My canning rack is driving me batty!!

[henny penny]

I have two sizes of hot water bath canners, the giant one and a smaller one I use for 1/2 pints of jams, jellies, and preserves. The racks that come with the canners have the wires spaced too far apart so any jar I use sits cockeyed or turns over on its side while in the bath. I hate this!!! : They still seem to seal fine but it is hard to get the jars in and out and the couple seal failures I've had I think can be attributed to the tipsy jars.
Any ideas from experienced canners? Can I use a round cake rack? The wire tines on cake racks seem to be closer together. Can anyone recommend a heavy duty rack with close wires? What should I do?
Thanks!

[cristeen]

I never use a rack for canning - a dishtowel in the bottom works fine for me. But I have successfully used a grid rack (instead of just a regular rack which only has one set of wirse) in the bottom for other things that need more stability (like when I'm dyeing), and that works really well.

[Carley]

I use a steamer for small batches of jams. I got a nice heavy enamel/cast iron stockpot at Value Village (what a find!) & it came with a steamer with handles that fits inside.

It works really great for small (5-6 jars) batches, but for large batches it would take much longer since you can't cram as many pint sized jars in there.

I feel you on those canners. I've got a big one that I'll end up using for large batches unless someone gives us the secret

How does the towel thing work? Do you just fit it in the bottom of the pot & put the jars on top??