A canning equipment log for jars, supplies and equipment

Updated October 17, 2026

A canning jar inventory tracks the jars you own, which are empty and set aside for use, which you’ve marked damaged, and how many more you want. Add lids and supplies to the same stock record. A canning equipment log keeps model details, check dates and maintenance notes alongside it.

You have plenty of jars, but how many are empty quarts? And do you have wide-mouth lids to go with them?

An inventory of food can’t answer those questions by itself. It tells you what’s in the jars. A stock record for jars and supplies tells you what you have available for the next canning day.

You can keep both in a notebook or spreadsheet, or use an app that holds them together. Your equipment details can go alongside the stock list, so you can find a model number or maintenance note when you want it.

Counting jars by size and type

Give each size and mouth type its own entry. Regular-mouth pints and wide-mouth pints may hold the same amount, but you’ll want to distinguish them when checking lids and supplies.

For each type, you can keep these counts:

• Owned. All the jars of that type you have, including filled jars.
• Ready to use. The empty jars you’ve set aside for canning.
• Damaged. Jars you’ve set apart as damaged, outside the ready count.
• Needed. How many more you want before the next canning day.

Your canning inventory keeps track of the food in filled jars. Keeping that count distinct from empty stock makes it easier to see whether “24 pints” means jars available for canning or jars of green beans.

In this example, the household owns 36 wide-mouth quarts, but only 4 are recorded as ready. Another 2 are marked damaged and the other 30 are filled. The household has put 12 in the needed column for its own plans; that figure isn’t calculated from the owned count alone.

Update the counts when you fill jars, get empty ones back, or buy more. You can also keep a note for jars lent out or given away if that helps explain where your stock went.

Lids, rings and other supplies

Group lids and rings by size, with an on-hand count and a needed count for each. Put the supplies your kitchen uses on the same list: labels, pectin, or anything else you want to remember before shopping.

A notes field can hold the brand or package size you prefer. If you count something by boxes rather than individual pieces, make the unit clear so you can read the number later.

The needed column becomes a shopping list once you’ve decided what you want for the next session. Check it against your plans as well as what’s on hand; a current count doesn’t tell you how much you intend to use.

Equipment details worth keeping

For each piece of equipment, record:

• Item name. A name you’ll recognize, especially if you own several of the same kind.
• Make and model. As printed on the item or its box, so you can find the manual or a replacement part.
• Last checked or tested. The date, with a note saying what was done.
• Maintenance notes. Work carried out and when, in your own words.
• Where it’s kept. Useful for anything that gets put away between seasons.

Use the same equipment name in your canning log when you record which pressure canner or boiling-water canner you used. That connects a batch to its equipment without copying the model details into every entry.

Keeping a gauge test result

If your pressure canner has a dial gauge and you have it tested, keep the date and result with its equipment record. Save the wording you were given, along with the office or person who tested it.

Your local Extension office is the place for testing guidance. Keeping a record of your pressure canner gauge test covers how to organize the result and find that guidance.

Stock records in The Cantry

The Cantry keeps jar, lid, supply and equipment stock alongside your batch records and food inventory. Jar entries include type and size, with owned, damaged and needed counts and a ready-to-use count shown against filled jars.

Lids, rings and supplies have on-hand and needed counts. The equipment list holds make and model, check or test dates, and your notes. A to-buy list brings together the things you’ve marked as needed, so you can check it before heading out.