They've been tough to get for the past couple of years. I bet the food shortages we're seeing now are going to cause even more people to try gardening and canning. Lids are going to be almost impossible to get this summer if you don't have enough.

We have always tried to keep a couple of years ahead on canning supplies. We've got upwards of a couple hundred dozen on hand, and we've started keeping the used lids when we open jars. I canned a jar of water last year with a once used lid. It sealed nicely and stayed sealed until I opened it a month or so ago. I hope things don't get bad enough that I have to resort to using them, but I think they will work.

I know a fella that has a truckload. Might have to see if he’ll mail me some.

Trade him some beans...

He has more than me of them too. Lol

I would be comfortable reusing the lids for something like salsa and storing it in a fridge.

Laid in a supply last Spring.

We bought some Chinese ones off Amazon last year and they seem to have worked ok. I would rather buy American but lids have disappeared out of the stores around here.

I think when we get to canning next summer, I'll do a couple of samples of a few different things. Salsa, stewed tomatoes, green beans, carrots, apple sauce, beets and dill pickles are done every year. Open up a jar of each after one year, and then at two years. See if the seal releases right, contents look and smell right. If so, I'd try a portion and see what happens. Haven't died from covid yet, so I might survive that.

I bought some the other day, will buy somemore shortly. Don't wait till you need them to buy.

Amazing that we have to operate that way in this country. And sad. I never would have believed it a few years ago, before the ammo shortages started.

Lets see…..somebody will call you bad names if you have over 3 packages in your cabinet.

Then theres the old…..”it because of people like you that prices are so high”……BS

When you see them, buy them. Don’t wait. Screw the guy that didn’t think ahead.

How are those Golden Harvest lids? Supposed to be by the same company that makes Ball/Kerr.

We bought some online last summer.

I’ve never had any problems using them. Have a few boxes in my stash.

I've reused canning lids (we call them domes) for several canning seasons. if you take care of them and keep the rubber part from getting damaged and keep the white part from getting scratched to the metal, you should be good for several canning years. there's no reason unless they get damaged to trash them after 1 use. My daddy taught me to shake the sugar bag until there ain't no more sugar rattling in the seam of the bag. He was dang sure gonna take care of canning lids for re-use.

Never had any issues with them.

Anytime I’ve ever had any problems with any of em, it was always a small chip or nick in the rim of the jar.

Good to know that someone has already been reusing lids/domes successfully.

How are you guys opening the jars so that the lids are reusable? Ours seem to bend when we open the jar. I have been finding them at the Amish stores, buy them in a sleeve of 24 dozen.

WTT pecans for canning lids...

PM for the best deal.

Is the left conspiring to make sure we can't can food? They seem to hate anything that allows independence.

Bb

I got dibs.

Run along now. Thems my lids.

I think the guys on Moonshiners are using them all up.

Use your hand, not a tool.

This. My fingernails are pretty short. Index, middle and ring fingers. Place last joint of fingers on jar with nails touching the jar and bottom of the lid. Lift steadily and the lid will usually pop loose. I wish I knew how to post pictures. I made it sound more complicated than it is. If it just doesn't pop loose, then I carefully work a church key around the edge without too much pressure in any one place. Usually won't damage the lid.

I have been seeing canning lids in the stores lately. Just canned some pheasant soup tonight. Got 5 quarts plus enough for dinner and lunch tomorrow out of 6 birds.

Try the Tattler reusable jar lids. They cost more but I have some that I've been using for 5 or 6 years and they're still in great shape. You have to follow the direction carefully as they're a bit different than the 1-use type but they work great. Hint - don't wait until August to order them.
TATTLER LIDS

You can also get bulk metal ones from Amazon much cheaper than the name brand one. If course they're made in China and they're thinner but they work just as well as Ball or Kerr.

Because of the lid shortage I tried to get my wife to keep every lid that was not bent. NOPE. It's unsafe she says. Good luck finding them this year wifey.

kwg

Lots of people think that reused lids aren't safe. If it'll seal, it's sterile inside.

