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 do not really have any canning equipment except a bunch of jars but I am however a home gardener who turned my garden into an urban farm this year and will expand as much as I can afford. I am growing so many varieties of things and this would be great to have for so many tasks. I would absolutely use this as much as possible.
I have a glass top stove, so I can’t use the traditional speckle canners. I have been trying to use a stockpot but this looks like a perfect solution. I also like the induction idea but is that similar to the glass top stove? I think this a much smarter and more useful product than the FreshTech jam maker!
I have been wishing for one of these, but was hoping someone would do a review of it. I’ve been using the old enamel wb pot for many years, but it’s getting so I can’t lift it to empty the water anymore. Thx!
This pot looks perfect for me! I currently use an old fashioned blue speckle canning kettle.
thank you,
m
I’ve been doing the regular canning pot on the stove thing since I started canning, but just moved into a house with a glass stovetop… so I’m not sure what I’m going to do this summer! This induction system intrigues me, but so does the FreshTech thing 🙂
I have used Ball water bath canners for 30 years.
I now have a ceramic stove top and it takes a while for the water to boil – this electric water bath canner, would be wonderful to have!
I’ve never loved those speckled canning pots! They are bulky, overwhelm my burners, etc. A lot of my set-up is built from tricks I learned on your website! I know use a large aluminum stock pot and a silicon trivet. I love my metal canning funnel and silicone ladle.
This is a really smart idea from Ball—it would be awesome to be able to move my canning outdoors, but if I don’t win I’ll definitely keep in mind an induction burner as a future investment.
Fingers crossed!
I have the granite pot that works perfectly – but I have a glass top stove and really dislike using it that way. I’ve been reading the reviews on this canner for the last few weeks and I’m considering the investment – would love to win this giveaway!
I currently use a speckled pot with a silicone trivet, but for doing larger batches it’s not all that convenient. I can only fit 4 -5 pints in it safely and when canning tomatoes, I’m boiling all day. Honestly, I come away with about 30 pints every year if not more! I really need to invest in something larger, so maybe if I don’t win I’ll put this on my birthday wishlist 🙂
I have a few options for my canning pots. For pressure canning, I use my mom’s 30 + year old Presto pressure canner that she converted to be weighted for me rather than dial. Much more approachable to a new canner like myself. I have a larger blue enamel pot that I bought last summer that can hold 7 pints for waterbath canning. I also recently bought a fourth burner pot for smaller batches.
I’m looking for a new canning pot since mine has seen it’s better days to the point of almost rusting out! This could be very helpful. I’ve enjoyed reading what everyone uses!
I bought a pressure canner off craigslist for $25 that works great! Still…. have to fiddle with it quite a bit to get the “jiggling” just right and it is hot to run it in the summer. May go to the induction setup. I saw that at a canning demonstration last year.
I have the speckled granite pot for pints and my sister gave me a smaller granite pot for half pints and small batches of pints. My stove is a gas top, everything heats up fast, but I would like to free up stove space and use some of my counter space for canning.
Here on the Oregon Coast, we can prolifically! Salmon, tuna, elk & deer meat. Then there is the summertime gardens. Oh – Dansko shoes save my life when I am standing for 12 hours processing green beans, Dilly beans, all manners of pickles & beets & I do it all with my mom’s old canner. She is passed away now, but her legacy sure lives on. I love her old canner, but could really use an electric one as well. I’ve been dreaming about this for a long time!
This is so perfect! I use a speckled canner pot and have been looking for a tamale steamer. This exactly what I’ve been looking for. What an amazing thing!
I use a variety of canning pots, some are the old school speckled enamel, but others are just large aluminium pots that fit the amount of jars needed. For jam, I use 1/2 pints and can double stack utilizing the metal trays from pressure cookers. I also do some outdoors canning on a double burner propane stove. I have considered getting an electric canner for demonstrations in libraries and other places that do not have a kitchen. This looks like it would foot the bill. Also having the spigot to empty the hot water is a great idea.
I have been using just a large pot on my stove, but was given an official enameled speckled canner for our wedding last summer that I can’t wait to use! This canner would be super convenient in my small kitchen when the heat of the summer hits.
I would sooooo love this!!! My life would be complete!
I use a Presto pressure canner that is so, so huge. 23 quarts maybe? I forget, but it’s ginormous.
i use a standard stock pot for water bath canning, and a stovetop pressure canner as needed. This electric canner would not only free up valuable stove space, but would make me feel more confident when canning meats and fish.
Wow, what a wonderful tool to make canning easier and safer. Even if I don’t win I might save up my pennies to order one.
I use my husband’s grandmothers canner with a new insert. I would love to be able to free up a burner for more cooking space for the stuff I am canning. I have a tight area around my stuff so it would also be nice to spread it out a little more.
I have everything I need BUT a pot that’s tall enough! So this would be fabulous for putting up some of my CSAs bounty when it rolls in. 🙂
I have the traditional set-up with the big old black speckled canner. I have been waiting to hear a review of the this new canner! Makes me want it even more!
