Are you on the search for equipment to elevate your jam making game? Look no further than these tools from OXO and enter the giveaway for a chance to win a set!
I often think of July as the pinnacle of the jam making season. It is the moment when berries, peaches, currants, cherries, plums, and even early apples are all competing for space at markets and in our kitchens. I find that the secret to being able to make the most of the abundance is to be prepared with sturdy, durable equipment. To that end, I’ve teamed up with my friends at OXO to show you some gear that can help make your jam making efforts a little easier.
Most critical is a good pot to cook your jam. Some people like using copper preserving pans while others prefer enameled cast iron. While those are both good, my preference is always a low, wide, stainless steel pan that can hold about 8 quarts. Stainless steel is a non-reactive metal, so it will never impart a metallic flavor into your preserves (copper is reactive and can leave your jam tasting tinny if you don’t use enough sugar).
Stainless steel is also the most forgiving surface. If you burn your jam in an enameled cast iron pot, you might be able to soak and scrub the burned spot off, but the finish will never be the same. When you burn in stainless steel, elbow grease and steel wool will eventually make you whole again.
Right now, the jam pan in constant rotation in my kitchen is the OXO Good Grips Stainless Steel Pro 8 Quart Covered Casserole (OXO | Amazon). It is similar is size, shape, volume, and performance to my favorite All-Clad jam pan, but at a third of the price. I often briefly simmer small stone fruit and let them cool before pitting to make the process easier, and the glass lid makes it easy to see when to turn off the heat. It’s also got volume markers up the side of the interior, which helps you have an idea of what your yield is going to be. All in all, it’s an excellent pan.
Another tool I turn to all summer (and fall!) long is the OXO Good Grips Food Mill (OXO | Amazon). It can strain out the seeds from berry and grape pulp, separates tomato skins from the meat, and does a masterful job of making applesauce that is smooth but not entirely without texture. I went through several food mills before this one found its way into my kitchen, and if it broke, I would replace it with an identical model.
Finally, the hand tools. I would be lost without a sharp paring knife (OXO | Amazon), a good peeler (OXO | Amazon), a heat-proof spatula (OXO | Amazon), and a citrus squeezer (OXO | Amazon). I particularly like having these tools in bright colors because that helps them stand out from the peels and stem ends (I can’t be the only person who’s ever accidentally thrown away a peeler because it blended into the scraps too well).
Thanks to the good folks at OXO, I have a second set of jam making gear to give away to one lucky Food in Jars reader. Please use the widget below to enter.
Disclosure: OXO has provided the equipment you see pictured here, along with the second giveaway set, at no cost to me. No additional funds were exchanged and all opinions are entirely my own.
This is a wonderful canning set! Would love an OXO cherry pitter!
I would love this especially the food mill.
I started with a Ball starter kit that gave all the usual things, jar lifter, funnel, lid magnet, etc. Very helpful! As I did more canning the tools expanded. I love my stainless steel funnel, I got a food scale that has changed everything, All Clad stock pot, but the item that I’m totally in love with is my Victorino canning pot. It makes canning soooo much easier, has a great rack, takes the guesswork out of temperature and timing, and is induction safe. I love it!
I can not live without the lid magnet! Those tricky lids are hard to get without it!
I love my fine mesh strainer….I know it is a little more work than the food mill, but I prefer it sometimes for the smaller batch jam making days.
My favorite canning tool is my wide mouth funnel! I’m happy with anything that lessens the mess. Thanks for the giveaway!
My long handle wooden spoon is essential, too.
I don’t have any special tools for j making. I am new to the jam process. But these tools look awesome and I will be looking into each of them.
My dutch oven is my essential jam making tool. It heats evenly and I don’t scorch any of the ingredients!
I love my all clad asparagus cooker…It is about the same size as a 4th burner pot, but has an insert
that I can use for (very small yield) canning.
I love my canning funnel, without it I’m pretty sure half my jam would end up on the counter or dribbled down the side of my jars!
My favorite tool might be the 4th burner pot. I’ve used it for processing small batches, steaming small amounts of vegetables, even making tea.
Most beautiful food mill I’ve ever seen!
My food mill!
What a great set!
My @ 1 favorite canning tool; my jar lifter and really could use a food mill.
Thank you for this wonderful giveaway opportunity
Wide mouth funnel. Doable without but much easier and tidier with.
