PLEASE READ ALL DIRECTIONS BEFORE YOU BEGIN!

I am always amazed how many times I hear that someone doesn’t want to make homemade jams/jellies because they don’t have a water bath canner.
Here’s how you can in your soup pot!
Please read all directions before starting this adventure.
Always follow the recipe you are water bath canning. Always.
I answer questions pretty quickly! If you have a question, put it in a comment and I will get with you ASAP.

What you need:
Large soup pot
Jars, lids and rings
Additional rings
Lid wand
Jar lifter

Set rings in bottom of your soup pot.
You can use a combination of sizes. Try to get a tight fit.

Put jars in pot. Fill pot with water.

Cover jars with at least 1″ of water.
Add lids to pot of water. I like to stick them standing up, between the jars.

Bring the water to a boil.
Add any utensils that will be touching your jam/jelly.
Set timer for 10 minutes.

Hopefully you’ve been working on your jam while the jars are being sterilized!

Remove jars from the pot once they have been in there for 10 minutes. Leave the lids and utensils.

Fill the sterilized jars with your delicious jam.
Wipe rip of jars clean.
Remove the sterilized lids from the boiling water, one at a time, with your lid wand.

Place sterilized lid onto the jar.
Place ring over lid.
Screw down ring until finger tight. You may need to use a towel to hold the jars while tightening the rings. The jars are hot! They are filled with boiling jam after all!

Once all your jars are filled, use your jar lifter to place them back into the boiling water in the soup pot.

Bring the water to a boil.
Set timer for 10 minutes.
Once 10 minutes have passed, remove the jars with the jar lifter, and set them on a towel spread on your counter.

Leave the jars undisturbed until cool. I leave mine to sit over night.
You will hear the lids “ping!” as they seal (one of my favorite sounds!).
The next day, check your seals by removing the rings and gently pushing back and forth with your fingers. The “button” on the center of the lid will be concaved inward if sealed.
If the lid moves at all or you can push the “button” inward, the jar did not seal. Put that jar in the fridge for immediate use.

This is also a good time to use a moist wash rag to wipe around the rim of the jar where the ring sits, and the rest of the jar as well. Sometimes the contents of the jar seep out when sealing.

Yay! You water bath canned!