Best Gifts for Home Canners

Home canning and food preserving require some specialized equipment, and often a new canner will ask for canning equipment for the holidays. These items are reusable though, so they are a great investment over time.

If there is a home canner in your life - whether it's a family member, friend or even yourself - you'll find amazing gift ideas for home canners.

The best gifts for home canners and food preserving

Home canning has been popular as a method of preserving food for over a century. The level of popularity has gone up and down through the years depending on economic conditions and other factors.

Judging by the scarcity of canning jars and equipment over the past few years, canning food has taken a giant leap in popularity once again.

If you tried to buy a pressure canner in 2021, for instance, you know that major retailers and online sources were out of stock. Canning jars of any size were nearly impossible to find in stores.

Canning jars are finally a little easier to find now, but because they're reusable it doesn't mean the number of people who are canning food has decreased.

If you know a home canner, an item from this wish list of canning equipment, tools, books and other canning-related goodies would make a great gift. I've even included some stocking stuffer ideas.

And if the canner in your life is you, you could drop a few hints!

This gift guide applies to beginning canners as well as those with a bit of experience.

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Canning tools

Canning essentials boxed set - If you know someone who wants to start canning, this beginner canning kit would be a perfect gift!

This set of six essential tools for canning includes: tongs, a vinyl coated jar lifter to lift hot and heavy jars safely, a magnetic lid lifter, jar funnel, jar wrench for stubborn lids, and a bubble popper/measurer.

I use my jar funnel and the jar wrench daily in my kitchen because they are so handy for everyday tasks, not just for canning.

Canning ladle - this large canning ladle and measuring scoop holds up to 1/2 a cup and includes measuring lines so you'll know exactly how much you've scooped up. What a great idea.

Collapsible canning funnel - just yesterday I had to unsnarl my canning funnel and my strainer so I could open a drawer.

These handy funnels fold up and store flat - another great invention! This four-piece set also includes a strainer.

Canning books

Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving - if it's from Ball, the leading maker of canning jars and lids, you know you can depend on the information inside. This is the book I refer to time and time again.

The Complete Guide to Home Canning from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Containing the latest rules and recommendations, this book covers all the basics.

(Although it's available at Amazon, you can also download the entire pdf file for free from the USDA site.)

Water Bath Canning and Preserving Cookbook for Beginners - this step-by-step guide to water bath and pressure canning contains easy recipes with instructions to avoid the most commonly-made mistakes.

This book will get a new canner off to a great start, with confidence.

Canning Meat Cookbook for Beginners, 1000 Days of Easy and Affordable Homemade Recipes featuring beef, lamb, poultry, pork, fish, soups, and stews.

This field-tested book will take the home canner by the hand and give her or him all the information needed to preserve delicious and healthy foods in complete safety.

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Canning-related gift ideas and stocking stuffer ideas for canners

Decorative canning lids and rings - what's cuter than decorative canning lids? They make every jar just a little special.

These red and black buffalo plaid lids and rings will make everyone smile when they open a jar. Also available in black and white and red and white.

Mason jar labels - these cute 2" diameter round labels fit Mason jar lids or right on the jars perfectly and will help you know for sure what's in that jar.

No more surprises when you open a jar that wasn't labeled. (It happens.)

Canning is My Jam t-shirt - why not let them show off their passion with this cure women's tee shirt?

Utensil holder - a special Mason jar to hold kitchen utensils, available in several colors to match kitchen decor.

Mason jar kitchen towels - is it possible to have too many kitchen towels?

My Canning Journal - this journal and logbook will help you keep a well-organized inventory of your home-canned fruits, vegetables, jams and jellies.

Canning equipment

Food mill - how to make perfect tomato sauce, apple sauce and more without wanting to tear your hair out!

Water bath canner - we're all familiar with the granite wear canners, however this stainless steel model is safe to use on all types of stove tops including induction ranges, and has a glass lid so it's easier and safe to keep an eye on the canning process.

The canner's handles are wrapped in silicone to make moving the hot canner off the burner safer.

Carey Smart Canner electric pressure canner - my Carey canner has changed my canning life! It doesn't hold as many jars as a traditional pressure canner, but it's perfect for smaller batches.

(The Nesco canner is the exact same product made by the same company, by the way.)

It's automatic and takes the worry out of trying to keep the temperature and pressure at just the right spot, which is something I've always struggled with. I love mine and highly recommend this.

And yes, this canner is safe to use. NO canners have been certified by the USDA, so the fact that this one hasn't is not a deal breaker, right? You'll find independent tests and some great tips for using this canner right here on YouTube.

Presto electric pressure canner - Presto's electric pressure canner is slightly larger than the Carey model, but it holds about the same number of jars.

It does have more bells and whistles than the Carey. It's also quite a bit more expensive. It is smaller than Presto's original pressure canner (pictured below), and doesn't hold as many jars at a time.

But again, an electric pressure canner? I'm all in!

A dial-guage pressure canner on a white electric stove

The traditional Presto 23-quart pressure canner (above) - this is the one you want for big jobs, such as when all those tomatoes are ripe at once and you're making a hundred quarts of tomato sauce or spaghetti sauce or green beans.

Canning jars - any canner would love another dozen canning jars, whether they are wide-mouth or regular mouth, quarts, pints or half-pints (jelly jars).

Sometimes you can find used canning jars at garage sales or thrift shops too - my son found this box of jars at a yard sale and immediately bought it for me.

You'll find tips on how to buy used canning jars here, with guidelines for what to look out for.

Lehman's Hardware carries canning lids (also called "flats") in bulk, in both regular and wide mouth sizes.

This list isn't exhaustive, of course, but it's a good start and hopefully it sparked some great ideas for the perfect gift for your favorite home canner.

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