3. Fill the jars

When the preserve is ready or the pickle brine has come to a boil, remove it from the heat.

Use the jar lifter to lift the hot jars out of the boiling or simmering water, empty the water back into the pot, and set the jars upright on one of the folded towels. If your preserve will be processed in the canning pot for less than 10 minutes, ladle hot water from the canning pot into the bowl with the jar lids. (I usually just pour in the hot water from the first jar I remove from the canning pot.) This will add a layer of cleanliness to the proceedings. You don’t have to simmer or otherwise heat the lids if the filled jars will be processed for 10 minutes or longer, and under no circumstances should you boil the lids (this could damage the sealing compound).