Best Canning Kits for Long-Term Food Storage
When it comes to preservation at home, canning supplies are an essential tool for water bath canning, steam canning, and pressure canning. It can get overwhelming when you are looking for a place to start or are finding a kit with quality canning gear included. There are a lot of options to consider when it comes to canning kits: tools included, canning method, capacity, etc.
This is where we come in. We’ve researched the best canning kits, tested them, and now the results are in: the overall best, a beginner option, and a pressure canner option. If you want to start preserving food at home, one of our suggestions will get you rolling.
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Best Canning Kit
Granite Ware Canner Kit
Comprehensive, Inexpensive, and Dependable
All of the quality tools you need for water bath canning, at an affordable price.
*Price at time of publishing; check for price changes or sales.
The Granite Ware canning kit comes with a high-capacity enamel pot and all of the canning tools you need to get started right away.
Specifications
- Steel & porcelain enamel 21.5-quart bath canner
- 5-piece toolset: Bubble remover, jar lifter, lid lifter, jar wrench, & jar funnel
- Fits 8 pint jars or 6 quart jars
- 16.5″ D x 9.75″ H
- 4.1 pounds
The porcelain-coated pot is where most of the value is- you can get the same tools with the Norpro kit. Water bath canning works well for high-acid foods, and is typically how canners get started. Having a large pot that distributes heat well helps the process, and the cheapest set from Granite Ware works fine. If you want to spend more, consider a pressure canner.
The pot is quality-made and doesn’t have enamel that easily chips like some cheaper models. This is great since I’m loading jars in and out of it quickly and hitting the sides occasionally with the metal tools.
With unsurpassed value, it’s easy to see why the Granite Ware Canning Kit is the best.
Beginner Canning Kit
Norpro Canning Essentials
Inexpensive, Effective, and Versatile
This inexpensive starter kit will get you canning quickly if you have a lidded pot and some jars.
*Price at time of publishing; check for price changes or sales.
Norpro hits the basics with this essentials kit that’ll get you canning in no time. If you already have a pot for bathing or pressure canning, this tool kit, a few jars, and some food to fill them are all you need to start.
Specifications
- Handle-coated long tongs
- Handle-coated jar lifter
- Coated jar wrench
- Jar funnel
- Magnetic lid lifter
- Bubble popper/measurer
Even though these tools are inexpensive, they’ll last you through your whole canning adventure- many people continue to use these tools along with high-end pressure canners. So, they’re great for starting out, and you won’t need to upgrade them later.
If you are looking for a toolset to get started with canning, you can’t go wrong with the Norpro Canning Essentials.
Best Pressure Canner
All American Pressure Canner
Precise, Durable, and Quality Made
The brand to beat in pressure canning sits right on the edge of commercial quality and in-home affordability.
*Price at time of publishing; check for price changes or sales.
All American is the best brand in the pressure canning business, so it’s no wonder their starter model made our list. They cost a bit more than bath canners or pressure canners made outside the US, but these pots coming out of the Wisconsin Aluminum Foundry have unmatched quality.
Specifications
- Aluminum 10.5-quart pressure canner
- Metal-to-metal gasketless seal
- Fits 7-pint jars or 4-quart jars
- 13″ D x 12″ H
- 14.8 pounds
For starters, these are the only pressure canners built with such quality precision that they don’t need any gasket- it’s a metal-to-metal seal. This means no gasket upkeep or failure points. It’ll seal great forever. Also, this thing is a beast. Aluminum is known for being lightweight- but they’ve reinforced every angle of this pot where it matters most. Even still, it is lightweight enough to work on any stovetop- even flat tops.
If you want something that will be passed down several generations, this is the canner you want.
If you are looking for the best of the best, get an All American Pressure Canner.
Comparison Table
| Canning Kit | Recommendation | Price* | Tools | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Granite Ware | Best Overall | $90 | 6 | 21.5 qt |
| Norpro Canning Essentials | Best for Beginners | $16 | 6 | N/A |
| All American Pressure Canner | Best for Pressure Canning | $350 | N/A | 10.5 qt |
The Canning Supplies We Compared
Our research narrowed the field down to several types and brands of canning kits and supplies that we compared: All American, VEVOR, Norco, Granite Ware, Nesco, Presto, and more.