And if you only expect a years use they will be fine, but we have food that's 3,4,5 years old, and the Chinese lids will rust through.

I’ve got 10 year old tomatoes right now. Came across some 1998 green beans couple years ago. Still good. 😃

I would not use a ‘re-used’ for those.

Lids are the new cripto.

Jar of shine is more valuable than a quart of Grandma's green beans when the SHTF.

🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

Tossed some early 80s stuff at the farm last year.

I didn't even stick around to catch the aroma when they broke in the dumpster.

Travesty !!!

We got beans in glass Miracle Whip jars, a wide mouth band.

Maybe a dozen jars.

Still some lids in boxes but I wonder how the rubber would be on them.

We still can tomatoes in Bob White syrup jars from the 70s. They took a regular lid and band.

I scored a shed full of molasses jars from and old woman’s estate sale. They run about 42 ounce. Take a standard lid.

Some even have a steel bail handle still attached.

Least i think theyre molasses jars.

Auk...I believe these are bob white syrup jars now that youve brought that up. I just looked some of these up.
44 oz

Yup, look just like what i’ve got

Cool, I never knew.

My buddy swears by the tattler reusable lids.

I used to find hundreds of those old red rubber lid ring seals and porcelain disks/ domes on our other farm that has a house from 1914.

Also those pewter Ball lids with the same porcelain and rubber.

Aggravating things scream like a silver dollar on my Whites detector. Man I used to hate digging up those stupid things.

That is a cool old jar. Never ran across one of those around here.

That is a google image but I got several dozen of those.

When we have a massive canning session, I break out those and a few 1/2 gallon Kerrs I have. I even have some gallon sized jars.

We can either duel over this... or I'll mail both of you a chit ton of pecans for canning lids.

Best we save our bullets for communists I reckon.

Unless the seals were broke, it didn't stink.
And would probably have been fine to eat.
Mushy, maybe. But not harmful.

Just to save a little time, with the recent crop of lids, you don't have to boil them before use. That was for the old lids that needed to be softened. The ones made in the 10 or so years are a different seal material. Just use them right out of the box. If you don't believe me, read the label. It says nothing about boiling. Or, try a little googlefu.

Amazon.

It does mention doing so in the Ball Bluebook. The don't have to be boiled, just put them in hot water for a few minutes especially to expand the rubber if you've pulled them from new jars you're prepping.

Old habits die hard.😰 I've managed to convince myself that I don't need to bring lids to a boil, but I still put them in pretty hot water for a couple of minutes.

We do this too. Funny that Ball still packs the little magnetic lifter in the canning accessories boxes.

Beware of those chinese lids off of amazon. Friend bought some and about half of them she used buckled in the canner. Much thinner than ball or kerr.

When we empty a jar, we wash it thoroughly and put the lid back on before storing it. Most people will later get them out of storage and wash them again, but why? If you have the lid snugged down, there won't be any dust or bugs in it. It's already clean. Just rinse the dust off of the outside. Germs won't survive the canning process. That's the whole point of canning - to kill anything that will spoil the food. I've read about people sterilizing the jars before they use them, then sterilizing them again when they can them. It's a complete waste of time.

We always wash our jars and dry them before use. If we are making jam, we make sure to use a heated jar. I have a dishwasher and two All American canners that help the process along. It’s peace of mind for me knowing I put a clean vegetable in a clean jar with a clean lid. That’s the way my mom and dad taught me, so I’m not changing. Never had the first issue with anything I’ve canned following their process in the 35 years Ive been doing this. Takes more time, more than likely, but it doesn’t bother me.

It seems the world has gone plumb nuts.

Sometimes it does, shortage of supplies affects some of the oddest things. Ammunition and jar lids….two things I enjoy messing with, and from the sound of it, a lot of us do.

Where I work, we are feeling the strain on short and even no supplies. Customers do not want to hear that. It’s a fight with the vendor until you show them a .gov contract, then it’s a higher price you are paying to be first in line.

