Ball Mason Jars Preserving Starter Kit - Perfect as a gift or for those starting out

does the job

I was disappointed with this kit for the price. The sales blurb needs to say what size the basket is, as it does not fit into my one 'normal' size pan that is deep enough to waterbath the 4 small jars that came with the kit, and that pan is not deep enough for all my other jars. It is also way too small for my big stock-pot into which I can get 7 of the 12oz jars loose, but if using this basket only 4 jars. Therefore, the basket is completely useless to me. I was also disappointed by the 'Recipe Booklet'. It is a tiny, flimsy folded paper leaflet, which will start falling apart soon, and only has 3 simple recipes in it, 2 of which call for a specific 'Ball' produced ingredient, i.e. 'Ball Jam Setting Mix with Pectin' which I've never heard of and suspect you can't get in the UK, even if I wanted to. As bottling recipes are very specific so as to avoid risks of contamination during processing, I think this is unnecessary marketing of a product that many people won't want to use or can't get. I've made jam for years anyway, and never added anything other than fruit & sugar & sometimes lemon & apple cores! The general introduction to bottling and water-bathing is useful. Also the funnel is well designed to avoid drips, & the measuring gauge and tongs are useful - though the black plastic attachments on the tongs keep falling off. The jars are also good, but I didn't really need them, as I was ordering other jars separately. However, I would like to have had the opportunity to buy the tongs, measuring stick and funnel separately, which is what I wanted to do, but the only way I could get them was as part of this kit, Given that the basket is useless to me and the recipe booklet info. is freely available elsewhere, I don't think it is value for money.