What to buy before the first batch
Updated
On this page5
You need
- A boiling-water canner with a rack
- A wide, heavy-based pan
- A jelly or candy thermometer reading past 220F
- A scale reading to the gram
- A wide-mouthed canning funnel
- A ladle and a headspace tool
- Jars, flat lids and bands
- A jelly bag or cheesecloth, if you are making jelly
Why the thermometer is not optional
Without one you are guessing at the single number that decides whether the batch sets, and the guess is biased in one direction because a hot pan looks thin.
The cook is to a reading, and the reading depends on your altitude. Without a thermometer you are left with the sheet test and the refrigerator test, both of which stop the batch while you run them. A thermometer is the only test that runs continuously. See the temperature test.
Why the scale is not optional
The standard is a ratio by weight. There is no version of meeting it that involves measuring cups, and this is the piece of equipment people try hardest to avoid buying.
Because the standard is a ratio by weight and cups do not measure weight. A cup of crushed berries and a cup of whole ones are different amounts of fruit, and the regulation is counting the fruit.
What to buy wide rather than large
The pan. Depth is what forces a long cook, and a long cook is a named cause of a stiff set and of darkening. A wide shallow pan is the single most useful piece of equipment here and it is usually the cheapest thing in the list.
What to skip at first
Several things that look essential are not, and buying them early ties up money the first season needs for fruit.
A refractometer, until you are selling. The published tests are enough before that, and the instrument matters at the point the 65 percent figure becomes a labeling question rather than a texture one.