Lot of Amish I know reuse the lids, also just can stuff in screw top jars other stuff has come in. Makes me think the whole "use a new lid every time" thing is something the jar/lid manufacturers started long ago.

There doesn't seem to be any shortage of canning supplies around here.

It’s coming back around here for now, I see more and more lids in the stores but the price has increased. At Walmart two years ago, Ball lids were $1.49/box, then at the beginning of last year they were $1.79. Right now they are $2.49. Krogers at $3.44/box. China’s Pure lids are anywhere from $4-6 at the hardware stores. I stumbled upon Golden Harvest at $1.47/box two weeks ago.

Jars are a plenty around here.

This ^^^^^^^^^ Last year started this time of year scrounging new lids and rings. Looking around, found some bulk rings and bulk lids from a commercial outfit for a reasonable price.

I have always wondered why the chinese cant just precisely duplicate one of our products and reap extra profits from just their lower production costs. And then a friend, who had lived and worked over there explained it to me. He said that that its all smoke and mirrors in their world. If they can save a fraction of a yen on something you cant see or measure then they do it. You dont exactly mic your canning lids!

I dont know when this will end. Probably when the younger generation becomes us and accept sub standard junk as the norm.

We ran short a couple years ago and had to buy 100 from Amazon. They were thinner but we had 100% of them seal, not a failure in the batch.

Others have told me they used them with no issues. I just can’t get over what Chinese body parts may have been stamped into them during the process.

I picked up a bag full at the Amish store last year but did not need to use them. There is no name or marking on them that I can see.

They might work just fine

But will they last 5,6, 10 years like some of mine? Will they tolerate being bumped a little here and there as they got rotated, etc.

I went and panic bought another 48 jars this morning 24 quarts and 24 pints. Looks like we will have enough now.
I just checked, all the lids and jars are Ball and Bernardin....all made in the USA.

That's the 64 dollar question. We used some of our chink lids last year on pickles and pickled peppers. We eat a bunch of that stuff so I doubt any of it will make it ten years anyway, but five years may be a possibility.

I reuse them for what I do.

I was able to buy bands and lids at Walmart just the other day. Ball made in America in Fairfax VA.

Anybody ever use those tall 2 qt jars to store dried beans and rice in? With a seal down they sure look like they would be bug proof....mb

I use them for both. They work slick.

That is a question for sure. I’ll never have to answer.

Yea

Right now

Why aren't anyone using the Tattler system? Reusable gaskets and lids. The only one I know who have used them is the deceased Micky Coleman. They work great.

Just ordered two dozen.

Because I don’t have to. I have enough Ball lids.

They are reusable.

I mentioned them earlier. We have about 100 of each size. I have some that have been used 5 or 6 years old that are like new.
There's only 1 issue with them. Because of the thicker lid, I've found that some rings don't have a deep enough thread to grab the jar well enough. You need to leave them slightly loose while in the canner and sometimes the rings won't have enough thread to keep them on. It's not a big problem but it does happen.

Ok, how much does 12 Tattler lids cost now? Let’s say they are $19.99/12 like Walmart has. I just bought Golden Harvest at Walmart at $1.47 for 12 lids, that’s 13-14 uses compared to Tattler prices. I can’t justify the cost.

Unless I’m missing something…which I could be.

Tattler at Walmart

Well they had a six pack of 64 oz canning jars for 16.99 at ace somebrand x outfit. Wallyworld had the six pack of 64 oz Ball brand jars for 12.68 so I bought them. Only wide mouth lids I saw were $5 a dozen. Look some more on them...mb

Here are some a few different dry beans I’ve done up in 1/2 gal (64oz) canning jars


Also reused some coffee jars too.

Little bit of everything

Walmart's the problem. You can buy them direct from Tattler for half that. TATTLER

12 pack is $10 something, at that I can use 7 of my 12 packs, and I throw mine away. No need to baby the rings or seals. I still don’t see an advantage.

I’m not knocking Tattler, I just don’t trust them sealing over time.

From this website:

Concerns about Tattler Reusable Canning Lids

There are three primary concerns about Tattler Lid – formaldehyde, seal failure, and air trapped in the headspace.

