the towel will float until you put the jars on it.

I use a cake cooling rack when I can't find the correct basket. You can buy the canning baskets separate now. Some people have tied regular mouth rings together to form a trivet. Basically you need something to allow the water to be completely around, top and bottom of the jars. At least 1-2" on top (to allow for some water to boil away).

You should be able to use a towel. Just be sure it is thick enough. A cake cooling rack would be better. I found a rack at thrift store for 99 cents. It was meant for a small charcoal bbq grill, but fits perfect. Measure the diameter of your pan, and if it fits, you can order a rack for a Presto pressure canner and use it in the boiling water pot. Amazon and other places sell them. Some stores have them, too.
I don't know the diameter of the pan, but there is a stainless flat bottom canner with glass lid by Ball. They are about $90, but really nice.
That is correct, you do have to use a flat bottom pan and it should be no more than 2 inches total wider than the element part of the stove. So, 1 inch all the way around.

I have used a towel for make-shift. You just have to wrestle it down until you get enough jars set on it that it stays. A pain but it will work short term and get you through the current batch until you have time to search out a rack.

Tying together canning rings is also a good short-term measure.

Carol

Agree that the towel works fine once the jars are on it. If you aren't doing enough jars to keep it in place then just add some jars filled with water to hold it down.

Or as already mentioned can can make a rack using spare canning rings/bands and some zip ties or trash bag tie wraps or any kind of wire.

Just invery your pot, lay the rings out on the bottom next to each other and one in the center to see how many it will take to cover most of the bottom of the pan, wire them together and flip over right side up to lay in the bottom of the pot.

And any kitchen type store carries cake cooling racks in all kinds of sizes.

Last choice the enamel canning pots also come in 2 different sizes. Maybe the smaller one will fit your stove. They just can't be any larger than the diameter of your large burner.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: Homemade canner rack pics

Thanks all! I have used canning lids to make a couple of pots into a double boiler so I will try your solution until I run onto some kind of a rack. Only problem is that 3 of my stock pots are only about 8 1/2 in. wide. A couple of the wider ones won't be deep enough for quart jars....I doubt if I can get quart jar in with the rings. I will try a thicker cloth maybe.
So the problem with the canner that I bought and the reason it said not to use on a glass top stove was because it wasn't flat?

The ways to improvise as above all work, but consider these too...

I have two for my larger pressure canner and a third just a little smaller, also use them for BWB with a large stockpot. My local hardware store carries them in two sizes, this one is Amazon -

A friend of mine used a cake cooling rack in her pressure canner for years until long after it was rusting. When it got so bad her canning water was orange and had bits in it, she finally bought actual racks :)

My glass topped stove in my new-to-me kitchen hasn't been canned on yet. The largest high heat burner should work theoretically according to the stove manual but I'm on the fence as to whether to can outdoors (or garage with doors open) over gas, or try the stove. My tuna is coming next Thursday :(

Here is a link that might be useful: flat canning rack

Depends on the stove itself as it is the stove that causes the problems, not the pot. Flat works on some, raised bottom is needed for others. Heat cannot be trapped under the canner or it can crack the top and force the burner to cycle off and on or burn out.

Basically it is diameter issues. Pot can't be bigger diameter than the burner and best if it is a bit smaller.

There is tons of info available online on this problem but only the stove manufacturer can give you the info as to which/what will work on your particular stove.

Active canners who happen to have glass tops usually find investing in a separate heating element works best, especially if pressure canning. Many of them available.

Dave

Right, and I know the burners cycle up and down on this one, it's visible around a pan bottom. The owners manual says the canner (it does specifically mention pressure canning) may be 1" larger than the burner but it doesn't address the weight of a loaded canner - and my largest is heavy, vintage Mirro approx. the same weight of todays All American. The All Americans carry their own warning not to use on glass top or ceramic stoves.

So far I've only done jelly BWB in a stock pot on it, not a lot of time this year for life as usual because I had a former home to update to sell. I do have a propane crab cooker I've used for a second canner and could make my main heat source if I decide I'm risking cracking that stove top. I looked up the price of the stove (which isn't a model I would have bought myself) and it's approx. $2000....Jenn Air glass top combination convection oven with downdraft. Truthfully, I don't like it that much, it's taking some getting used to :)

Not meaning to hijack the OP's question here, I hope this is something she's having to consider too...

Sorry morz. Your first post wasn't there when i was typing above so my comments were just directed at the OP.

Dave

Ive been trying to figure out a way to do it on my glass top stove also. Ive been told that the problem is more the weight of everything on the stove burners.
Although Ive been wanting to try it with just a few jars at a time.