You can see our full list of review criteria below in the What to Look For section, with an explanation for each.
We considered a wide range of canning supplies but quickly ruled out commercial canners and industrial equipment based on price. If you are looking to process a ton of jars, those may work best for you, but we kept it to home canning for the sake of our review.
We’re always looking for new and better equipment, so if you have a canning kit that you swear by, let us know in the comments. We review most of our tested equipment annually, so we can always get it in the next roundup and see if it makes the cut, and we can see if it will beat out our top picks.
What to Look For
The best canning kit has several important features to look for:
- Value
- Tools Included
- Canning Method
- Capacity
- Quality
When you get the right blend of these, you can find a canning kit that will work perfectly with your skillset to get your pantry stocked. Below, we break down what each of these features means for the canners that truly set themselves apart.
Value: Cost vs. Benefit
The amount of money you spend on something like a canning kit shouldn’t blow out your entire budget. There are some really nice options out there, but that might not be what you need if you are just getting started. Follow your budget and get what makes the most sense for you.
You never want to spend too much money on one tool for the kitchen. It’s better to diversify your food storage equipment to make sure you are covered for a wide range of scenarios.
Tools Included
Some of the kits we saw had several extra tools that most canners never use. They are probably padding the numbers so their kit seems like a better deal by including 15 tools instead of just the 5 you really need.
Here are the tools you need in a basic starter canning kit:
- Jar Lifter – Take the jars out of hot water so they can cool quickly using a specialized tong that grips the tops well.
- Jar Rack – Keep the jars from resting on the bottom of the pot- the water should be transferring the heat, not the heat source.
- Jar Wrench – Easily tighten and loosen jars with a bit of extra leverage.
- Jars – You’ll need jars in your preferred size (usually pint or quart) with new lids.
- Canning Pot – Whether you are pressure canning or water bath canning, you’ll need a pot that matches your canning method.
Expert Tip: A jar funnel can keep you from making messes filling your jars, but it isn’t completely necessary.
Canning Method
There are a few main ways to do canning at home, and they require different equipment:
- Water Bath Canning – Water bath canning is a popular and easy canning method where you briefly boil submerged jars in water. It’s also called “Hot Water Canning” or “Boiling Water Bath”. A large pot with a fitted lid and a starter canning kit are all you need for this canning method. This method works well for high-acid foods like anything pickled, and fruits like tomatoes and berries.
- Steam Canning – Using steam to seal lids uses less water and can be quicker, but it’s even more limited in what types of foods it can be used on. Be sure your canning recipe specifies that it is to be steam-canned if you use this method.
- Pressure Canning – Pressurized pots with locking lids are used to can low-acid foods like vegetables, chicken, meats, seafood, soups, stock, and stew. A few fruits are also low-acid, like watermelon and cantaloupe. Back in the day (way back before the 1920s), water bath canning was used for these, but scientists have since discovered that botulism growth is possible without pressure to push above boiling temperature.
Warning: “Dry canning” is not a good canning method and can be dangerous. Canned home-dried foods often lead to mold and bacterial growth in small moisture pockets. See the Penn State Extension for more information on the dangers.
Capacity
If you are serious about putting some canned preserves in the pantry, you’ll need the capacity to get it done from your canning equipment. Water bath canning is quicker, although it limits what you can process based on acidity. Still, with either method, the larger the pot, the more you can process at once.
If you go too large, it can take a while for the water to boil, which adds processing time. There is a sweet spot where you get a pot that fits just right on your stove and can process many jars all at once.
Quality
The size, material, and thermal conductivity of a water bath pot or pressure pot are both important. Cheap pressure canners can be dangerous, as we’ve seen some repurposed as bombs before.
Thick-walled pressure cookers with secure lids are the best way to and reputable companies are the best way to be sure that you aren’t getting a pressure cooker that won’t go the distance with you.
How to Start Canning Food
Canning may seem easy, but there are plenty of factors to consider, and it can even be dangerous if you start without knowing what you should be doing. I usually suggest getting a recipe book that will keep you ‘on the rails’ as far as what is okay or not okay to can. Steam canning and even water bath canning don’t work for all types of foods.
Gordon Flay’s Prepper’s Canning & Preserving Bible is the best resource you can get in print, and it covers all of the bases.
