New to canning and have some supply questions

[Luke E.]

Ingredients like flour, corn starch, rice, and pasta will alter the thickness of the liquid, possibly making it too thick for even penetration/distribution of the heat, leaving pockets of unsterilized foods allowing growth of things that will hurt you...bacteria, spores, etc.

 

It is suggested that you add those things (flour, corn starch, rice, pasta, etc) when you open the jar to prepare your meals.

 

Glad you ordered the Blue Book. You'll find some good solid info there. :up:

 

 

additional tip: After filling my jars, I wipe the rim of the jar off with a paper towel that is wet with white vinegar. The vinegar cleans the rim, removes any grease, and allows a better seal...so far so good. I'm certain it could be argued as unnecessary...but it works for me thus far.

 

 That makes sense.

 

The Blue Book is ordered like I mentioned but I already have one in hand because I looked on the book shelf at my parents and what do I see, Ball Blue Book! I'm not sure if any info has changed in it over the years but my mother's was purchased in the mid 90's

 

As far as cleaning the jars goes, no longer than it would take to wipe down the rim of the jars I would think it to be foolish not to if it helps at all.

[Luke E.]

I've not had time to look up jar prices yet but saw "Golden Harvest" ( I think that was it and I think that was one of the acceptable brands mentioned earlier in this thread) on clearance at Dollar General today. They were pint size for $7.75 per dozen with lids and rings. If that's a good deal then I will run by and pick some up tomorrow.

[Jamie Jackson]

I've not had time to look up jar prices yet but saw "Golden Harvest" ( I think that was it and I think that was one of the acceptable brands mentioned earlier in this thread) on clearance at Dollar General today. They were pint size for $7.75 per dozen with lids and rings. If that's a good deal then I will run by and pick some up tomorrow.

 

Very good price these days Luke. Jump on 'em. :pleased:

 

iirc Ball, Mason, Kerr, and Golden Harvest are all manufactured by Jarden Industries...anybody fact-check me on this?

 

 

btw...it's been a few years, but I've picked up several cases of Ball jars at UGO (United Grocery Outlet) before. ($5.00/dozen for pints). If you have one locally you might want to check.

 

Another good source is Ace Hardware...they have sales each spring and will even "rain-check" you on sold out items...

 

 

 

 

kck...I've not tried Tattler lids, even though they have been around for some time. They always have had good reviews in Back Woods Home magazine (also an excellent canning & self sufficiency resource :up: )

They are on my "need to try" list.

[monkeylizard]

Golden Harvest is the generic version of Ball/Mason. Made by the same company. They're good to go.

 

$7.75/dozen is an OK price. It's not a steal, but not a ripoff either. Closer to $6 would be a deal.

 

 

 

ETA: The "Mainstay" brand jars at Wl-Mart are made in China, if that matters to you. I'm pretty sure all Ball, Mason, and Kerr jars are made in the USA and I think Golden Harvest is too, but I'm not postive.

Edited October 22, 2014 by monkeylizard

[Jamie Jackson]

Golden Harvest is the generic version of Ball/Mason. Made by the same company. They're good to go.

 

$7.75/dozen is an OK price. It's not a steal, but not a ripoff either. Closer to $6 would be a deal.

 

 

When you find that $6.00 deal please post it and let us know. :pleased:

[Guest Jcmarcum]

Prag had a great post very concise. I also have canned for many years as has my family for generations. Only two point at I will add. When boiling lids tongs that are sterile in boiling water can be used for lids. Also great ref material a basic rule of thumb is to consider your base ie acidity as was mentioned. Natural preservatives are vinegar, sugar, salt, capsaicin . So if what your canning is not predominant in any of these pressure is needed. If a primary base water bath works perfect.

[Guest Jcmarcum]

Auto spell correct is annoying. Clarification: great reference material as mentioned. Water bath works when the bases mentioned above are prevalent. If not pressure bath.

[Guest]

Going long term you can get some reusable lids for canning.  Tattler lids are reusable, they have a two part system, rubber seal and the plastic lid.  I've been slowly transitioning to them.  Bit of a learning curve to using them vs. the traditional lids.
 
Never heard of using vinegar to clean the jars. May try it with my next batch, but 9 times out of ten I'll have 0 jars that don't seal with a damp cloth cleaning the rim of the jar (I use the boiling water from the water bath  pan).  The few times that I have a jar that doesn't seal, it just goes in the fridge and gets used first.

I'll enthusiastically second the suggestion for Tattler reusable canning lids (www.reusablecanninglids.com).

We started using them when we started canning a couple of years ago. After a couple of batches to refine the technique, we've have very near 100% seal rate since. They're extremely easy to use. They have a newer one that's supposed to be even easier. I haven't used the new ones but I'm not sure how the existing ones could get any eaiser.

TSC runs the jars on sale for toward the end of the summer a couple bucks off and it's a good time to stock up if you can a lot.

[Luke E.]

I'll enthusiastically second the suggestion for Tattler reusable canning lids (www.reusablecanninglids.com).