I have the cheap Ball intro to canning green plastic basket. I find that it fits well into my smaller stockpot (other than the big canners--have Grandma's old style enamel, plus one of the new stainless Victorios with the glass lid). I like it for very small batch--I think it only holds 3 quarts, or 4-5 half pints. Then I don't have to worry about a rack in the bottom, and it's easy enough to lift out when done. If you're not doing much large batch, it might be worth looking into. A little of a pain to store, but I keep in a small sweater sized tote with my other canning stuff--lid lifters, jar lifters, etc.

The ridged bottom canner is only to be used on a gas stove. Any kind of electric stove, use a flat bottomed canner. Ridges don't make enough good contact on electric. If a stove cycles on and off, that is not a good thing to can on. You have to keep the water boiling constant or with pressure, keep the pressure steady.
There is only one camp stove we recommend for canning and that is a Camp Chef that will adjust down to about the safe level of 12,000 btu's. No more than that should be used outdoors for any canning. Especially with a pressure canner. In my office at work I have a whole sheet on using a flat top stove and another on using gas/propane cookers.

For racks, I brought my pots with me to the thrift store to test-fit their selection :). I ended up with two steamer baskets that fit my pots nicely.

I can on a glass top stove. I pressure can as well as water bath. Most of the time my water bath batches are large enough I use my pressure canner as my BWB. I use a Presto 23 qt. And have had it filled to the max (double decked for BWB) and I haven't cracked my top yet. Of course I can't lift the canner myself full, and wouldn't dare to. But, the 23 qt. Presto is a good canner for a glass top. It has a good flat bottom and while the diameter of the pot is very large, it has a thicker plate that extends down for the burner. It fits my large burner perfectly (I would measure for you but it is scalding hot and still full of water from today's canning).

As far as the stove cycling on and off, these stoves work by heating a heavy gauge pan and having the pan hold the heat. This works great for canning if you have a pot with a great super thick bottom. Mine is up to 12 lbs at 3.5 every time and stays there without fail so long as I don't fiddle with the dial and try to get it there faster and then back it back down

We were fortunate enough to be able to create a separate Canning Kitchen in a separate building on the property, and while we weren't legally allowed to have both a full bathroom and a full kitchen in that building (because we already had a cottage on the property as well as our home) we settled with building a full bathroom. So, once the permits were "signed off" we added a gas (propane in this area; no natural gas) Kitchenaid cooktop built into the counter. (The county permit allowed everything in the kitchen, including the dishwasher, two sinks, cabinets, tile, etc. ... but not a stove/range for cooking -- because that, with the bathroom, would have created a 3rd dwelling unit.) The only fuel I use is a 5-gallon (5-pound?) propane tank, similar to what's often used on a Barbeque, and it's located just outside directly behind the cooktop wall. That tank holds nearly enough for the entire canning season, and is cheap, easy, and convenient to refill.

What I'm getting at is this: You could create an area in a garage (or a utility room) and put in a similar set-up. One could even purchase an older electric (need 220 plug) or gas (or propane) stove and set it up for just that use. We were fortunate to find the great Kitchenaid gas cooktop on Craigslist for $50 and it's perfect!

Back when ... families often had a canning stove or a separate canning area so that the mess and the heat didn't interfere in their main kitchen.

I see in the Seattle Craigslist that someone has a wonderful, old electric stove where two of the four burners are nice and large ... and they are advertising it as what they had used in their garage for canning ... to keep the house cool. And I have had friends who can hundreds of jars who have done the exact same thing.

I love being able to do my preparation (canning, freezing, dehydrating) in a separate area, and just close/lock the door when I'm done. And, as usual, I apologize for the length of this message, but hope it might be an idea for someone.

Here is a link that might be useful: Example of Older Electric Stove that's Perfect for a Canning Kitchen

I purposely declined a glass top due to all the canning that I do. Plus, I've seen one that the top had broken, not just 1 burner, but the whole top was ruined (not from canning, just someone else's anger).

I can on a glass top stove. I pressure can as well as water bath. Most of the time my water bath batches are large enough I use my pressure canner as my BWB.

Kali - what brand, model, and year of stove specifically please. Not all glass top stoves are the same by any means. The elements, thickness of the top, fiberglass % in the glass, burner size, etc. all vary greatly.

Dave

Dave, I have an LG model LRE3012ST. I bought it last April. To be honest at the time I had not read all the "you can't can on a glass top" threads I read now, so it hadn't entered into my decision on a stove. I only read many many reviews of stoves and based my decisions on other things I needed (including would my canner fit on the burner element).

We are far enough from the grid there is no gas here and wont be any time in my life. And there is no way I was getting another coil stove or canning outdoors in the humidity we have.

So luckily I somehow bought a glass top that has no issues canning with the canner I already owned.

Thirsty Dirt- what do you mean "pit"? I have over boiled way too many of my jams and find that a bonus to the glass top over the coil stove I used to have. The clean up is so much easier. What should I be worried about with the sugar?

