5) Fill jars. You probably already have the utentsils: plastic canning funnel, magnetic lid grabber, jar picker upper--I forgot the common terms, these are Mine. I clear my sink, fill my jars on rh side, and put my crock pot with produce on the lh side. I have gotten tired of too much juice, so this year I removed the tomatoes with a slotted spoon to put into the jars, There is Still PLENTY of juice. I use a long teaspoon to push out the bubbles and remove any juice if the jar is too full. I fill them all for one batch, then wet a paper towel to wipe both the rims and screw top areas clean, then put on the lids and screw tops finger tight. BEFORE I move them to the stove, which is across the room from my sink, I pour boiling water from the kettle over all of the jars to clean off any produce I may have spilled.
I move my jars over the stove where the water has a brisk boil, and stage them next it. At this point the whole stovetop is hot, so not likely to crack.
Yes, I HAVE had jars crack before. Don't cry if this happens, but it is ALWAYS cold meets hot that does the shattering...and I big mess to clean up.
Yes, I use a long meat fork to pick up the lid of the canner, so I am not burnt by it.
