Reusable Canning Lids

Last year during canning season I had a lot of trouble with my lids not staying sealed. I called the company several times but never could resolve anything; so I began a search for another brand of canning lids. While surfing the web I stumbled upon a brand of canning lids called Tattler. They are designed to be used over and over and I loved the positive reviews I was reading about the lids.

The Tattler lids consist of a plastic lid and rubber seal but you need to use your existing bands.

The rubber ring and lid needs to be placed in hot water, just like standard canning lids.

When your jar is filled you wipe the glass rim and place the hot lid and rubber ring on top.

And add the ring. Do not tighten too much, just fit the ring snug. Then you turn the ring backwards 1/4 of an inch so the jar can vent while in a hot water bath or pressure canner.

As I added my filled jar to my hot water bath the first thing I noticed was bubbles, lots of bubbles. I was afraid the water would leak into my jars since they were not "tight" but it didn't.

After processing my jars for the allotted time I removed them one at a time and proceeded to tighten the rings. This required two towels, one to hold the jar and one to hold the ring.

After all the jars were removed and tightened I then left them on a towel to cool. Normally I would listen for the traditional "ping" sound that comes with canning but these lids do not make any sealing sound.

The next day I removed all the rings and prepared to "test" for a seal.

Testing is very simple, just lift the jar up by the lid; each jar sealed perfectly.

When it's time to open a jar you will need a butter knife to separate the ring from the jar. You have to be very careful not to damage the ring because the ring can be used over and over again. This was easier to do than I expected.

Once the lid and ring was removed I washed it in hot soapy water and set out to air dry; now it's ready to use again. I then added a used metal lid to cover my opened jar; normally I wouldn't unseal a jar this soon but I was interested in seeing how to unseal a jar.

Trying to deal with Jarden's about the problem with their lids was a "Major Pain"! However, my blessing in disguise was finding out about Tattler. I have already placed an order so I can use these lids right away.

I spent just under a hundred dollars for a total of 6 dozen regular lids and 6 dozen wide mouth lids. According to what I have read the lids and rings will easily last 20 years.