I BOUGHT AN OLD CANNING POT AT A GARAGE SALE. I LOVE CANNING. THIS LOOKS REALLY COOL. WOULD LOVE TO WIN THIS. WHO KNOWS, MAYBE I WILL TRY CANNING JELLY AGAIN. REALLY ENJOY CANNING MY VEGGIES FROM MY GARDEN.
I have been using the same blue enamel canning pot for over 40 years. Might be nice to have something a little more up-to-date or that I can use in tandem with my old pot.
I have been using a large stock pot with a metal trivet.
I use a regular presser cookies that makes lots of noise and still scares me a little every time I use it. 🙂
I am using my husbands grandmothers canning pot- it is vintage and a lovely light blue color. I am not intending to retire it fully, but it would be nice to have another set up to accompany it 🙂
Love to can and share the process with my daughters the experience. The canning pot eliminates danger of being scalded, burned by hot pot, and can be safely used when kids are about. It also eliminates straining of hands, arms and shoulders when emptying a full pot of water. At my advanced age would love to have the pot.
I learned how to can in 4-H. I’ve been using the same type blue speckled enamel canning pot since, but for the past few years have only an electric coil stove top. I’d love to take the operation off of the stove top with one of these beauties; definitely “in the market for a new rig” !
I have a giant granite canner and then bought smaller canner. I have seen these electric canners and thought that they would be so handy!
I picked up my waterbath pot from a thrift store for $3. My pressure canner my mother gave us for our wedding anniversary 😀
I use my husband’s grandmother’s canning pot and chinois. It’s probably over 100 years old! I also was given my own grandmother’s canning pot and chinois. Love the memories they evoke when I’m canning and preserving, but would love to own this new unit!
Mama
I use a large “lobster pot” with a tea towel sunk down to the bottom to prevent breaking. Here in Boston, if it’s big enough for lobsters, it’s big enough to can with. It’s not glamorous, but it works!
I’ve gotten into canning over the last year or so and have been using a pretty standard water bath canning setup. The difficulty is that my stove is tiny, so the huge pot only somewhat fits on a burner and really takes forever to heat up. I didn’t realize I could stack jars when canning, though, that might’ve saved a lot of time!
I currently do not have a set up but would love to start!
We did not can when I was growing up. I started canning 2 years ago. Started out water bath canning in a big pot that was my mom’s. I love doing it and knowing where my food came from as well as whats in it and whats not. I asked my mother in law how to can. I wanted to can other things, potatoes and such, but honestly did not know how to pressure can. I recently bought a pressure canner. I canned my first batch of potatoes. I would love to win this. I enjoy canning so much.
My mother bought me an entire canning kit with a traditional boiling water canner pot a few years ago. I LOVE it, but it scorches my stovetop and my microwave sits too low for me to maneuver jars in and out of the canner.
I use an old pasta pot that my mother-in-law gave me – as it has a flat bottom and I have a glass to stove…this would be a dream to can with!!!
Also – you can stack your jars in the water bath?!!! I did not know that, thanks!
I use my mom’s old stock pot – it’s huge and takes forever to heat up, but it does the job.
We are just getting started I have a pan with the metal rack. Would love to win this.
I have my mother’s canner but haven’t been able to use it since I replaced my range with a glass top (wish I knew that then).
I have two of the speckled granite ware pots for canning – the smaller size, that holds only half pints and pints, and the larger size, that does quarts. I use the smaller one when I’m doing jams, which I typically do in half-pint jars. I pull out the larger one when I have full batches of pint jars (applesauce)or quarts (tomatoes and fruit-in-syrup), mainly because I don’t like how full the small one gets with all pints.
This would be great. We use our turkey fryer burner to can.
I have a pretty basic setup involving a large stockpot (what we call a Lobster Pot here in New England), a round cake rack for the bottom, and jar lifter. I also have a pressure canner that I use frequently but I find it takes forever to heat-up as a BWB canner, so I go back to the lobster pot, which seems to conduct heat better.
This year, I’m excited to have an electric tomato strainer. I’m hoping this will let me process a couple bushels of tomatoes and apple drops a lot faster than hand-cranking them. Guess we’ll see how it works!
I’ve been improvising with a crab boil pot, with a cookie cooling rack crammed into that bottom. I always worry that the weight when full of water will prove too much for my glass-top stove. So far, luckily no cracks in the stove top, but I did scratch it trying to slide the full pot across the top. This Ball equipment looks like the perfect answer to all my issues.
I have been using speckled pot for canning
This looks fabulous! I have been planning this year’s garden while dreaming of canning and read your “Food in Jars” cookbook – but have yet to actually start. I have been saving money to buy the equipment and this looks like it may be the way to go! 🙂 Thanks for the review and opportunity to win it!
I have done things the old fashioned way for several years and need an update. Bought the speckled pots from Ace a number of years ago and they have started to chip. FreshTech looks like a great canning system. Love to try it.