Canning lids are scarce!

annebeloncik
annebeloncik Posts: 62 ✭✭✭

I know it is high season for canning, but I got a huge shock looking for lids on Amazon... Anywhere from 5 or 6 to 11 or 12 bucks per box of 12! Unbelievable. Makes me wonder... When the apocalypse really comes and we can't buy new lids, what do we do?

Comments

  • Torey
    Torey Posts: 5,679 admin

    @annebeloncik Most of our stores seem to be out. One store runs out but gets more in. Don't know why they have been able to stock lids when others can't. This has been mentioned in other discussions about shortages. This is one shortage that is understandable, though, in the big picture. So many people decided to garden and now have all that produce to deal with. Its not just the lids, either. From what I understand there is a 2 month or more wait for pressure canners. Other have said appliances are scarce but freezers in particular.

    I have been trying to find old glass-lidded canning jars. Lost all mine in a house fire years ago and now they seem to only be found in antique stores for exorbitant prices. I wouldn't use them for a lot of canning but they would be OK for jams & jellies or pickles & relishes and cut down on metal lids that way.

    I am also stocking up on the wire bale beer bottles (EZ Top, I think they are called). We have been making root beer lately and have made apple cider in previous years. So cider is on the list of things to do again this fall. They are expensive though at nearly $4 per bottle. So I am buying a few at a time. But they have the advantage of not needing crown caps.

    Good luck with your search.

  • Gail H
    Gail H Posts: 359 ✭✭✭✭

    Are Tattler lids still around? They are reusable. I have some and have used them, but they made me a bit nervous. The lid doesn't depress when you have a good seal, so it's more of a leap of faith.

    If things got really bad, I might consider reusing lids from previous years. I would only use them for high acid, abundant things, not meat or something very nutrient dense that you would hate to lose. I would also be extremely vigilant about checking my canned goods once a week or so to make sure that the seals were holding. I'm not recommending the procedure, just stating what I might do.

    Sometimes farm markets or little roadside stands sell lids. I have gotten them at Big Lots too.

    The book, "Preserving Food without Freezing or Canning" is useful in cases like this. It is written by the farmers and gardeners of Terre Vivante. I think I will haul mine out for a refresher course.

  • bmaverick
    bmaverick Posts: 175 ✭✭✭

    Took weeks, but our discount rain check shipment of both jars and lids have arrived.

    12 cases of jars and several dozen small boxes of lids. The Farm Coop had them for $6.99 for quart size wide mouth 12 pack jars.

  • Jannajo
    Jannajo Posts: 173 ✭✭✭

    I have so many lids here I cannot keep up, where to put them all? My jars r growing, taking up space in a very small apartment....seems I am a hoarder here! For jars, at the least....

  • Bryce Langebartels
    Bryce Langebartels Posts: 47 ✭✭✭

    @bmaverick That's a great deal! I just ordered from Lehman's and their site makes it seem like they're a couple weeks out on orders, but they will come! @annebeloncik On this site you can get 345 regular lids for $80.

  • dottile46
    dottile46 Posts: 437 ✭✭✭

    In our area it is not uncommon for lids to be out of stock. We have several Mennonite communities in a 50 mile radius of us as well as numerous, more self sufficient families. To add to that, making 'shine is common. I'm real surprised there are still jars on the shelves. .

    @torey like this?


  • vickeym
    vickeym Posts: 2,134 ✭✭✭✭✭

    dottile46 Thank you for the link. I have some Tattler lids I have been using for years. I love them. Tried to order a bulk package on Amazon and they would not ship them to me. For some reason most things I try to buy it says cannot be shipped to me. Even a set of metal measuring spoons. no idea why.

    Anyway, I looked into these. Sounds great, now if the free shipping includes Alaska, I'll be in good shape.

    The prices have gotten crazy when you can find jars here. $22 a case for wide mouth quarts is not unusual here now. I have quite a few jars but need more! lol

  • KimWilson
    KimWilson Posts: 197 ✭✭✭

    After quite an extensive search, I did find some jars today at Tractor Supply.

  • herbantherapy
    herbantherapy Posts: 453 ✭✭✭✭

    Yikes! What a scary notion. I know they get scarce at the height of canning season but I never considered if they were not available at all ever again. My understanding is that they kind of expire too because the rubber seal will break down over the years and not hold a seal. So even hoarding them would not be viable.

  • Annie Kate
    Annie Kate Posts: 680 ✭✭✭✭

    Wow! I have put lids onto my shopping list; I usually have only a dozen or so stashed away.

    For jams and jellies you can use paraffin, a half inch layer or so. My mom always did that, and it always worked. Sometimes there would be some mold above the paraffin, but never below. The other thing she did was use old store jars--cheeze whiz etc--to make jam in. We never had canning equipment in the house but she always made enormous quantities of jam (and froze a few freezer's worth of garden produce as well).

