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Friday, August 29, 2014

Cautionary Heads Up for Home Canners

Just thought I would pass this on and hopefullly
save some angst for a few folks.
I have a friend who has been canning for many years.
This year, she has had several jars that did not seal.
She had bought some new jars and used the new
lids and rims that came with them.
New jars used to come with the lids inverted.
They now come with the seal side down
just as they are to be used.
In packaging them this way then sending them through
the heat and cold of shipping,
the lids actually seal.
So when you buy new jars/lids/rims,
the lids are actually in used condition.
There was no problem with her old jars
when using lids from a box of new lids.
Just thought I would pass on that little 'heads up.'

Until next time,
Nimble Fingers and Even Stitches

13 comments:

  1. Also, another part of the problem may be the formula change for the sealing plastic! Ball changed the formula to be more "food friendly" (no BPA) and now uses something called plastisol! Plastisol must not be overheated (boiled) or it may not seal. In fact, apparently Ball isn't recommending that the lids be heated at all before putting them on the jar lid! This is just something I learned recently and thought you would like to know.

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    1. Thank you. I forgot to mention that. I have read various reviews about that as well & so put them in just hot tap water, but not boiled like the good ol' days. It can be kinda mind boggoling: no BPA-good okay, jars not sealing-bad. We may get food poising but not cancer, by golly:)

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  2. That makes sense, I seem to remember them being shipped upside down. The only ones that I have bought recently were those colored commemorates and they were like you say shipped with the sealant side on the glass. They all worked fine but then maybe it depends on how they were shipped and stored.

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    Replies
    1. I haven't had any problems so far either. I like to listen to them make the 'ploink' sound so tend to count as they do. If I don't hear them all, I sure check them out.

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  3. Thanks, I have noticed this on all of our new jars.This is what we do with the new jars that come this way. We use the lids for dry canning with our Food Saver vacuum sealer {no risk of spoilage), then use new lids purchased separately for water bath or pressure canning. By dry canning, I mean dry beans, pasta, gravy mix, etc. for those who don't know.

    Take Care & Hugs, Sandy

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    Replies
    1. Great idea! I hadn't really thought about what to do with the other lids. I'm pretty frugal & don't like to waste them. This is a great solution.

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  4. I experienced this on my jars already. I couldn't pry off the seal... Not to mention, I wish they would go back to the old stack-friendly boxes with individual slots :(

    Change isn't always good.

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  5. I just found your blog from Chicken Chick's blog hop. Y'all should definitely ask Ball or any other jar company to send you replacement lids. It's what you paid for after all when you bought the new jars.

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    Replies
    1. I didn't even think about that ~ I was mostly conserned about food spoilage. I might have to contact them. Chicken Chick's hop is always fun - love the variety of blogs.
      Thanks for stopping by.

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  6. Oh my goodness! I had the same thing happen with several jars this year and couldn't figure out why. I suspect that this is what happened. Thanks for the heads up. I had noticed that the jar lids often looked like they had a groove just like my used lids did. I just didn't put it together.

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  7. I never thought of that! And, yes, I've purchased a couple of new jars that were already sealed... and I just went right ahead and used them anyway. They sealed, but fingers crossed that they *stay* sealed!
    Thanks for sharing this with the From the Farm Blog Hop!
    ~ Christine @ Once Upon a Time in a Bed of Wildflowers

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  8. I got new jars this year but I didn't use the lids that came with them because I didn't think they would seal.
    I will use them for my dried herbs and storage items. to much work to can something to loose it.

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  9. Unfortunately, I bought 5 dozen Ball quart jars and of those 6 broke in the water bath canner and a couple in the pressure canner. Talk about disappointment! The 2 in the pressure canner were filled with peach pic filling, quite a sticky mess. The others were in misc. loads but some were applesauce, peaches, pears, and pickles. Again sticky messes,
    I read your blog and follow it in my email. Very informative. Thank you.
    I have recently started a blog about homesteading at:
    http://southernurbanhomesteader.wordpress.com
    I hope you can take a break and check it out.
    Thanks,
    Brenda at Southern Urban Homesteader

    ReplyDelete