Take your large stock pot and fill it with water. Fill the pot at least to where the jar will sit. Add your rack and two tablespoons of white vinegar. The vinegar keeps the minerals in the water from sticking to your jars and pots. Unless you plan on using distilled water you will end up with ugly, spotted jars you just have to clean later. It’s my favorite trick to keeping my jars spotless.
Put your canning jars in the large pot before you turn on the stove. Never put cold jars into hot water or you risk cracking and breaking them. If you will be doing multiple canning batches, run the second batch of jars under warm water just before putting them in your canner. This will help keep them from being too cold when you put them in. Turn the stove on and bring to a boil with the lid on. Once you hit a boil, turn the stove down until you are ready to use. If you are sanitizing jars, you will need to do that first before turning down the stove.
Fill a second smaller pot with water and a splash of vinegar. Set on high to boil. This will be your pot for your lid rings to go in as well as any other tools that need to be sanitized. Boil for 10 minutes to sterilize. Then turn down to warm. Just let them sit in the water until you are ready to use them. Again you want everything to be about the same temperature.
Once your food is ready to be canned, take your tongs and carefully remove one jar from your water bath canner and place it near your cooking pot. When removing the jar from the pot there will be boiling water inside the jar. Carefully turn the jar on its side and let the boiling water pour back out into the pot. Then you will need your canning funnel. Place it on the empty jar to be filled and carefully ladle in your food. Each recipe will require the jar to be left with a certain amount of headspace. This is the room at the top of the jar. Make sure to follow the recipe instructions on headspace. It’s important.
Remove any air bubbles before you check for the proper headspace by using a chopstick or a bubble tool and sticking it in the jar all the way to the bottom. I do this a few times in each jar depending on the thickness of the food to make sure it sinks properly. Bubbles left in the jar lead to exploding food out of the jar. You will end up with jam leaking out all over the place. It ruins your seals as well.
Now use the head space tool or a ruler to measure from the top of the jar to the top of your food. This is your headspace. Adjust the amount of food in your jar up or down so that the proper headspace is achieved.
Once that is done take a gently moistened paper towel or damp cloth towel and wipe the top of your jar. Make sure any excess food is removed as it can prevent a proper seal from forming.
Take your magnetic lid lifter and pick up a mason jar lid with it. Place it over your jar checking that it fits properly.
Then, take you magnetic lid lifter and pick up a lid ring to place it on the jar. Once you have it on rotate the ring clockwise using just the tips of your fingers to tighten. You want this to be “finger tight”. No more, no less. When the jars are in the canner, gas needs to be able to escape your jars. If you over tighten then you won’t be able to do this. If you under tighten you will risk your food escaping. If you don’t get it right on the first try don’t stress. I’ve messed it up too.
Once the jars are sealed you will use your canning tongs to place your jar in the hot water on top of your canning rack. Repeat steps 4-9 until your pot is full. When placing your jars in the canner you need to make sure to leave space between the jars. This will allow the boiling water to circulate around your jars. It will also keep the jars from being so tight they risk breaking from banging together.
After filling the water bath canner with jars, make sure your water covers at least one to two inches above the jars. If it doesn’t you will need to add water. Turn your stove up to high until you get a full rolling boil and then place the lid on. Start your time once the water is fully boiling and allow it to remain boiling until your processing time is done.
Once your processing time is done, turn the stove off and allow the jars to cool down for 5 minutes before trying to retrieve them from the water.
Remove the jars using your canning tongs. Remove each jar straight up vertically out of the water. Try not to let the jars tip too much. The seals will be soft and too much movement can loosen them. There may be a little water on the tops of the jars. It’s totally fine. If there is a lot you can lean the jar slightly to get rid of most of the excess. Place each jar on a clean towel to cool. Don’t try to remove the rings until the jars have cooled. As they cool they will loosen up and come off easily. If you remove them early, you risk damaging the seal on your jars.