Mason jars, lids, etc...

[signseeker]

So I'm at Macey's today and get this wild hair and decide I need lids for Mason jars. I'm thinking, What the heck -- what if I don't have enough lids for my jars? I mean, you can only use them once. You could have all these jars and rings and if you don't have a supply of brand new lids, you're screwed. So I bought a couple hundred lids.

Do you guys all store tons of lids? How many? Thousands? How would we get a hold of lids if TSHTF? Is there some other way of canning without needing a constant supply of new lids?

I also had a interesting (or whacked, depending on your perspective) thought about the jars themselves. I was standing there and I dropped a jar and it broke. I literally just started bawling. Like this was such a valuable thing - irreplaceable - and I really messed up. :frown2: I was thinking, How do we replace things like Mason jars - I sure as heck don't know how to make them - or lids or rings?

I'm feeling the urge to hoard jars and lids and rings. :001_sconfused:

[jocarte]

I also belong to AVOW and am in on a group buy for STIEG TATTLER REUSABLE REGULAR CANNING JAR LIDS you can see what they are like on ebay. The best price is with the group buy.

[Earthling]

I have a few hundred lids - not thousands. I get them during the fall canning sales at Macey. It doesn't matter if you have jars if you don't have anything to put in them - so make sure you have a few fruit trees, etc.

[signseeker]

Fruit truits? We have trees, but not truits.

I'm thinking if your supply of lids was CUT OFF. No more Macey's, get my drift?

[Earthling]

The truits are now "trees".

I have stored several years supply of lids based on the fruit I could reasonably expect to have access to e.g. my own :l0 (17): The neighbors don't have fruit trees. I don't can as much anymore - but I have resisted the urge to get rid of my jars - also resisted the urge to get more! :l0 (51): There is only so much room to store stuff.

[Julie]

I buy both regular and wide mouth lids by the case. I also buy several boxes of jars each year.
Joel Skousen recommends that you have at least 100 canning jars per person and at least 3 times that number of lids.
He says that he has tested the BALL brand canning lids and they have proven to be capable of multiple uses if not damaged when opened after the first canning. KERR lids do not do so well.

[signseeker]

100 jars per person and 300 lids per person. Okay, that's something to shoot for. Thanks! :thumbsup:

Whoa... that's 2100 lids. :001_unsure:

[Charsee]

The reusable lids sound good, but I did read that they were manufactured 25 years ago. So I wonder how much longer they will last. As a child I remember one year when there was a serious shortage of canning lids...they were almost impossible to find at any price.

[signseeker]

Charsee- that's sort of what thought went through my head at Macey's. I told DH I bought some lids and he's like, They have them this time of year?

Guess when the lids run out, we'll all be dehydrating...

[prairiemom]

I just bought a book called Preserving Food without Freezing or Canning. It talks about the ancient ways of preserving food that have become lost since home canning was developed. VERY interesting. We're having a guy come teach it to us at our Preparedness Fair in March and I am so excited to see what he'll show us. He'll bring samples to taste. I can't wait.

[threepercent]

i save all my old lids, that have been used once. they have a higher fail rate the second time you use them, so i don't, but i keep them for just such a purpose.

[signseeker]

prairiemom- That book does look fantastic! Have you read it all yet? Who's the "guy" coming to teach you about it? One of the authors? What are the recipes like? (Maybe post a sample. :) ) I'm thinking of buying it as well.

[prairiemom]

It's just a local guy who teaches it at CSA seminars in the region. (One of the preparedness specialists in our stake is a CSA/organic farmer. He got this guy to come for us.) The "author" of the book is a research group from France.

The book covers stuff we all probably know about: root cellars, root pits and dehydrating. Then there's chapters on lacto-fermentation (like when you make sauerkraut or kim-chee), preserving with salt, oil, sugar, alcohol, vinegar and sweet-and-sour sauces. The lady who first told me about this book said they opened up a jar of green beans preserved in salt or brine, rinsed them off and they tasted great. A little salty, but very tasty.

Between these methods and sprouting I would think you could have a good year-long supply of veggies in times of disaster.

Y'all are welcome to come attend our Preparedness Fair--March 14th.

[signseeker]

The "author" of the book is a research group from France.



Yeah... I was thinking they might be all over.

Don't you live in like Maine or something? Where's the prep fair? :l0 (32):

Not gonna' post me any recipes, are ya'? :d0 (8):

[Earthling]

Signseeker - I think you should go to PrairieMom's prep fair as part of your trip! Maybe we should just have a GLO get together there! I believe she lives in the midwest.

[signseeker]

Gosh, I hate to take the kids out of school...

Maybe she can video the whole thing and post it one YouTube! :coolgleamA:

(We'd have to beep out any comments by GA's, of course. :mad5: )

[prairiemom]

I just bought a book called Preserving Food without Freezing or Canning. It talks about the ancient ways of preserving food that have become lost since home canning was developed. VERY interesting. We're having a guy come teach it to us at our Preparedness Fair in March and I am so excited to see what he'll show us. He'll bring samples to taste. I can't wait.

I went to this class today during our Preparedness Fair. It was fascinating. He had food there to sample. He stored everything in his basement--cool but not refrigerator-cold. The dilled beans were delicious--bright green and crisp. The cabbage, beets, cukes were all very tasty. He had some green tomatoes preserved with lacto-fermentation that were nearly 4 yrs old, w/o being sealed and they were yummy. They were an unusual flavor, but very tasty.

The nice thing about this method is that you can use any jar, any lid, even used canning lids--as long as it keeps the air out. Once you open a jar, it will store indefinitely in the fridge.

I think this is a skill I want to work on, I can see great possibilities here.

[signseeker]

Alright. I think that's my second book I needed for Free Super Saver Shipping on Amazon. I'm getting that and a canning book I've been waiting around on.

Thanks for the review and info, prairiemom!:thumbsup:

[Earthling]

I checked the prices of those bulk lids against our local Macey's grocery store. They are about 25% less so I will wait until Macey's has a canning sale. Last year I bought lids for 25-30% off on a sale there. Then I can buy the quantity I want . . . and not enough for the whole ward.