I got a good size enameled water bath canner but the rack wasn't in it.  Would it be ok to use without the rack?  I test fit 15 pints and there is room for them to move some but not enough, I think, to break.  Plus the bottom of the canner has a little rust in it from sitting for years under my dad's house.  Safe to use it?  I got a pressure canner too but I need the gasket and regulator.  I noticed also from another website selling water bath canners that it says not to use them on a ceramic cook top.  Any ideas why?  I have cuce's really starting to take off and need to pickle some soon.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Don't set the jars on the bottom of the pot. If you don't have a rack you can use a dishtowel on the bottom of the pot . Be sure the jars don't touch and keep the water to a gentle boil. A rapid boil may knock the jars together and they may break.

+1, anything that puts a barrier between the jars and the bottom will work
i use an old metal hot plate, it's pretty simple or i would not be doing it, good luck

Don't set the jars directly on the bottom of the canner.  The jars break at a much higher rate than when there is water all the way around them.

If you can't find something that will work, like a bread cooling rack cut to size, or a cookie pan with a bunch of big holes in it, try and make something out of coat hangers, or some other inexpensive material.

You don't want the jars to touch each other or the bottom of the canner.

Regarding having the jars not touching each other...

I recently bought a small water bath canner with a rack made specifically to fit (7) pint-size jars.  They will BARELY fit and require smacking of the jars to get everything into place.  I've tried moving them all around but to no use –– in any position they still touch, hard, on the sides.

What's the deal with that, and why is it bad if the jars touch?

IMHO, the main purpose of the rack is to make sure that water/steam completely surrounds the jars and that the jar isn't touching the hot pot. I've never worried about jars touching each other, only about jars falling over. To remedy that if I only have 6 quarts to can I add a seventh quart of water to the pot to keep them upright.

we have always just set the jars in the pot and never had a problem your results my vary.

I think the rack is to help get the jars out.




No, seriously.



My jars have always touched, fairly tightly. I think the problem, mentioned above, of having them not knock together when it boils could be an issue. I'm guessing they either need to not touch, or fit tightly enough that the boiling can't jiggle them aggressively. My mom canned her whole life with jars jammed in tightly together, and no worries. When all else fails, follow the blue book's instructions.



Old time cooks/canners like my mom and grandma canned in all kinds of jars––coffee jars, mayo jars––anything that would fit a standard lid and rim––and however many would fit in there, they shoved (carefully) in there. It was about getting the most for your heat and time. They didn't put physical pressure on the sides of the jars by putting them in so tightly that they were stressed, but they definitely touched––on all sides cuz there was one (or two, depending on the jars) in the middle.



But I have never canned without a rack, and common sense tells me there should be a cushion of water beneath the jar. I don't think they should sit on the bottom of the canner. Plus, those hot jars are damn hard to get out of that water bath without a rack.

Okay you need to take some steel wool or something and get at that rust and make sure there is no breach in the actual metal.  There used to be little repair kits you could get for when your cold packer got a hole in it.  I dunno if they still make them.  The amount of heat and stress you'll put on the enamel pot is fairly intense, and you need to ensure it does not have any little holes in it.  The way you do this is to scrub most of the rust out of it, then hold it up to the light and make sure you can't see any light coming through anywhere.  Then fill it with water and let it set for a while on a completely dry surface (dry your counter and line it with paper towels or something) and check it a couple of hours later.  A tiny little leak when it's just sitting there can become a major issue when it's full of jars and the water is boiling.

There's a pretty good chance I've had to beat some of the jars down with my fist before putting the rack + jars into the water bath.  No too hard, but a decent blow.  If I 'pull' slightly on the two jars on either side of the 'stuck' jar to make some room it seems to fit a bit better.  We recently canned ~100 pints of BBQ sauce for wedding favors and this seemed to work fine.

I've never heard of this.  Sounds like your rack doesn't fit your canner or something. Weird.  Or maybe what you're calling a rack is not what I call a rack?



My "rack" is a basket into which I set all the jars, then I set the whole thing into the water.  It holds the jars off the bottom of the canner, and has handles on each side so I can just lift the jars out of the bath when it's done.  I never have to lift/move a canner full of water and jars.  I can move them separately, and I remove all the jars at once.

I promise, it is a rack.  It is the one that came with the water bath canner.

Typical water bath canning basket
http://ep.yimg.com/ip/I/canning-pantry_2056_12470406

Typical pressure cooker rack
http://ep.yimg.com/ip/I/yhst-12036282954671_2056_4468267

My local wal mart (upstate SC) sells racks along with lots of other canning supplies.

Oh, my pressure cookers have a basket-like apparatus, much like the cold packer one in the first pic. I use those baskets with all canning, pressure and water bath. That's what I've always called a rack.
See, I thought there might be a verbiage discrepancy.   I've never used anything like that "typical pressure cooker rack" because the basket serves the same purpose in my pressure cooker.

What I use is the rack that was in the first photo.  I'll post some pics shortly.

As promised –– here is the stupid rack that doesn't want to fit the 7 pint jars as advertised.

Hmmmm.  Looks like it ought to.  I can see why you're pissed.



I'm a little pissed on your behalf.  




I don't think it should be that difficult to get the jars in.  Never has been for me unless I put in a funky oversize jar or two.

Just FYI they are Golden Harvest canning jars –– they're the only ones I've tried.

It WILL fit the advertised (7) pint jars, if I squish them and jam them in there...  Like I said, we canned almost 100 pints of BBQ sauce this way (took all frikkin' day plus some) so it works, but it's just an annoyance.

100 pints, 7 at a time?



Oh.



That makes me tired just thinkin' about it.



kitties

Egads....  Yup, I'm with you Kitties.



If you get remarried, buy a big pressure canner.  Spend a bit, gain a LOT of time.   I think mine will hold lie 22 pints at a go.....