We started using them when we started canning a couple of years ago. After a couple of batches to refine the technique, we've have very near 100% seal rate since. They're extremely easy to use. They have a newer one that's supposed to be even easier. I haven't used the new ones but I'm not sure how the existing ones could get any eaiser.

TSC runs the jars on sale for toward the end of the summer a couple bucks off and it's a good time to stock up if you can a lot.

 

 I'm in TSC about twice a week most of the time but have never looked at anything canning related before. I'll have to have a look next time I'm there. I did pick up 3 dozen of the Golden Harvest pint jars on Saturday so at least I've gotten the ball rolling a bit but now I need to find a deal on quart sized jars locally.

 I'll look into the reusable lids, how many uses have you gotten out of yours so far? I assume they eventually have to be replaced?

[kckndrgn]

 

 I'll look into the reusable lids, how many uses have you gotten out of yours so far? I assume they eventually have to be replaced?

 

I've reused my about a 1/2 dozen times so far, but then again I ordered a dozen boxes of both sizes of lids (a full case each).  Every now an then the maker the tattler lids will have a sale on them, so I got a case of each size.

 

The only thing that needs replacing is the rubber seal, but I'm not sure how often that needs to be replaced.  I do plan on ordering a couple dozen of each size.

[Mark A]

 I'm in TSC about twice a week most of the time but have never looked at anything canning related before. I'll have to have a look next time I'm there. I did pick up 3 dozen of the Golden Harvest pint jars on Saturday so at least I've gotten the ball rolling a bit but now I need to find a deal on quart sized jars locally.

 I'll look into the reusable lids, how many uses have you gotten out of yours so far? I assume they eventually have to be replaced?

Not all of the stores carry canning supplies. Most of the smaller footprint locations do not.

 

I quit trying to keep track of number of reuses on tattler seals. It is kind of like  reloading brass. I use them until they fail and inspect each time. I mostly keep my tattlers for emergency use when metal lids might not be available. I know I got at least 5 re-uses out of one set of seals before my wife mixed them back in with the unused ones and only one failed and I really think we nicked it with the lid opener.

 

The instructions used to say to flip the seal each time yadda yadda yadda... I just use them and expect them to work and so far they have... If the sun goes out/comet strikes/ zombies attack/ giant earthworms begin eating people,  I will start paying close attention to rotation etc. Until then I have other things to worry about. 

 

Mark

[Luke E.]

Not all of the stores carry canning supplies. Most of the smaller footprint locations do not.

I quit trying to keep track of number of reuses on tattler seals. It is kind of like reloading brass. I use them until they fail and inspect each time. I mostly keep my tattlers for emergency use when metal lids might not be available. I know I got at least 5 re-uses out of one set of seals before my wife mixed them back in with the unused ones and only one failed and I really think we nicked it with the lid opener.

The instructions used to say to flip the seal each time yadda yadda yadda... I just use them and expect them to work and so far they have... If the sun goes out/comet strikes/ zombies attack/ giant earthworms begin eating people, I will start paying close attention to rotation etc. Until then I have other things to worry about.

Mark

I'd say at that point you'll have more on your mind than the rotation of can lid seals!
You (andTMF) answered my question without actually answering it. I was just wondering if they were reusable as in 2-3 uses or if they would go further than that barring operator error.

[JWC]

Golden Harvest is the generic version of Ball/Mason. Made by the same company. They're good to go.

$7.75/dozen is an OK price. It's not a steal, but not a ripoff either. Closer to $6 would be a deal.



ETA: The "Mainstay" brand jars at Wl-Mart are made in China, if that matters to you. I'm pretty sure all Ball, Mason, and Kerr jars are made in the USA and I think Golden Harvest is too, but I'm not postive.

I'm in a canning group on Facebook and the old ladies on there say the mainstays jars are ok but the lids suck big time and they fail a lot more often than the others.
Jarden brands Ball, Kerr, and Golden Harvest are GTG.
Note the new guidelines for new Ball lids about not boiling the lids beforehand. This is the lids with the packages marked BPA Free.

Besides the Blue Book the Natl Center for Home Food Preservation website is a great resource and has a lot recipes that are all safe and tested.

...And you should only use safe tested recipes and methods. Yeah, I know "I/we/grandma always did it this way and no one died" but if you poison your kids what grandmaw did won't really matter. Edited October 29, 2014 by JWC

[Guest]

I'd say at that point you'll have more on your mind than the rotation of can lid seals!
You (andTMF) answered my question without actually answering it. I was just wondering if they were reusable as in 2-3 uses or if they would go further than that barring operator error.

It's been a while but I thought the estimate on Tattler's site was about 10 uses per rubber ring. It should be on their site somewhere.

Keep in mind the rubber ring is the only part that typically has to be replaced, so if you did get 10 uses, that's only around 3 cents per canning season (a dozen seals is around $3.60).
The other benefit, beyond long term cost savings, is not having to buy lids each year. It's nice to just pull some out of the drawer, from other jars you've recently eaten.