  • Torey
    Torey Posts: 5,679 admin

    @dottile46 Thank you for the link. I have not seen these before. They are similar to the glass lids that I am looking for. However, even though it says how safe the plastic is, I'm not sure about using plastic. Lids like this could so easily be made from glass or ceramic, not sure why they have chosen plastic. Good to see that you can buy the different size rubber rings. I can still find "Gem" size rubber rings in stores here but the glass lids have been non-existent for years.

  • dottile46
    dottile46 Posts: 437 ✭✭✭

    @torey Have you looked at the Weck jars/lids, these are beautiful but so out of my budget.


  • Torey
    Torey Posts: 5,679 admin

    @dottile46 Way out of my budget as well. Particularly with exchange, shipping and duty. But they are beautiful jars.

  • RustBeltCowgirl
    RustBeltCowgirl Posts: 1,403 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I'm not seeing a shortage of lids here. Maybe Northern Ohio isn't a canning "hot spot". I even saw them at Dollar Tree.

  • Ferg
    Ferg Posts: 285 ✭✭✭

    @dottile46 I use the weck jars. But I only have to buy the rubber gaskets nowadays; I brought back a ton of them from Germany where the prices were better. You can get the larger weck jars at thrift stores there too so much less expensive.

    there's a french company that also makes jars like Weck.

    If you are looking for reasonable prices on jars etc, you can get mason jars with screw on lids (work just fine) or just the screw on lids at sks bottle and packaging. I put the link to the jars below, but you can get just the lids in various types if you scroll down.

    https://www.sks-bottle.com/product/8974.html

  • dottile46
    dottile46 Posts: 437 ✭✭✭

    Wow @Ferg interesting site. I'm going to bookmark that one. Thanks!

  • Karin
    Karin Posts: 272 ✭✭✭

    I have to confess to being such a cheapskate I re-use jam and preserve jars with the sealable lids, and very rarely buy new lids :) We don't seem to have had a shortage here in NZ - if anyone is desperate, I could look into sending some over?

  • marcy_northlightsfarm
    marcy_northlightsfarm Posts: 103 ✭✭✭

    Here's the link for the Tattler lids http://tattlerproducts.com/

    It looks like they are in stock. Several years ago I started buying these so I would always have lids on hand. I do reuse some of the regular metal canning lids, at least one or two per batch of whatever I'm canning. They usually seal well and if they don't I put in fridge to use soon. I'm still not totally sold on Tattler lids. I recently made lots of chicken bone broth and was using tattler lids. I had 25% failure with them. I tried wiping rims with vinegar thinking maybe an oily residue was causing the failure but that didn't help. Switched to metal lids and all sealed just fine.

    @vickeym the reason items appear unavailable to you is because the Amazon independent retailer can exclude areas like Hawaii and Alaska. Since they are paying for the shipping they are allowed to do this.

  • lmrebert
    lmrebert Posts: 363 ✭✭✭✭

    @dottile46 Wow!! Thanks! I really like this option much better than the metal ones! Thank you so much for the link!

  • valizona
    valizona Posts: 48 ✭✭✭

    thanks yall for the links. saved them both for reference. Of course, I'll have to save for the Weck jars, but, boy! Are they cute AND useful. I'm a sucker for cute and useful. When I do splurge, I wont feel bad at all. thanks again.

  • Ferg
    Ferg Posts: 285 ✭✭✭

    @Karin I reuse mine as well. I pressure can most of the time so if I get a seal, it's good. I have more issues with the jars getting chips than reusing the lids (-:

    For things I gift, I use new screw-top lids or my weck jars. For things I keep, I have some favorite jars. I love to use the pickle jars from Mt Olive baby dills.

  • Ferg
    Ferg Posts: 285 ✭✭✭

    @valizona one thing to be careful about with the weck jars is usability. The tulip and round ones are wonderful, but they have one that is in the shape of an hourglass. They are beautiful. But getting the last drop of jams or chutneys out is almost impossible. I ended up using those for some amazing crafts <^;.

  • Karin
    Karin Posts: 272 ✭✭✭

    @Ferg how are your jars getting chips?? Does the canning process cause it? I haven't had a problem with chips, mostly it is the rubber seal on the lids that wears out with use and re-sterilising.

    What are weck jars? Have never seen them over here, we get Agee jars with the lids and screw bands, or re-use jam/pickle/sauce jars with metal lids.

  • Ferg
    Ferg Posts: 285 ✭✭✭

    @Karin because I am a bona fide klutz and knock them on things.

  • gardneto76
    gardneto76 Posts: 528 ✭✭✭✭

    I was finally able to find lids at a hardware store. Most of the groceries have jars, expensive but they have them. Some even had the wax to seal jellies and jams, but lids have been gone.