I use my glass top for BWBing but it's not that great for PCing. I think if you're happy with the portable(?) burner you should just continue to use it. What kind do you have? I've been looking for one, a little hesitant about propane as well (I'd like to PC in my kitchen, not outside).

Note that when making jam, if it foams up and gets on the glass the sugar can cause pitting.

I have a glass top as well, and do BWB on a propane burner outside. My concern with using a canner on the glass top is that the bottom of the canner is not flat, so it has uneven contact with the heating element.

My aunt has cracked a glass top while canning. I don't know exactly why, but I suspect it may be due to the length of time it is subjected to high heat and the size and mis-fit of the canner to the element.

Every year when I cook my salsa, I hold my breath, hoping my stove remains intact.

Many previous discussions here about this question the search will pull up. Just type glass top stove into the forum search at the bottom of the page.

As has been pointed out in previous discussions it can voil your stove warranty so it is recommended you check with the stove manufacturer first. Also recommended as others already mentioned is BWB canning only and then using a small pot rather than a big canner.

Diameter of the burner is also important as is weight issues and most importantly if your burners cycle off and on or not. Some stoves do, some don't. If they do it can be difficult to maintain adequate heat levels.

I agree with the above - stick with your electric coil burner if it is working ok for best results and the least problems.

Dave

It's been several years now, but I had the HWB going and ruined ours. Just wasting time I was in the other room when I heard a loud....something...happen. Went to the stove and sure enough... I guess we'd only had it a month or so. Glass cracked all the way across the top from heat alone.
They may look nice but just don't hold up to canning season. Won't ever own one of those things again.

I forgot to ask what you use for a BWB canner. I use a flat-bottom tri-ply stockpot. 16qt isn't quite tall enough to BWB quarts without spalshing though it's fine for low-temp pasteurization.

Yesterday I was in Wallmart looking at canning supplies (just jar prices, also looking for what's new - 4 oz plain RM jars with plastic lids for almost $5 for 4-pack being sold as "baby food jars"!). A man came up looking at canners, he had grabbed a package of Dill Pickle Mix. (Said he had 30 lbs of cukes ready to pickle - mine are just starting! Of course this was in center of state so warmer there.) He has a glass top stove so I steered him away from the graniteware canner with ridged bottom and sent him to BB&B looking for a stockpot since the only ones Wally had were very thin aluminum.

Linda Ziedrich said in a recent blg post that tamale steamers make good BWBs but we couldn't find any of those in the store yesterday.

My burner is a Broil King. I purchased it from Amazon last year. It worked fine but I am missing a "real stove". My plan was to put a stove in the basement to do the canning. That would be ideal but it hasn't happend this year. I also purchased a Ball waterbath canner two years ago. It is metal, not granite and holds 8 quarts at a time. It has a glass top.
I am ready to start canning but my garden is pretty "piti-ful" this year. Too much rain. I may have to go and purchase somethings from the Farm Market.

I was looking at the Waring - though Dave and others here have recommended the Broil King. I'll have to take another look.

So you got the new stainless steel canner with the flat bottom? That's similar to the 16qt stockpot I have with the sandwiched bottom. That will work fine on a glass top on the large burner unless your stove can't keep a stockpot at a boil. Mine can - I just have a hard time keeping chicken stock at a simmer on mine.

My garden is very slow this year too. Though I have been picking about a pound of green beans (off about 50 plants so that's not great) each day this weekend, and have been getting zucchini for a week. First yellow squash (Early Prolific - not this year!) picked yesterday.

I'm trying half batches of dilly beans and zucchini pineapple today since I haven't made them before and I'm not sure my family will like them. But we're already tired of grilled squash and I have a couple of zukes that got away from me.

Edited - I looked, 1500W Broil King is almost 3x the price of the 1300W Waring so I think I'm going to stick with the Waring.

This post was edited by ajsmama on Mon, Jul 28, 14 at 11:04

I've tried a few times on my glass top stove and I had a lot of siphoning due to the heat fluctuations.

I went back to my propane burner outside. Sometimes I lug everything out to my parents old house and use the coil burner type stove.

I love the easy cleanup of the glass top, and cooking or BWB is fine on it.