If you are looking to learn for free, there are always great tutorials online as well:
Who Needs a Canning Kit?
Canning kits are not a necessity, but they are great for preserving a lot of food at a low cost. Having the tools and knowing how to use pressure canning kits can drastically boost your food storage plans.
Having the ability to preserve many types of food with canning recipes is something that anyone can benefit from. Many people with large pressure canners end up supporting their community with them or turn canning preserves into a side hustle once they’ve filled their own pantry.
How We Review Products: We research thoroughly before selecting the best products to review. We have vast prepping and survival experience and bring in outside experts when needed. Hours on end are spent testing gear in stressful conditions and using specialized testing gear to verify claims. We assign performance criteria and impartially rate each tested item. Learn more about how we test.
Sources & References
All of our experience and the testing we do to determine the best canning kit is useless without listing our research sources and references. We leaned on these for the book knowledge that we paired with our hands-on testing and practical prepping experience:
Riggs, K. (2017). Principles of Pressure Canning. Food and Nutrition Extension. Utah State University. (Source)
Andress, E. (2011). Preserving Food: Using Pressure Canners. Athens, GA: University of Georgia, Cooperative Extension. (Source)
Ramakrishnan, T., et al. (1987). Comparison of Steam Canner Processing With Other Methods of Home Canning. Journal of Food Processing and Preservation. Volume 11. Issue 1. Pages 43 – 61. (Source)
Conclusion
Food storage is always a prepping priority. A quality canner can help you with your food stockpile and preserve food- whether it’s store-bought or extras from the garden.
Here are a few other reads our subscribers have also found helpful:
- The Best Dehydrator for Prepping and Food Storage
- Best Storage Shelving for Food Supplies and Prepper Gear
- Survival Food List | Pantry Stockpile Plan and Checklist
See more of our expert-written guides, resources, and reviews in your search results – add TruePrepper as a preferred source.
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No mention of lids.
Growing up in poverty my mother would reuse store bought bottles and their lids for Jams and pickles. We may have been poor but she made sure we always had plenty to eat.
Lobster was always canned in paper lined metal cans and water bathed for hours, .. three plus hours if I remember right. No one ever got sick.
Mackerel didn’t need to be paper lined but it was water bathed as well in metal cans.
Then she got a pressure canner and the whole game changed. Imagine, reusable glass mason jars!
About the lids.
Stock up on them because they may be hard to find post SHTF.
During the post Plannedemic Attack here, you couldn’t find a jar or a lid to buy for a year or so.
Back then lids would go on sale for $2 a dozen and I’d sell my bottles and cans to be able to buy them.
You’d be surprised at how fast 10 to 20 dozen lids at a time add up. I leave the lids in their original boxes and shipping boxes and wrap everything in “pallet wrap” for moisture protection.
Today lids cost $5 a dozen here and jars are close to $20 a dozen. The eternal and entitled “profits” of the elites will never be denied it seems.
That, and the money is losing its worth and value every freaking month. The bag of Rice I bought for $10 a few years back now costs me $27, … but I’m no longer buying Rice. No need to.
I spent years buying my jars “used” for 25 cents a jar from our local Thrift Store and from the Bottle Return Depot, .. of all places. I’d also find them advertised in our local “Buy, Sell, and Trade”.
During the Plannedemic Attack, I couldn’t find gaskets for my canners so I finally bit the bullet and bought an All American Canner. They are very expensive here in Canaduh costing me over $800, BUT! I also picked up all the spare parts I’ll never need as well.
Remember that we all get old and large canners are hard to handle for old people and don’t ask me how I know.
My canners all hold 16-18 pints and that’s the size I like.
I’ve run two canners at a time and needed separate timers for each canner.
You’d be surprised at how fast the jars add up over the years as well.
“They say” never reuse a used lid for canning but my experiments have shown me that they do work if and when inspected well before use.
I was taught to never pressure can small loads in the canner and to add jars filled with water as “filler” when processing small batches of product.
Being the cheap person I am, I’d go over my used lids and use them for the jars of water and they sealed well for the most part with only a couple of failures.
But you get failures with new lids too.
I’d reuse old lids for jams and pickles but always use new lids for meats and fish. No sense taking chances with such expensive products.
Good luck.