SUCCESSFUL RE-USE OF CANNING LIDS

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Just wanted to advise that I just canned a batch of cat/dog food that was leftover stuff from a freezer-demise, and decided to use old lids on the jars of fish, turkeyskin, etc. for the cats and dogs. Every jar sealed, so I am going to use some (not from this batch!) again this summer/fall when I do my regular canning. Didn't do anything special, just looked at the lids to be sure the rubber seal wasn't completely pushed through to the metal, or nasty in some other way, and didn't use any really bent ones. I only put them in water that had been boiled and was still hot, for a couple minutes, then sealed the jars and pressure canned them. Voila. This will no doubt have some failures in future batches, but I have been hesitant to try it, as I hate to have a lot of jars that didn't seal to deal with. Just for info...Jan

-- Jan Bullock (Janice12@aol.com), March 02, 2000

Answers

Hi Jan,

I too have tried doing the same with used lids. I did have some success. I would suggest to anyone else wanting to try it to be very careful and to sterlize them. I guess this will probably bring out some critics as does some topics related to home canning. Another thing I have tried and used with success is to re-use the taco sauce jars or any other jars with the type of lid that screws on and pops, has a dent in the middle. I use these for my jams and have re-used them up to 4 times now without any troubles. I don't think they would work though in anything longer than a short water bath. But this is what I found works for me and it may not for everyone else. Bernice

-- Bernice (geminigoats@yahoo.com), March 02, 2000.


I too have re-used canning lids and every jar has sealed. I just make sure that everything is clean and sterile. ~Abigail~

-- Abigail (treeoflife@sws.nb.ca), March 02, 2000.

Hold on people!!!! You are playing with fire here. What is your life worth? Or the life of your loved ones? The cost of new lids is nothing compared to that (even if you hate your dogs, there are more compasionate ways to kill them, other than poisoning them). I know that my kids will go into the store room to get a jar of something off the shelf. I have to be sure it's safe! I can't be checking everything in there everyday. Even if a lid seals, it can still become unsealed while sitting on the shelf. Never even save a used lid, incase it gets mixed up with your new ones. I just keep a few of the taco sauce ones for when I need a lid to jar up left over soup to put in the frig. If you've been lucky with used lids so far, how far are you willing to push the envelope?

-- Peggy (adkinsonthefarm@hotmail.com), March 03, 2000.

Peggy: Thanks for you imput. Sounds like if you have children opening jars of home canned food when you aren't around, this definitely would not be a good idea for you. Actually, I wasn't advocating that anyone else should do it, just that I finally tried it, and it worked for me. As will all home canning, we should always be sure everyting is sterile, the food isn't spoiled, and that we cook it before eating if it is a low acid food. Actually, Peg, I LOVE my dogs, and plan to cook the canned food before serving it to them, too,just to be safe. I plan to still try using some of the better lids when making jams and jelly and probably pickled foods, but we never open and use the contents of any jars that have come unsealed during storage. Have had some new lids come unsealed for some reason once in a while, too, so you never know. Thanks for your input, though! Jan

-- Jan Bullock (Janice12@aol.com), March 03, 2000.

I use mine to seal up jars of dried veggies, maybe not a perfect seal, but they keep the critters from invading. For regular canning, I'll stick to new ones, I HATE working that hard, and then losing any of it.

-- Connie (connie@lunehaven.com), March 03, 2000.


My Mother-in-law has re-used canning lids for years. I did last year. My Grandpa re-used pickle jars. I re-used any jar with a rubber ring on it last year for jelly and in the water bath. Haven't had any problems.

-- Cindy (atilrthehony_1@yahoo.com), March 04, 2000.

Guess I'm just an old conservative guy, but I've got to go with Peggy (the minority) on this one. Used covers can work. Used covers can fail. Problem is, used covers can ALMOST fail, and this means that some air (read oxygen) can invade the jar at lesser quantities than is necessary to "pop" the lid. Another few days and it will pop, whereas, in my opinion, a fresh lid will hold til it fails catastrophically. I have nothing against trying mayonnaise jars (if they break, so what) but a betterway to be cheap is to get your neighbors throwaways from the yuppie spaghetti sauce - 5 Brothers, Classico, etc. These are actually mason jars, and 26 oz, an ideal size for us. I love my puppies, but they CAN handle things that would make us sick! Watch what they eat on a walk someday! I recommend against reusing canning lids. Lesley, back me up here, or straighten me out! Good luck!

Brad

-- Brad (homefixer@mix-net.net), March 04, 2000.


I do not reuse canning lids, but if you glue an old christmas card photo or such on them, drill a hole in the top, put some string through it... they make great Christnmas tree decorations. Easy to store too.

Salene

-- salene (salene814@hotmail.com), March 08, 2000.


Jan, I'm sorry but I'm chicken. I would still be afraid to use , used lids.Will heating food kill EVERYTHING that might grow inside a canning jar ? Love to save money but to scarred.

-- Patty Gamble (fodfarms@slic.com), March 08, 2000.

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