Back to Basics 286 5-Piece Home Canning Kit
by Back to Basics
|
List Price: Our Price: $5.85 You Save: $14.10 (71%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Category: Kitchen See more product details |
|---|
Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Back to Basics 286 5-Piece Home Canning Kit
Customer Review: Back to Basics 5-Piece Home Canning Kit
Summary: 5 Stars
All you need to do the job -- good reading and had fun playing. Ready to go!Customer Review: Wish I'd realized the jar lifter was available separately
Summary: 4 Stars
I am brand new at canning, and did my first batch prior to ordering these tools. It went okay, but I was immediately sold on the idea of a jar lifter. I looked and looked locally but couldn't find one, and this set was available for immediate shipment.
The jar lifter is fantastic, and ultimately I think it alone is worth the price of admission -- not because it's worth it in and of itself, but because it's a total necessity, so I would have purchased it at any price that wouldn't break the bank.
The other pieces are either already part of a moderately well-equipped kitchen, are nice but not necessary, and/or are not all that well constructed.
I'd opted to return a relatively expensive set of plastic funnels when I purchased this set, but the included funnel here melted a bit under the heat of the boiling brine I poured over the pickles-to-be. Same for the plastic surrounding the magnet when I used it (quite effectively) to grab the jar lids out of a simmer sauce pan. The lid wrench I'm just not sure I see a use for, since jars aren't supposed to be super tight and they tend to loosen when cooled anyway (or am I misunderstanding what this is for?), and the tongs, well, who doesn't have tongs?
Anyway, in researching for this review, I've come to feel like something of an idiot, because the pieces are available separately and eligible for the free shipping promotion of your choice. Unless you don't already have a funnel, or don't mind the possibility of plastic in your canned food, I recommend saving five bucks and just getting these two pieces:
Back to Basics 284 Jar Lifter
Back to Basics 174 Magnetic Lid Lifter
If you need more than those two pieces, though, this set will do the job.
Customer Review: Oh Yes I Can...
Summary: 4 Stars
The Back to Basics 5-Piece Home-Canning Kit provides the essentials necessary for home canning. The tongs are useful and the jar opener is a nice addition.The main three components, the funnel, jar lifter and magnet, are decent quality and held up well enough to this year's canning processes. Since I was unable to locate the individual components at our local retailers, I found this set a good buy, even if it only held up for one season.
Others mentioned that the rubber coating peeled off the metal on the jar lifter and I didn't find that to be the case. I did notice a slight notching on the rubber coating after lifting six or seven jars but that disappeared once the lifter cooled.
If Ball's home canning kit is not available, this definitely serves the purpose well.
Customer Review: Very good
Summary: 4 Stars
I've only used this once, for my first try and canning (raspberry jam). All in all it worked very nicely, and made things a lot easier. My only complaints are: 1) the jar pliers worked well to tighten the lids, but they should really include two, and 2) I don't know if it's the fault of the magnet or the thin metal the jar lids were made of, but to use the magnet to pull the lids out of the water I had to angle them a bit and lift very slowly, or else the force of the water would pull the lid off the magnet.Customer Review: very helpful
Summary: 4 Stars
The Back to Basics 5-pc Home Canning Set was very helpful in my new found love of canning. There were two things I would change in the set. I could have used a wide-mouth funnel instead of the small opening it had. Also the magnet, used to pick up seals, wasn't a very strong magnet. I used it anyway and it helped a lot in not reaching in boiling hot water for the seals. I also bought the AllAmerican Pressure Canner/Cooker. Happy Canning! Linda in NM