Formaldehyde

The Natural Canning Resource Book notes concerns about Tattler Lids:

“Tattler lids are composed of polyoxymethlylene copolymer, an acetal copolymer. …

(The author's father, a chemist) noted that the copolymer is made from a trimer of formaldehyde called trioxane and other compound variations. Formaldehyde is a highly-toxic substance long known to be carcinogenic.

Some of the secondary additives are also potentially dangerous to human health and the environment.”
The book continues to give detailed evidence of uncombined formaldehyde in the lids.

From the Tattler website:

Many questions have been asked about the existence of formaldehyde in Acetal Copolymer. While it is true formaldehyde is present in trace amounts, research proves it is only released at very high temperatures.

Heating our brand of acetal copolymer above 460 degrees F (238 C) should be avoided.
Here is my concern:

Most of the formaldehyde is bonded and can only be released at extremely high temperatures. But could those trace amounts of unbonded formaldehyde shed into your food with normal canning use?

Risks should be minimal for home food preservation. The food inside the jar is not normally in contact with the lid.

Higher Seal Failure Rates

I noticed a significantly higher failure rate than standard canning lids, both during and after processing.

Though several studies of Tattler lids were proposed, I found results for only one.

In 2014, a University of Georgie grad student, Geetha Sivanandam, tested three types of canning lids – metal, plastic and glass. Three types of food (tomatoes, apple, and carrots) were tested under different conditions.

All three types of lids produced acceptable results, but only traditional metal lids produced 100 percent seal rate during processing and storage.

Retained Oxygen in the Headspace

Elizabeth L. Andress, Professor and Extension Food Safety Specialist from
The University of Georgia notes that there may be quality issues due to retained oxygen in headspace.

Because you finish the seal on Tattler lids when you tighten them, you don't know if all the oxygen is out of the headspace.

With metal canning lids, the vacuum creates the seal.

I suspect this was the problem with this moldy jam canned using Tattler lids.

Some sites suggest increasing headspace by 1/4 inch when canning with Tattler lids to reduce failure rates. This may increase the risk of retained oxygen.

I've been using Tattlers for 6 or 8 years. If you do it right, they'll seal all the time and will stay sealed as well as any metal lid. Have you ever seen antique canning jars with glass lids and a flip wire to hold them in place? They used rubber rings like the Tattlers and they were used for many years until the metal lid was invented. It's all in getting a vacuum inside the jar. Air pressure holds the lid on no matter what kind you use. Tattlers rings are thicker rubber than metal lids and should fill up the gaps better to hold the lids on.

Until you read what I posted above.

I have over 2000-2300 jars, about 600 are with product in them now. Be a big investment to get into Tattler system.

Besides, I got many of my lids when they were put on clearance from time to time and I hit Freds once while they were going out of business. Like a 50 cents a box. I always keep my eyes open. I dont usually let stuff bite me in the ass like folks with 1/2 a box of 30/30 rounds to their name

When we can something, we’ll do 200-300 jars of beans, a hundred+ tomatoes. Have done 265 tomatoes before.

I don’t do no nasty meat soup or moose stew chit, whale fin jiblets, etc LOL. If I did, doubt I be I’d using plastic domes and 100 year old rubber gasket technology.


People that used rubber gasket technology gobbled anything they canned THAT winter. They were darn near solely dependent. Doubt they skipped a couple weeks from the root cellar goods and ate at Golden Corral or munched on frozen pizza in between.

Just what I was thinking slumlord. I bought 3 boxes of them, 18 2 qt jars in all should take care of a single guy for quite awhile. How do you put up your peppers.? Mb

I dry my peppers.

Gallon zip lock

serrano, cayenne and some habanero.


Lay em out let them slow dry all winter in an upstairs attic office

Just lay em on some paper or cardboard?

Picked up some lids tonight at walmart. All is not lost

My parents use to stack them on a length of cotton twine using a large needle and hang them in the kitchen for several weeks. They also did some variety of beans that way too.