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.
My current set up is the classic gigantic speckled pot! So scary to try and move to the sink and pour our after hours of letting it cool.
I would love to win and try the electric canner. I currently use my Aunt’s old canner. I recently retired from the military and my husband and I are starting to garden and plant fruit trees. I foresee a lot more canning in the near future!!!! i am also teaching my daughters and nieces to can.
Using water bath canner, pressure cooker, electric stove. Would love to win this 🙂
I am new to canning and will be attempting to can on a glass top stove. I would love one of these as I would feel much safer using it!
I have a classic speckled water bath pot with a fit-the-burner bottom. It has served me well the last several years, but last time I used it I noticed a will-be hole forming at the bottom. I don’t think it gets along with my burner after all. I’m loving the idea of this electric canner. Countertop canning – yes, please!
I have a large stock pot and a ball starter kit. Not having to use the stove top sounds great.
I havent tried canning because we have a glass top stove which says not to do it….but I would love to start. My mother canned and she died over 20 years ago right after I got married and I miss doing the same as her for my own children. This would make it so easy without worrying about my stove being ruined. The first thing on my list would be making strawberry jam….right now we do freezer jam but it takes up so much space in my limited freezer….canning it would solve that problem. i buy a giant 30# bucket of strawberries every year and want to try something different this year. I would also like to try to can pickles and salsas like my mother used to do.
I am just getting started so this would be a great tool to learn with!
I had been using my grandmothers canning pot, but had to return it. Now I have a stock pot and need to get my trivet, although this electric canner sounds intriguing!
My grandmothers pot and jar rack on the stove…
use a Fagor Duo for pressure canning, and a 14qt Calphalon pot for water bath canning
I use my turkey fryer burner and a stock pot outside. Not ideal in Oregon rain but sometimes it works great
Have only used a stock pot but I recently moved to Oregon and hope to be canning much more, so this would be perfect!
That looks so neat. My current setup is a mini-canner, the only one that fits on my tiny efficiency stove, and at that, I can only heat up the canner OR cook jam–both pots just won’t fit! But, hey, I make it work, and that’s all that matters.
I have a glass top stove and have always worried about the top when I do my canning. I have a couple of water bath canners and got a pressure canner for Christmas a couple of years ago. Don’t you know it, I have a crack in the glass top. Wish I had one of these. The stove isn’t that old and I had thought of replacing it so I can do more canning. So bummed about the crack in the top.
I found an old black speckled canner pot with lid in my gram’s garage! I need to get some accessories for it before we can can with it though. So far I just use it to make bone broth from our organic chicken bones.
Of course this new one you are giving away would be awesome to have! We’re in SoCal currently and I can’t imagine canning inside during the summer!! Would love to win this!
Right now im canning on an old granitewear canning pot. Would love to use because it is multi functional. Because it is electric it would free up space on the stovetop to work on other things. Please enter my name in the contest.
Right now im canning on an old granitewear canning pot. Would love to use because it is multi functional. Because it is electric it would free up space on the stovetop to work on other things. Please enter my name in the contest.
I don’t like stove-top canning because of the mess it creates all over my stove. Having boiling water sloshing all over is not a good idea. Last summer I purchase the Ball FreshTech Automatic Home Canning System and I had pretty good luck with it overall. I would, however, be very interested in trying out this new electric water bath canner as well.
Extra large pressure cooker – has destroyed my stove top.
Stock pot and silicone trivet here, thanks to you! I love having a multipurpose setup… but I would be happy to set aside some cabinet space for an electric canner as well. 🙂
Extra tall stock pot + silicone trivet!
Was looking for something like this a couple of years ago. It would be so much easier than replacing my glass top stove lol
i have a giant enamelware pot, but it was treally oo large to use on my stove. Consequently, I bought a new stainless steel WBC last year. It would be great to have an electric option. I do a lot of canning with my mom and her induction cooktop yimes out burners due to overheating and it would be ideal to have this and be able to use it with her, too!
I just have the “classic speckled canner” on my gas stove. Certainly makes for uncomfortably warm days when in full swing!
