How to Can With a Ceramic Stove
- 1). Fill your canning pot with water and set it on the ceramic stove over high heat until the water begins to boil. A canning pot is any pot deep enough to fit your jars plus 3 inches of water. Canning pots also have a short rack on the bottom to keep the glass jars from touching the bottom of the pot.
- 2). Put your empty jars, lids, and rings into the boiling water and cover the pot with a lid. Leave them in the pot for 10 minutes to sterilize. You can also sterilize your jars, rings, and lids in the dishwasher, if your machine has that setting.
- 3). Remove the jars, rings, and lids from the water with a jar lifter and put them in a warm oven to stay warm while you process the produce.
- 4). Process your produce according to your recipe. Only use recipes safe for water-bath canning, which are recipes that involve canning highly acidic foods. Consult the USDA Guide to Canning with any questions about the safety of your recipes. The link is in the resource section. Never water-bath canned vegetables unless you are pickling them, because you run the risk of a botulism infection.
- 5). Remove your warm jars from the oven and place them on the counter. Ladle the produce into the jars, leaving the appropriate amount of head space. This is the amount of room between the top level of the produce and the lid of the jar. Each recipe will specify the correct amount of headspace.
- 6). Wipe the outside of the jars, and the rims, with a clean towel. Run a plastic knife around the jar to release air bubbles.
- 7). Place the lids and rings on the jars, tightening the rings just as tight as you can get it on the first try. Do not over-tighten the rings or gasses won't be able to escape during the boiling.
- 8). Use jar lifters to lower the cans into the boiling water in the canning pot. The water should cover the top of the jars by 3 inches. Cover the pot with the lid and let the jars boil according to your recipe. Remove them from the water with the jar lifters when the time is up.
- 9). Leave the jars on the counter for 12 hours to finish cooling. Dump out the canning pot and wipe down the surface of the ceramic stove with a clean towel to remove any spills.
- 10
Check the jars to make sure they sealed properly during processing. Press down on the middle of the lid. It should not give under pressure. If it does pop, the processing did not work. Those jars should be refrigerated.
