The one thing that I always dislike about canning was the challenge of managing all the things that need to be working on the stove top at any one time. The long pole was always the canning pot. An electric stove top has a hell-of-a-time keeping the large canning pot hot enough to process whatever I was canning.
I saw that Ball had produced an electric canning pot that may cure this ill. At a little over a hundred bucks I scraped up what few nickles I had laying around and ordered one. It will be here next Wednesday, just in time to start putting some pickles up. It’s pictured below.
Ball describes this thus: The Ball® 21-Quart FreshTECH Electric Water Bath Canner is ready to accommodate large batches of canning, fitting 7 quart jars or 8 pint jars comfortably at one time. The bath canner frees up your stovetop, allowing you to can any time of the day and it uses 20% less energy than the stove. It can also be used as a stockpot for pastas, soups, and stews, or as a steamer for vegetables and seafood. Heat-resistant rubber-coated handles on the cooker and lid offer a comfortable non-slip grip for easy maneuvering. Storing the electric water bath canner is easy too, the base detaches and nests for compact storage and makes cleaning a simple task.
The reviews were mixed with most of the poor reviews having been made more than 2 years ago. Whatever kinks were in the canner seem to have been worked out and it has very few poor reviews since. Video below gives a good depiction of how well it works