List of Supplies for New Canners.

For are you canning beginners out there, here's a list of supplies you're going to need to start.

1) Jars. Don't ask me why it's called canning, but jars are the way to go. I personally prefer Ball Jars, but I've heard of other people using other types. I get my jars at the Ace Hardware next door to my grocery store, but you can order them online. 

2) Lids. The Jars come with lids, but you should only use a lid ONCE. Some people reuse their lids, but it can lead to illness as Lids can rust. And they're really cheap, so just buy more, ok? For your sanity, and mine, it's better not to worry over it.

3) A Canner. These generally come in two types, Water Bath and Pressure.

• Water Bath Canners are essentially large pots of boiling water. They are good for high acid foods, sauces, and jams.
• Pressure Canners use steam to reach high temperatures inside a sealed environment. These are good for low-acid foods, meat and fat products, and anything your water-bath canner cannot safely can.

As a tip, I have both, but I use my pressure canner for 90% of my Keto cooking. :)

4) Assorted Canning Supplies. While you can buy these individually, practically everyone I know has bought them in sets like these. You'll need to pick your supplies, based off of what you're making, your budget, etc. Here's a general list of what you need:

• Funnel: The jars will have a hard time sealing if there's stuff on the rim and in the threads. Get a nice, wide-mouth funnel to deal with this. 
• Jar Tightener: You have to tighten the lids before you seal the cans, but you've already boiled the lids to sterilize them, meaning they are crazy hot. A good jar tightener will help you tighten the rings without burning your fingers (or getting germs all over the lids)!
• Lid Lifter: This is a magnetic stick, and dual purpose. You use the magnetic end to lift the lids out of the boiling water so as not to contaminate them, and because boiling water and hot metal hurt to touch. The other end of it is used to swipe out air bubbles that can cause a jar to burst, or cause botulism. But we'll go over that in our "how to can" step by step guide. 
• Jar Lifter and Tongs: Like everything else here, touching things in boiling water sucks. These allow you to lift hot jars out of boiling water, and place hot things in boiling water. 

Some supplies you may want, but aren't required for EVERYTHING...

• Jar Gripper: Wet jars are slippery, so a nice hot pad with a textured surface is pretty awesome.
• Jelly Strainer: This is a strainer for making Jelly, in case you couldn't tell. It strains out all the fruit parts leaving the fruit juice :)
• Cooling Rack: A rack to stand your jars on after they're removed from the canner. I don't even have one of these :) I just use a paper plate with a dish towel over it.

Of course there are lots of other gadgets and doo hickies for individual projects, I'll mention them, and the ones I use, in each project. As far as my Canning supplies? I use a Presto 16 Quart Pressure Cooker and Canner. I prefer a Pressure Canner because very few Keto recipes are high acid enough to allow a water-bath canner. I have this 5-Piece Canning Set, as well. 

I'll go over how to use all these supplies and everything in the post outlining the basic processes of Canning, but I hope this helps when you're doing your shopping! :)

-Keep Calm and Keto On.