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 mom was an avid canner .My sister and I have continued the family tradition.We enjoy giving family and friends a collection of canned goodies each Christmas. I have a graniteware pot and rack while my sister uses moms old canning pot and rack.When we get together to tackle several big batch recipes there isn’t enough space on the stovetop for both pots and assorted saucepans full of simmering jams or brining liquid.I got the Ball jam and jelly maker to help free up some time and space.I love it.It does everything Ball said it would.
I use a stockpot I bought a couple years ago but this looks perfect for large batches of pickles or tomatoes!
I am just starting to can after 50 years absence. Just bought a new pressure canner and now I need a WB canner. Have been looking at the Ball canner because my stove is in center island and not very convenient.
i use a stockpot with ring that I purchased a couple years ago.. This looks great.
i use my grandmothers enameled canning pot. I don’t can as much now because of the summer heat. If I had this Ball canner I could do it outside.
I use the old fashion way and using my mother’s canning pot but it won’t be long before I’m going having to break down and buy myself a new canning pot. I would dearly love to win this electric canner.
Thank you for this giveaway opportunity
We planted way too many tomatoes this year. A pot like this would be great to take care of what I think will be a bountiful produce year!
I currently use the old blue canner with a rusty old rack and old timey jar lifter. They are most definately getting tired and worn.
My dear husband built me a separate canning kitchen. It has running water and electricity, lots of storage and, best of all, wonderful vintage gas stove. That being said, I can hundreds of jars of produce each year and I’m always looking for ways to speed up the process.
I am just using an old stockpot. Trying to get started. Would love one of these
I’m canning using the water bath method. My canning pot is the large enamel kind. My many jars are leftover from my daughters wedding centerpieces. My goal is to fill them with this summers bounty.
Oh boy.. that is one beautiful pot! I havent wanted any of the new fangled canning equipment but I wold love to have this one.
I water bath can outside now all the time.. I use a gas propane turkey frier with a basket and easily lift my jars up & out of the water quickly.. I came up wit this about 6 or 7 years ago and I never looked back.
🙂
I grew up with my Mom using the old fashion canning system. I have wanted to start canning my own garden produce so i would love to win this!
I use a stainless steel stockpot and rack, but also just bought a silicone rack to try this year.
i can with a pressure canner that I have had for 30 years and a big pot for a water bath. I would love to have this.
I’ve had the standard speckled enamel pot and rack forever, also use a tall 3 quart pot that holds 3 half pint jars nicely. I love this electric unit!
I splurged on a Victorio pot for Christmas a few years back & love it.
I have my mothers old speckled, canning stock pot. Slightly dented but I still use it. No silicone anything just a slightly rusty rack insert and a pair of canning tongs.
I have a pressure cooker that doubles as a stock pot and some very basic supplies.
i desperately need this because I want to start canning but am still a little intimidated by the whole thing. This would help so much!!! Thank you!
I use a pressure canner pot as a hot water bath set up for all my canning needs. About 400 jars last season!
I have been canning for three years now on my own using a large metal pot my husband bought for brewing beer. I use canning lids as stack on the bottom of the pot. I grew up peeling peaches and tomatoes with my sisters while my mom canned them. My dad used to make plum jam every summer. I think my parents are the reason for my canning obsession, and my husband’s newfound love of homemade pickles keeps me coming back for more.
A few years back I replaced the “old school” speckled pot with one that has a solid white enameled coating. I also have replaced the wire rack with a flat trivet as the jars didn’t seem to fit just right.
For most of my bigger canning I use just the regular blue speckled canning pot with a rack. I also have a smaller rack for medium batches. But if it is a really small batch have been know to use a small pot with either a trivet or I make a trivet using canning rings wired together. I love canning tools I call them canning toys and can not resist them or canning books.
I am just getting started. Mom canned a little when I was a kid but stopped. The only gear I have so far is my water bath canner so I am somewhat limited. But you have to start somewhere.
I used to can when I was a little girl. One of my fondest memories is being at my grandma’s making watermelon pickles. Reading your blog has been inspiring me to give it another go.
I have a Vicorio stainless steel water bath canner, I have a glass cooktop and it works beautifully but It does not hold as much as the old Ball canning pot.
I inherited my grandmothers water bath canner and jars.
Would love to have one of these.
I have an old blue enamel canner, but would love to upgrade to this one!
My setup is pretty clunky. I got a starter kit from Ball a few years ago when I started dabbling, and haven’t upgraded. I can only process seven half-pint jars at a time!
i have the old speckled pot, two actually, with the old wire racks.. Would love to try one the the new, electric, stand alone pots like this one!
Currently have no setup – this would be my first attempt at canning on my own (not at friends or relatives home_
I use a stockpot with insert. But I would love a real canning setup!
I use a stockpot plus rack. Love it!
I’ve use my large pot and my ball kit. Would love to know more about canning with this appliance!
I’m fairly new to canning and would love a new electric water bath canner. I’ve been using just a large pot.
I had a canner from the 70’s. I bought a new one a few years ago.
I didn’t even know they had this! I’ve had a canning setup on my wish list for years, but they can be so expensive. I love how easy this thing makes it. All I have right now is the basic cheap I tools like a magnetic lid tool, canning jar tongs, and a funnel. Nothing fancy.
We sold our house with the beautiful gas range top that I loved to can on. Just bought a lovely little house- but it has a flat top electric range! I would love to have this option for canning!
I have a pot I bought a few years ago
I just started canning a year ago and love it! My current set up is a big pot with a rack inside. The previous owners of our house left it in the garage, so I figured I should learn how to use it. I don’t have AC in my house and it’d be awesome to use this electric canner on my back deck instead of heating up my house!
I have 4 canners, my mom behemoth, a 23 qt., a 16 qt. and an 8 qt. I use the 16 qt. for my water bath. I would love to win the Ball Fresh TECH Electric Water Bath Canner. Thanks for the fabulous giveaway!
I used to use my Graniteware water bath canner and loved it! However, our electric stove broke and someone gave us their old stove when they were remodeling. It is a flat glass top one. I tried my canner on it and it takes forever to reach a boil but doesn’t hold it. The burner keeps cycling on and off. This would be a GREAT help! Saturday the 18th (when the comments for this give away close) is my birthday. Winning this would be an AMAZING present! 🙂
My canning set up is an embarrassment. I have a massive old rusty canner that was on the side of the road on garbage day, a smaller rather dented new canner out of a dumpster, and some random old jars I got from a free table at a garage sale.
There’s also the old stove that shorts out when you turn on more than two burners and a mismash of real canning tools/handmade kludges. (You can totally take hot jars out of the canner with two bamboo serving spoons and a rubber band!)
One of these days I’ll upgrade to a fancy pants canner like this. 🙂
I have a speckled stockpot with wire rack inside and lots and lots of canning jars! I give away a fair amount of what I preserve to friends and they almost always return the cans with hopes of more. I would love to upgrade my preserving process!!
I don’t actually have a canning set-up- yet. I resolved that this would be my year to start. For some reason, I was always a bit intimidated by the process. I’d love to try something like this!
I use a couple of medium pots that I can fit 4 pints. I have a rack for one and just use can rings in the second. Sort of weird and wonky set up but it gets the job done.
I also use a stock pot and a simple round cake cooling rack in the bottom. But I can so much jam and tomatoes in the summer it would be great to have another option! Not to mention this would be perfect to take to friends to teach them how to can!!
I use a very large pressure cooker with the plug left out of the lid. I have a jar rack in the bottom. I would love an electric canner with a spout because I can’t fit the current pot in the sink to fill it and I have to wait for my husband to help me empty it because it is too heavy!