I have a good stock of new canning lids and jars, but have always wondered about reusing the lids. I remember my grandmother reusing the lids but had no idea how she did it.
She was well versed in the “old ways” gardening, preserving and raising small livestock. I’m sure I could learn a thing or two from her.
Anyway; I asked my dad about it and he didn’t have a clue, so I went to my grandfather. Even though he is in his 90′s his memory is sharp and health good. He still cuts his own firewood and tends a small garden.
He said to bring a pan of water to a boil, add 2 tablespoons of baking soda drop in the lids and boil for about ten minutes – and they would be like new.
I had to try it to see if it actually worked, his memory is good but he also likes to tell stories and sometimes it’s difficult to tell the difference.
I had some old lids that I saved from last year so I put the water on the stove, added the baking soda and lids. After ten minutes I turned off the heat and removed the lids. The lids looked as good as new – but would they seal?
Being the curious type and not one to leave anything to chance I had to know – would they seal and more importantly would the seal hold, for how long?
So as an experiment I pressure canned six pints of water. You didn’t think I was going to waste good food on an experiment did you? I’m to cheap for that and why would I want to when water would work just as well.
Every jar sealed! Apparently grandpa wasn’t just telling stories again because it worked, just like he said it would.
I dated each jar with a permanent marker and put them into storage. Will report back in a few months to let you know if the seals are still holding.
Have you ever reused canning jar lids? How did you do it and what did you learn? Please share with us in the comments below.
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I make homemade preserves. I re-use my jar lids, I just boil them between uses to sanitize them. Now, if I see damage on one, I won’t re-use it but the damaged ones go in the trash. But otherwise, yeah, they should be good for several uses. I haven’t tried more than 3 uses on any lid yet but some of the ones I’ve got now (3x old) look like they could do it again.
Take care,
Anne K
I was wondering about the followup on this post. What were the conclusions to your experiment?
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