The folks at Tattler Reusable Canning Lids & Rings sent me a sample of their product. Over the weekend I canned some pickled beets and gave the reusable lids and rings a try.
Have you ever seen the ceramic inserts they used with old canning jars? Well the Tattler lids look just like them-except they are plastic-BPA free plastic.
The rings are rubber and feel like those old timey ones folks used to use.
I followed the directions that came with the Tattler lids and rings-which are basically the directions for using any 2 piece canning lids and rings. After scalding the lids and rings, I wiped the top of the jar and then laid the ring lid combination onto the jar.
The directions said to “screw band on jar loosely.” And then to screw them on tightly as soon as the jars are processed-which is exactly what I did.
After the jars have cooled, you should remove the rings and make sure each jar has sealed. Out of about 8 jars-all sealed except one. Which might or might not have happened if I’d been using regular canning lids.
Tattler claims if you take care of the lids and rubber rings they will last up to 30 years. If they did last that long-it would be worth the expense of buying them in the long run-but as you probably figured the reusable rings are more expensive than regular lids. For more information about Tattler-visit their website by clicking here.
I’ll let you know how they lids and rings stand up for me.
Tipper
I have been wanting a couple of rubber rings for months! Thanks a bunch, Tipper.
I just have to thank Rev. RB! His memory of his gran is going to help me with one of my problems. I mentioned having enough room to put things. I have jar rings all over the place in the basement (mostly in grocery-plastic bags). Now I’ll use his gran’s practice of hanging them in a twine loop on a hook(or several hooks if need be). Thanks a million!
We dove in head first and bought about 700 of the Tattler lids, enough for the whole pantry. My initial % of unsealed jars was about like yours but now I’m getting almost always 100% seals even with greasy meat like sausage. It’s a learning curve. It’s important to follow the directions exactly in regards to finger tightening the rings to go into the canner and firm tightening immediately after removing. After 24 hours I take the rings off and it’s been readily apparent which ones didn’t seal. Try tapping the lids before you remove the rings and listen to the sound. It will almost always indicate which ones didn’t seal. The thing I’ll be watching for is if any of them come unsealed in the summer in the heat of the pantry shed. It’s separate from the house and warm, but so is the house as we don’t have a/c. Then again, neither did my grandmother. 🙂
If the combo does last 30 years, the company will likely run out of customers.
Tipper – We could tell the lids “took” by the concave depression in its center; if it was still convex, i.e. a bump, we knew it hadn’t worked, and to use the goods in that jar immediately, or at least to refrigerate it instead of trust it. I remember sitting in the other room playing cards, listening to the lids “pop” in the other room as the seal “took”. I remember trying to keep track of the number of “pops” to make sure they equaled the number of jars we were waiting on.
Anyway, without the concave depression, how did you know when these plastic ones “took”?
Also, it’s interesting to me the memories your blogs sometimes invoke. For instance on this one, I suddenly had a memory of our maternal Grandmother stringing the bands on twine, tying the end of the twine so it was a loop with the bands on it, and then hanging it from a nail in the side of the basement shelves we stored canned goods, to be re-used the next time. I hadn’t thought about that in – well, forever. Nothing ever went to waste with our Grandmothers. I wish humanity was still like that. It will help us when really hard times come, and I believe they will one day come again because some have become so very foolish.
God bless.
RB
<><
Not so sure about those. I’m one who does wait until they’re just about to take all the canning stuff off the shelves and buy up for next year. That seems to serve me well. I wish I had time for more canning/preserving. Perhaps if I did, I’d be wanting to try them too. For the time bein’ I think I’ll let y’all do the experimenting and hope that you’ll follow up with later posts and comments. For now, though, it just seems like more things to try to find a place for (well, that I can refind).
Tipper,
I also wonder…can you use these lids in a pressure canner for green beans? I don’t worry so much about a boiling water bath, packed usually with boiling liquid,(vinegar/spices) and when the ingredients have lots of vinegar and salt and only processed for five or ten minutes for sealing.
I inherited my Mother’s worry over bean spoilage and botulism (sic)…
Thanks Tipper,
PS…Seems like trying to lift an edge could surely break the seal…unless you wait until they are completely cold…
I could read the website, but why when I can write you about it..LOL
Tipper,
I also could just see Beverly
standing there all cute and waiting
for the bus to run. Although I
didn’t graduate till ’67, I can
still remember the Good ole times.
Just had to throw that in there!
…Ken
The old blue jars had those type lids. They were thick white mild glass.
B.-the directions say to gently lift up on one edge of the lids to make sure they’re sealed. The one that didn’t seal for me-came off in my hand when I unscrewed the ring. I bet you were a cute young girl with a pony tail : ) I can just see it in my mind’s eye.
Blind Pig The Acorn
Celebrating and Preserving the
Culture of Appalachia
http://www.blindpigandtheacorn.com
Thanks for sharing this information, I had no idea there were reusable lids! I just might have to try them:)
Tipper,
Those rings and inserts sound real
good, having a re-useable product.
I usually buy my next year’s rings
and lids as they come on sale. It
seems each year things are more
expensive!