With my stove, if the sugar is left on the cook top and is allowed to cook/burn it will actually damage the glass surface and leave tiny holes - aka pits.

And this just might be me, but I find my glass top more difficult to keep clean than a traditional stove.

I am starting to think that Dave is right and there is a drastic difference in models and brands. The first thing I cooked on mine was a batch of orange marmalade, which of course I was not used to the new stove and promptly boiled the entire batch all over the stove, burnt it all under the pan, hubby wanted me to ditch the pan and buy a new one it was so bad. But the stove top cleaned up with no issues and I didn't even attempt it until the next day (and I finished the batch so it was well burnt in with the pan on it for a while). Mine also keeps a roaring boil on a completely full 23qt pot to the point where I have to turn the temp down because I have too much water spewing out the lid.

Maybe there needs to be a thread on here for advice on what to buy (or not to buy) if people need to buy electric. There are not many coil stoves left, and face it some people (like me) just don't want to have to clean coil anymore. But a lot of us don't have access to gas and don't live in areas where canning outside is a valid option.

LG model stoves are pretty top of the line when compared to the average GE, Hotpoint, or Whirlpool glass top stove.

One DIL has a GE - the only one I have any personal experience with - and she gripes about cooking on it much less doing any canning. Only 3 years old and already cracked once and had top replaced.

Her big burner cycles with just a standard skillet on it. I wouldn't touch it with anything canning related.

Dave

Just out of shear curiosity Dave, what do you can on?

I love my Sears Kenmore glass top. Two years now. The main burner I use has got some scratching around it, which might actually be pitting. But I haven't really really tried to clean it either. I do shoot it with something and scrub with scouring pads. But there's still something there. Not bad. I use cast iron on it and have no issues. It has a double oven - small one on top and large one on the bottom. I use the small one a lot. Pizza, cookies, etc...

But for canning, I built a small house in 2005 with intentions of using it as the summer kitchen eventually. So I bought a Jenn-Aire electric cooktop that had raised/canning coil burners available. So I bought that at the same time so I'd have it when I needed it. Works great! I had a major jelly/jam overflow a couple years ago that got down under the burners and into the frame/box of the base unit. The modular burner units lifted right out. I had to disassemble them so I could get to the cooked on sugary mess that was also inside them. But they just screw together, so no big deal. Put everything back together eventually and was on my merry way again.

The canning burner is taller so there is more room for air flow, and keeps the sides of the larger pot from being so close to the stove top and the center downdraft vent cover. It has a ring around it to help keep the heat directed up at the pot and not out to the sides. I really like it!

Just out of shear curiosity Dave, what do you can on?

Sorry Kali, I guess i just assumed you might know since i have posted about it so often here and posted pictures of it all too.

I use my 20 year old Jenn Air coil top electric inside for small batches of stuff but the majority of our canning is done out on the screen porch we have rigged as a canning kitchen and we use propane (no natural gas available out here in the boonies).

We started with one Heavy Duty propane burner and now have added one of this double burner as we often have 2 PCs and an a BWB canner or a pot of something cooking down all running at the same times. This year the kids all got us a new propane 4 burner gill for the birthdays and we added it to the "outside kitchen" as it is perfect for keeping jars and lids hot and for cooking down sauce on. Plus you can grill supper at the same time. :-)

Eventually we want to get a propane stove for indoors but can't justify the expense while the old stove is still working fine for everything else plus the wife likes the convection oven it has.

Dave

That is a very nice set up Dave.

My in laws had an old Jen Air in this house when we moved in. I wanted to keep it as it had a vent fan down the center and while not ideal for venting, it was something in our tiny kitchen with 6'9" ceilings. But while we left the house empty to start the renovatations, the mice moved into it :-( The cost to tear out the rock wool around the oven wasn't worth it for a stove of that age.

>The canning burner is taller so there is more room for air flow, and keeps the sides of the larger pot from being so close to the stove top and the center downdraft vent cover. It has a ring around it to help keep the heat directed up at the pot and not out to the sides. I really like it!

Wow, that's so cool! I'd never heard of those. Sounds good for large vats of soup or stock, too, which I often make.

They make different sized canning racks to put in the bottom of any pot...The ones I bought came in 12 " 10 " and 8 " size so now I can use any of my vintage white enamel pots for doing a water bath. Bought mine on Amazon for 14.00

you can tie canning rings together with zip ties or bread bag ties to make a rack for the bottom of your pot I use a pressure canner rack at the bottom of my water bath canner because the rack takes up too much room you could also use a few pot holders to cover the bottom they sell canning rack pretty cheap on amazon but as for canning on a glass top stove I do not know ball sells an electric counter top canner I have one it is great