Excellent! Sign me up.
I think my funnel is also the one thing I really could not do without!
My favorite tool for jamming is the air conditioner. I had to give up making jam when I didn’t have A/C.
Best comment ever! Totally agree!
I love the look of the citrus juicer – I just have a reamer and it isn’t anywhere near as efficient!
My favorite tool is a cherry pitter, which I just bought and can’t believe it took me so long. Thanks for the chance.
I’m new to canning so all this equipment is new to me.
My go to is the new smaller canning kettle I purchased last year. It is much handier for small jars and is more efficient than the larger one I’d been using. Now what I really need is a suitable kettle for cooking my preserves!
I love jam making! My most essential canning tool is the jar lifter, and I’m hoping to add that food mill and a pressure canner to my tool collection. I love all your recipes and tutorials. Your tomato jam was LIFE CHANGING!
I can’t lie– I’m an absolute novice here. While it’s something I’ve had an interest in for quite a while, I have never made jam or any other kind of canned goods.
All of the items here look wonderful! I’ve opened the link for the OXO Good Grips Citrus Squeezer in another tab; this is an item that I’d love to have. And someone else mentioned a cherry pitter– last night I used a chopstick to help with this task! :p
My favorite tool is my paring knife.
I use a stainless steel pot to make my jam, too. That food mill looks lovely!
I am new at this. For some reason my tomato plants are 9 feet tall this year and giving abundantly. So I am going to try canning. Bought an old used MIRRO 4 quart and fixed it up. Have a couple of cases of 1/2 pint ball jars. Really excited to learn the right way to do this. Imagine how my kids will feel when they find a 1/2 pint of canned tomatoes in the stocking this Christmas.
Now, of course, I am a jam and jelly fanatic. Love cherrys. Want to learn how to make a cherry jam and can it!
My go-to jam making supplies are my microplane zested, a good chef’s knife and paring knife for chopping and prepping fruit, and my Oxo strawberry huller. For juicing citrus, my friend has a handmade stoneware juicer (that I covet), that works pretty well.
We all have food mill envy! I would love that for my future apple butter experiences
I have a very old food mill (Foley brand) that i use for applesauce and peach butter. If the Oxo food mill can remove raspberry seeds that’s the tool i need next. Also use Cuisinart food processor to chop fruit for my jam.
I’m pretty new to jam making, but I love that pot.
I love my immersion blender!
I still like cheese cloth to strain the juice off of berries. My food mill belonged to my mom and we call it a colander. I would love to try new up to date products.
I seem to be in the same boat as most others in coveting that food mill!
I haven’t used it to make jam yet, but I just got a cherry pitter that will come in handy this summer, I’d love a food mill!
I love to make jam, but my tools are woefully inadequate… I really need a good canning funnel! But one thing that made my canning life much better last summer was a cherry pitter!
Food Mills are indispensable for good applesauce!
I don’t have any jam making products yet – I really want to start making jams & preserves like I made with my grandmother! Especially looking forward to sour cherry preserves.
I am so pleased with the jar lifter thingie! It makes getting jars out of the hot water bath a breeze.
The pan and food ill would be awesome additions to my jammin’ collection. So farmy favorite, ost essential tool is my i mersion blender; the food mill might give the blender a run for its money,
I love my foodmill – it’s old and made out of plastic – but it does the job well. I bought it when living overseas and brought it back with me. My pot situation is one that always perplexes me – this OXO pan looks great.
I’ve never made jam. But I would like to try if I had all the equipment.
I love my foodmill – it’s old, made out of plastic but very sturdy. I bought it when I lived overseas and it came home with me. It takes care of skins and pits with little problem. I also have a favorite paring knife which my husband keeps sharpened.
That food mill is gorgeous, I would love for that to become a part of my kitchen setup!
I NEEEED this set. I have been so happy to use my grandmother’s jam-making equipment, but it’s finally, after decades of heavy use, falling to pieces. The food mill would be especially welcomed. :). Thank you!
I absolutely love the steam canner I bought last year. It makes canning so much simpler and cooler in the height of summer. Also couldn’t do without my trusty stainless steel funnel! Thanks for the exciting giveaway. It looks like a great set of equipment!
I like all of this stuff, but it’s the food mill that is the thing I need most!
my favorite tool is the canning funnel for filling the jars – i hate making a sticky mess and this helps a bunch!