Cindy’s right about all the plastic stuff available, but most of it is throw away, and that causes a big problem. I’m a Moldmaker by trade and used tool steels to form the cavity and cores for melted plastic to be injected with. Most of my molds
were for telecommunications, the
cosmetic effect behind the
receptacle plug-ins where a wire
was involved…Ken
I am planning to get a couple dozen to try this year and then, if I like them, get more next year. I think they will be worth the extra money if they work like they say.
Now about those “jsrs” and “kids”! LOL
I could not understand how you can tell when the “jsrs” are sealed?
Does the plastic “pop” or “ting” like metal lids and concave. Seems like heat and cold would affect the lids? They must be super heat resistant plastic! Some plastics warp in heat?
What the heck, I warp in heat too!
Like Ed said, newfangled verses oldfangled causes a oldie goldie like me some double pondering!
Whoa, reminds me, I just got a notice to reply to our 55th High School class reunion! How can this be? It was only yesterday, I was standing at the bus stop at school, in my 3/4 length wool skirt, cardigan sweater, saddle oxfords and “bobby” socks. Yep, I was carrying a stack of heavy books and my blue denium-like covered notebook in my arms, my hair in a pony tail with a scarf tied around it!
Help, and now plastic canning lids and I suppose next will be plastic home canning jars…..
Thanks Tipper,
While digging in old trash dumps, we used to find jar tops that were solid with a white glass thing inside. We took the glass piece out and played with it. Daddy got the metal part. He said it was made of zinc and took them and buried them in the ground under his pecan trees. He said pecans needed zinc to bear well.
Tipper,
I am sorry, I had to laugh at sweet Miss Cindy, since laughing at her will be also laughing at myownself!
Whose kids does she use two or three times? Chitter and Chatter or Deerhunter or all? Do they get tired holding the seal on those jsrs? I know they are in perfect condition but sittin’ on a shelf til winter can be tirin’ I suppose!
Does she give them a break for holidays like Christmas and Thanksgiving?
Awwww Cindy, I was just’a joshin’ at ya! I tell you one thang, when I was doin’ a lot of cannin’, those boys of mine hid out, but they still broke a lot of beans and shelled peas!
Thanks Tipper and Miss Cindy for this post. It made my mornin’! In my minds eye, for an instant I could see rows of kids holdin’ on to cans of fruit, beets and beans!
I’m weird that way!
Even though I need to go pick some early apples, I just had to post on this. Any of the younger canners should think about investing in this type of canning supplies. By younger, I mean anyone younger than 65 before all those problems set in with itis at the end of the word.
I will not be as long winded, but I must tell of a situation that happened in the 70’s. Apparently, a man from NC came into southern WV, and went from store to store buying up all the canning supplies. There had been a shortage in his area of NC due to renewed interest in canning at that time, and he also had the added advantage of an earlier crop of beans. Well, many of my neighbors and family had a bumper crop of half runners picked and ready for canning. When family members went out to buy flats and rings there were none to be found anywhere, as they had all been purchased. My dear Mom was smart enough to send family scouting the small out of the way family owned grocery stores, and we finally got enough to can. Some folks probably had to freeze or cook all their half runners that year. This was a learning experience, and I always have canning supplies bought from the year before. As a matter of fact, I buy packages of my favorite seeds for the next year when they go on sale as I have found some seeds hard to purchase some years. They seem to do just fine.
This could easily happen nowadays with all the uncertainties of our economy. Investment in the Tattler supplies would be a way to assure you always had on hand what you needed. Since most everybody is tired of wool sweaters for Christmas, this would make a wonderful Christmas gift for any dedicated canner.
Interesting. I noticed that they are available at Lehmans, and our daughter is headed over there later this week! I am going to have her purchase a dozen for me, and I will try them out.
I am ahead on lids right now, but if they work for me a couple of cycles, I would be open to purchasing them when I need lids again.
The thing is, I have about 200 jars on my shelf, and it would be very expensive to replace all of those with the new style, even year by year.
I’ve heard 2 other bloggers talk about them. I’ve just never wanted to spend the extra money one them. Good for you get a free sample!
PS My beans are blooming beautifully, which reminds me to go turn the soaker hose on them!
Interesting information! I’m not a big canner, but if they last as long as specified, maybe they would be worth the investment. It will be interesting to learn if the shelf life of the canned products is the same as doing the canning the ‘old’ way. Something to think about for the home canners.
Wow, I would bet it does sav money if they do last the 30 years, worth a shot.
But the regular lids are reusable too. Without them what are you going to use to level the legs your kitchen table? or the cookstove? What are you going to stick in cracks in the tops of fence posts to hone your shooting skills? What are you going to use as washers when bolts on the wheelbar bed rust through? Sure these newfangled oldfangled lids are nice and environmentally friendly but what will they become in their next life?
Yikes! ‘Spensive…
These lids certainly do seem like a good idea. I noticed on their site that they make them available in bulk at a better price.
I’ve always used kids two or three times if they are in good condition. I’ve also used commercial jars and lids if the lids are in good condition after the peanut butter is gone. Though I notice the manufacturers are using less glass and more plastic.
Seems we are living in a plastic world…..appliances are plastic as are toys and a lot of furniture. You don’t want to get me started on my opinion of all this plastic junk.