Reddit reviews Norpro 600 Canning Jar Lifter
We found 7 Reddit comments about Norpro 600 Canning Jar Lifter. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Measures: 8.75" x 3" x 1.5" / 22cm x 7.5cm x 4cmA canning essential!Designed to safely remove any size canning jar from boiling water, keeping hands safely away from heat!Easy lifting! Vinyl coated grip clamps securely on jar tops, reducing the chance of breakage.Non-slip handle is easy to grip for extra control.
This is such a great idea!
As far as a budget goes I might be able to help. (Caveat- obviously this depends on your class size)
1.) Jars, Lids, and rings: Right now you can get a 12 pack of jam jars for $7-8. I’d recommend checking out Meijer (Midwest), Walmart, Aldis, or Costco.
2.) Canner- since you’re doing cranberries (which I’m sure you know as a science teacher have a low pH) you don’t need a pressure canner. So any tall pot will do! I personally use a large metal stock pot- You might be able to borrow some from your cafeteria kitchen, your own storage, or pick one up from Salvation Army for a few dollars.
3.) I’d really recommend getting a Jar Lifter. Especially if kids are going to be around boiling water- much less stressful than using tongs.
4.) Rack Replacement DIY- you can improvise with putting a washcloth/hand towel in the bottom of the pot. My mother and grandmother have always done it this way- you just need something that will prevent the jars from rattling (against each other or the bottom of the pot). A soft washcloth spread out on the bottom has always worked very well.
5.) Misc. Items- a few hand towels to help when you tighten the rings, and paper towels for wiping off the rims of jars
An Idea: (I’m not a teacher or anything) but it might be cool to use a jar or two to show your students some improper canning techniques. You could turn a jar upside down and explain that this creates a false seal and isn’t safe, you could fill a jar completely (leaving no headspace) and let it burst/leak through the lid.
This ended up being far longer than I intended lol
What happens when you open it does the 'top' open more or close it does look like a wick trimmer. The reason I ask is if it opens it might be something to remove jars when they have boiled them for canning kind of the opposite to this https://www.amazon.com/Norpro-600-Jar-Lifter/dp/B000HJBFGC
It is for lifting jars and baby bottles out of boiling water after sterilization.
https://www.amazon.ca/Norpro-600-Jar-Lifter/dp/B000HJBFGC
What I always suggest is to first decide what you're going to can, how much you will be canning at one time and what size jars you will be canning in.
These are important to know because, as others have said, jellies, jams, fruits, pickles and properly acidified tomatoes can be done in a water bath canner, while vegetables and meats must be pressure canned.
Knowing what size of jars you are going to be using makes a difference in what size of canner(s) you will need. If you're canning for a family, you will likely need to use quart sized jars. But if you are a single person or a couple, you will probably only want to do pint jars.
Too, it's customary that jams or jellies are canned in half-pint jars although it is perfectly acceptable to do them in pints if you will use that much jam in a reasonable amount of time once it's been opened. Large mouth jars (both pints and quarts) and their lids are more more expensive than the regular mouth jars. However, meats and things like whole pickles or pickle spears almost require large-mouth jars.
The jar size also matters because some canners don't work with larger sized jars. Also, very large canners will accept two layers of jars which is great for canning many jars at a time but time and energy wasting to use for small batches.
To get started water-bath canning, the only must haves are:
The most affordable places to buy these supplies are going to be somewhere local to you. None are very expensive at all. Some water-bath canners come with a rack inside them, which is both a trivet and a jar lifter itself. New boxes of jars come with lids and rings. The rings (also called bands) are reusable, the lids are not, but anywhere that sells the jars will have more lids. Walmart, Target, K-Mart, Lowes, Home Depot, ACE Hardware and places like that will have nearly everything you need for water-bath canning.
As for pressure canning, you will need:
I highly recommend that you read up and shop around before buying a pressure canner. They are somewhat of an investment at between $70 and $400. When you're ready to select a pressure canner, come back and ask and I know everyone around here will help you decide what's right for you. The inexpensive canners are very good but there are also very good reasons to buy a more pricey one and it takes a whole post in itself to discuss them!
Something inexpensive and very nice to have is a little canning set like this no matter which method of canning you do. These tools will be safer to use rather than winging it and will save you infinite amounts of time and frustration. I've seen these same sets at Walmart for something like $8-$10.
I hope this helps!
Completely submerge 4 or 8 oz mason jars, with the lids tightened only moderately so you will see bubbles from expanding air escaping from the top. People often under-tighten them and therefore occaisionally have leakage (IMHO, ChefSteps way under-tightens them in their videos), but you don't want to completely crank them down. However, over-tightening is better than under-tightening (most cracked jars are due to temperature shock, not expanding air).
You do need to fill the jars sufficiently so they will sink, or put water filled jars on top of them to weigh them down.
It is very common to see people complaining about cracked jars due to temperature shock. So to avoid this, put them in a 110°F bath and then turn the circulator up to the final temperature. Start timing when the bath reaches the final temp (maybe subtact 5-10 min for cooking during the ramp up, but these recipes are pretty flexible on time, so it doesn't make much difference). I use a Joule, which will ramp up twice as fast as an Anova, but I don't think the slowness of the latter will make too much difference to the texture either.
Remove the jars from the bath and cool on the countertop for a hour (do not put in an ice bath like you will sometimes see recommended, or you may get cracked jars). If you don't have one, get one of these to remove the jars (you could use dish gloves too):
https://www.amazon.com/Norpro-600-Jar-Lifter/dp/B000HJBFGC/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=JAR+LIFTER&qid=1564597001&s=gateway&sr=8-4
I've never had a single jar crack doing the above for the past 2-3 years. I follow this recipe, which is delicious (and put some of their sous vide rhubarb jam on top):
https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/the-quickest-simplest-way-to-make-bomb-cheesecake
Mason jar tongs If you don’t have a pair these might help
A canning funnel and bbq gloves are the best way to get stuff into jars and the jars out of the pot. If you really want s jar lifter, get this one: https://www.google.com/search?q=jar+lifter&client=ms-android-verizon&sa=X&biw=360&bih=560&tbs=vw:l&tbm=shop&prmd=sivn&srpd=10204660868948535145&prds=epd:16644815127093773709,paur:ClkAsKraX5hWHceyU-qY8LaBnjxauCvrYiaYyOfa15DyvbnBCr2_SKMENLDlVzv7FkUgeQEVz80ac3hiM4c-ezWHrl6B6dk0TvmpdrmCxXr5Jg6uTOHhjoa4WBIZAFPVH70eVJudXdkWWL-31poB_BguwLbN0g,cdl:1,cid:8311246084751733559&ved=0ahUKEwixuvXPhszQAhVKh1QKHaGLBBAQgTYI0AQ
Don't get this kind, it's a POS: https://www.amazon.com/Norpro-600-Jar-Lifter/dp/B000HJBFGC