I have a big blur pothe with a wire rack in it. I love canning. I have arthritis and lifting this pot is very hard. A electric canner would be great. The water drain would be the best. I could can even more
My canning setup is non existant. It’s been far too many years, but my mom used a blue speckled enamel pan with a rack in it.
I have a stockpot set up for larger jars and multiple jar canning. My favorite and weekly small jar canning projects are done in my Swiss Kuhn Rikon pot .
I use my grandmother’s canning pot. The urge to can totally skipped a generation!
I use a pretty standard stockpot with canning rack in it. I have a small kitchen, though, and love the idea of being able to move my canning setup outside on a hot summer day!
Last season was my first attempt at canning, and I fell head over heels in love with it. I do it with a stockpot, a rack and lots of prayers for everything to seal. 🙂 it’s So rewarding, I am hooked. My kitchen is TINY so, I have a limited space on my counter by my stove … this electronic scanner would make me so very happy! Even if I don’t win, still pretty happy 🙂 good luck guys <3
I’m using my mother-in-law’s canning pot. I actually don’t have my own set-up right now and this would be amazing! Thanks for the great giveaway!
Oh, how much I need this canner, I use a pit with a dish towel in the bottom.
looks wonderful. I have always been too afraid to use the other kind. This looks safer.
Uggg! I moved to Alaska and had to move twice in 4 months. My canning pot got left on the porch at the old house on the porch all winter. So now, it will make a nice planter with rusty drainage! It was brand new! Old school my dad bought it for me when he “taught” me to can last summer. (we didn’t tell him I knew my way around a canning lid, it was a bonding moment). So ya I’d love a set up like this. We live in Alaska and I can everything! Salmon, preserves, pickles, you name it. Food is EXPENSIVE!
I did some canning years ago but got rid of my canning stuff years ago. Guess what I’ve starting canning again because of all the great canning and preserving cookbooks out there and the great produce in my garden. I’m using my pasta pot to can, not great but does work.
Wow, what an exciting giveaway! I am new to canning; I was given a pressure canner by a family member who lives far away and could not show me how to use it. It took a learning curve but now I happily pressure can! My water-bath set up is simple, just a stockpot with a rack. I would love to try this one out!
I have a small granite ware water bath canner and a small pressure canner both of which are over 20 years old. Would love to have a new canner.
I don’t have any canning materials … but would love to learn 🙂
I have both an old, large water bath canner and a silicone basket when I am canning small batches of jam (that I have made in my FreshTech jam/jelly maker). The set up,of my kitchen makes using the canner awkward and it would be wonderful to use the FreshTech Electric canner.
My big old aluminum water bath canner was passed down to me by a friend, and it was already dented and discolored when I received it. It has served me very well for 35 years, but I am ready for a change, and eager to try outdoor canning!
I have always just used a large pot with a rack. It worked fine, but not quickly. It takes forever to boil water on my stove. I tried the Ball Home -canning system. It is great, but requires using their limited recipes. I went back to my old method. I would so appreciate being able to use Ball’s new system. It would be a godsend, and give me more time to get to work in my garden.
Classic speckle canner on an OLD electric stove for me. I’m hoping to upgrade at least the stove this year and would love to add this beauty to the mix.
Don’t have any canning equipment other than jars. So would love to start with this!
I just use big pots and never seem to have quite enough space on my stovetop. This would be awesome because I could put it between my stove and sink.
I use a big stockpot and a pressure canner.
I’ve got a huge stockpot with a rag at the bottom to prevent jars from breaking, not pretty but I guess it works? I’m also usually sweating a lot…
I use a speckleware canning pot and a Cajun Cooker burner on the back porch. When it’s tomato season, I also set up a two burner propane camp stove to cook down the tomatoes.
I have been canning quite some time, but could certainly use some new equipment. Plus I’m teaching my daughter and my grandson to can, so we share our supplies between two families. He is 13, but loves to help me in the kitchen!
An electric water bath canner would be sooo nice. I have a small work area by my stove. The electric canner would let me spread out and make my canning easier. Keeping my fingers crossed!
I can a lot,actually anything possible! I find it very rewarding and enjoy giving my creations to people and have them begging for more. I really need an updated canning system because I’ve worn my old pot out. Please Please let me win the electric canner. Thank You !