rig would be a nice alternative. And during the busy canning times, I could use both the old and new to take care of my canning quicker!
Alas, I have a glass cook top so the only canning I do now is small batch in a pasta pot with a towel inside. Sometimes, in the summer, I’ll use the side burner on my grill to heat a big canner but it is so slow. This would be perfect for me as I LOVE canning and my family loves what I preserve.
I finally got into canning a couple years ago in an effort not to lose the canning recipes that are in my grandma’s head. They were passed down to her by her mother and her mother received them from hers. I am super excited to move into our new house in a few weeks since we bought a gas stove specifically for my canning. I use the old black speckled canning pot currently and it is great for small batches, but I would like a more efficient way to can large batches. I currently have this electric canner pinned to my wish list in Pinterest.
Canning outside is something I hadn’t considered, although I should have as I converted a camper sink/countertop to work outside on our covered patio. I pictured being able to clean garden produce there–I’ll expand that to include my canning pot also. (My current set up is just the largest stock pot I can find on our gas stove…). This electric one sounds really great! I’m sure I could rig something up with an extension cord…..
I got a stainless steel canning lot last year and love it. My mom and I cannot can together as my kitchen is too small and she has a glasstop stove that doesn’t hold a boil steadily. I love this…we could finally can together!
i am disabled and on a very limited budget. I would love to start canning to help offset our grocery bill. I don’t have any equipment, but I’m hoping to start getting some soon and this would help us out a lot.
I use an old agate canner, so heavy! This new one looks like it would make canning a lot easier.
I use a huge canning pot on the stove. Lots of sweat involved, especially on tomato days. It also gets pretty crowded on that stove, and being able to move a pot over to the counter would be so helpful. What a fantastic giveaway!
I just started canning this past year. I have a simple Presto canner that I bought from Tractor Supply Store. I have just planted my garden and am looking forward to delving into some serious canning this year!
Not having any supplies, I’ve always just stuck to freezer jams. But with this setup, the options would be endless! And my farmer’s market opens today! Time to pick up my CSA bag!
What a great. I still use an agate canner an gated worry about it getting chipped. This would make canning a lot easier.
I just rented a house with a ceramic cooktop stove, and subsequently learned you can’t use it for canning! So I need one of these! Thanks for your great posts!
We have a big pot and a gerry-rigged rack. This would be great!
I’m using an 18Qt stockpot and a silicone rivet to can my pints and quarts and my Kuhn Rikon 4th burner pot for small batch stuff. Would love to try this new canner so it doesn’t heat up the kitchen as much.
I have a speckled canner that I purchased as a new bride in 1968. The canner has outlasted the marriage. I only want to trade up as it is so heavy to move when full of water. The Fresh TECH would make canning less strenuous and more efficient.
I use a huge water bath canner on a glass top range….never had issues with it, but I will be the first to admit that it takes forever to heat up and is heavy to boot. I use a stock pot for small batches. This would be nice to have a I could get all the canning done at once.
i have and old stockpot! Thank you for the giveaway.
I’ve processed food for years with the blue canners and pressure canners. I’ve raised 6 kids and when they were all at home my canning season didn’t end until there was 100’s of jars of food. 2 years ago my home was hit by flooding and I lost all of my canning supplies and I’m slowly trying to replace them, jars and all. This would be a God Send to own!