Are you looking to get into home canning but don’t have a lot of money to spend on supplies? Already a home canner but looking to add a second water bath canner? If you answered YES to either of those questions I’m here to tell you that you can turn any large cooking pot into a water bath canner!
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I’ve been involved in home canning for 30+ years. Over the years I’ve invested a lot of money in cooking pots, water bath & steam canners, glass mason jars, canning accessories, etc. Those costs can add up, especially if you’re just starting out.
I personally own 2 small water bath canners but was looking to add a third and larger one to my collection. I headed to a local flea market and couldn’t find one. I then stopped by a consignment shop and found a large granite wear cooking pot (stock pot) and picked that up for $2.00. It’s like new and really large! I knew it would be perfect to hold quart size canning jars! Just make sure that the pot has a lid as you’ll need that too!
Once I got home I measured the diameter of the pot and headed on over to Amazon to look around for home canning replacement parts. I found several companies that sell replacement jar racks in several different sizes. I checked the measurements to make sure the rack would fit inside my new cooking pot. BINGO, perfect fit!
My barely used large cooking pot cost me $2.00 and my new metal jar rack cost me $9.00. So…for a total of $11.00 I have myself a new large size water bath canner! I can now get twice as much canning done by using my smaller one and larger one at the same time!!! A brand new granite ware pot of this size with lid & jar rack can cost $35 to $75 depending on the brand. I saved a lot of money!
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This is a very clever way to be able to can without the larger expense of the official supplies. Right now I am not going into consignment or thrift shops , but in the future , who knows what I could find.