Sam I Am September 15, 2023

Ready to can my secret Spaghetti Sauce now that you’ve mastered the perfect blend? Follow me as I show you the confidence needed to can your homemade sauce with ease. Stress free guide to canning your homemade spaghetti sauce.

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Table of contents

Prepping your kitchen to be stress free:

I can tell you that this whole process is 100% stress free if you have your kitchen ready with everything you need to can which includes:

  • Water Canner
  • Canning Kit -funnel, tongs, magnetic lid lifter, canning jar lifter, bubble popper
  • Mason Jars
  • Seals (new) and lids
  • Kitchen towels (2+)
  • Small Sauce Pan
  • Paper Towel
  • Lemon Juice
  • Secret Homemade Spaghetti Sauce
  • Glass Measuring Cup
  • Tablespoon measurer

Sterilizing your Mason Jars:

Now that you gathered your jars it’s time to guess how many of them do you need? It’s honestly a guessing game when you are new to this unless you are a mathematical genius who can measure things with a glance. I always aim for the side of caution so I washed a whole case (set of 12) and a few straggles I had waiting to be brought back downstairs.

I like to run mine through the dishwasher but hand washing is just as good here. Inspect your jars to ensure there is no damage to the jar. Also, to make sure you really got them clean of all debris.

Once they are cleaned, I work in batches of 7 and fill them with hot water while continuing my prep. 7 is the number of quarts that fit in my water bath at a time. The hot water in the jar is to keep the jar itself warm so when you put in your hot sauce into the hot water bath your jars don’t explode.

  • Pro tip: Hot food=Hot jars   Cold food=Cold jars

Easy Water Bath Canning:

First, you are going to get your Water Bath Canner filled to about 2 inches below the top with hot water. I use porcelain for the nostalgic look and it’s been so easy to use. Bring your water to a rolling boil. No one ever made water boil faster by watching it, so in the meantime you can get prepping other things!

  • If you have hard water like I do, try adding a tablespoon into your water canner to prevent hard water build up on your jars and seals. Don’t care? It’s ok it whips off with a towel after anyways!

Grab your small sauce pan and place 7 new seals in the bottom. Cover with enough water to bring to a simmer. This activates the rubber on the seals allowing them to seal your jars. Not sure if a seal has been used before? I’d suggest grabbing one you know is new then or you risk the chance of your jars not sealing.

Get your Stations Ready:

Meaning your work space! I have a countertop next to my stove so I place the water canner on the left side of my burners, with my seals on the right. On the counter next to my seals, I lay down 2 kitchen towels. This is where I will place my jars for their final prep before their bath and again after they have bathed.

Bust out your Canning Kit now! I place the magnetic lift lifter, tongs, and jar rings on the towels. This way I’m not running around looking for something to lift out the hot seals and can makes sure I can get the rings on right away. You will also want to place a slightly damp paper towel on this station.

Next to where you have your tomato sauce, lay down a kitchen towel and place the funnel and bubble popper on it.

Mess Free Way to Fill Jars to Can:

Since you have your jars ready to go like a pro, grab one and dump out the hot water. Use your funnel and place into your jar. Place 2 tablespoons (2 for Roma tomatoes) of lemon juice into the bottom of your jar. The lemon juice is absolutely necessary because the acidic nature of tomatoes, it balances the PH levels making it safe to water bath. If you skip this step, you risk the chance of developing food borne illness that can be fatal.

Now with your funnel in place, use your glass measuring cup scoop out enough Secret Homemade Spaghetti Sauce into your jars to reach the shoulder of the jar leaving 1 inch headspace. Use your bubble popper to run it around the jar. This will help release any air bubbles trapped in the jar. Not doing either could cause your jar to boil over in the water bath and not seal.

Bring your filled jars over to your prep station until you have 7 filled and ready for the next step.

Stress Free Way to Seal Your Jars for Canning:

Use your damp paper towel to clean the edges of the jar for any spillage. Careful not to leave any paper towel in or on your jar. I swear it happens when you start to rush and you won’t know until it’s too late.

  • I once had a Culinary Instructor of mine say “If it’s there, I’ll be the one to find it.”

Using your magnetic lid lifter, carefully place the seal down onto the jar. Grab a ring and place over the seal. Using your two index fingers, push down in the center of the seal and twist the until the ring is on fingertip tight.

Fast and Simple way to Water Bath Spaghetti Sauce:

Once you have 7 quarts ready for the canner, carefully use the canning jar lifter to lower 1 jar at a time into the water canner. Once all 7 are in, verify the water is at least 1 inch above the top of the jar. If not, add more water and bring back to a rolling boil.

It’s important to note that you cannot start your water bath time until the water is at a rolling boil. Then set your timers for 40 minutes for 7 quarts.

Once done, use your canning jar lifter to carefully lift straight up (no tilting) your jar and place onto the kitchen towels you have ready next to the stove. You may begin to hear them “pop!” and that is music to your ears. That is a sign of a jar sealed!

Stress free guide to canning your homemade spaghetti sauce:

You’ve done it! You’ve canned all your homemade spaghetti sauce and ready for your pat on the back. Here it is!

As I mentioned you may hear popping and that’s awesome. Now let them set for 24 hours on your counter. You may be tempted to see if they are popped but leave them alone.

Once 24 hours has passed, I remove the rings as they are no longer needed and can rust if left on in storage. This also helps you know immediately if a jar is not sealed. You should be able to lift the jar up by the seal without it coming off. That means it’s ready for storage!

Now you are ready to can spaghetti sauce stress free. I believe in you! We got this.

Like this post!? Share it with your friends and family and pin for later! Want to learn the secret to homemade Spaghetti Sauce? Hop on over to my blog: How to make spaghetti sauce with fresh Roma tomatoes without peeling: here.

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