Which Brand of Canning Jars Do You Recommend and Why?

Which brand of canning jars do you recommend and why?

Thank you.

I have not learned to can yet so I don't have an intelligent opinion.

Over the years, I have picked up brand name (mainly Kerr and Ball) jars at garage sales, second hand stores and from a friend that no longer used them. I prefer used jars because money hasn't always been plentiful. That is providing they are in good condition with no nicks or chips around the rims and no obvious cracks or damage to the body.

I use mainly Ball and Kerr brand lids because it is what has been available. More important to me than the brand, I prefer the wide mouth jars as I can a lot of chicken and other meats which are easier to pack in the wide mouth jars. Easy to use on vegetables too and they make it easy to run a knife blade in the jar to remove air bubbles.

There is a school of thought on the metal lids being unhealthy but at my age, I will not worry about that. I think going hungry would be more unhealthy.

If you are just beginning, I would like to make a couple of suggestions of tools to add? Definitely buy a jar funnel, look for a jar lifter, also a magnet on a stem (automotive is usually cheaper and works fine to pick up lids in hot water) or a lid rack to hold them. And of course a good reference on canning.

What pressure cooker do you use?






This message was edited Mar 27, 2011 7:58 AM

I use Ball or Kerr; I can't really tell the difference. But when I buy stuff in the stores I watch what kind of jar it's in. Classico Spaghetti sauces come in re-usable jars with the molded in numbers on them. So does some of Paul Newman's Own. Aldi's has a brand of peaches and other fruit that comes in the same type of jar. They take a standard lid. Besides that there is an Amish store right near me and they have lids of all shapes and sizes. One of the popular sizes is the lid that will seal the standard salsa jars. Any jars I have that I can't get NEW lids for, I fill with pickles or jam. I can all year long. Veggies from my garden in the summer, fruit whenever it comes on (made some GREAT blueberry topping last year) and in the fall and winter and early spring I can the soups and stews I make. When it comes time to butcher the chickens for the year, I take whatever birds are in the freezer and cook them down and can them and the broth. I also usually have a couple jars of sausages and beef chunks in the pantry. That's mostly so I won't have to open the freezer when the power is out.

I use what's locally available too, mostly Kerr. I've only been canning a few years and have a fondness for the large mouth jars too. I don't why the make the smaller mouth jars?

I can offer one tip, I've always been the gal that bashfully says "you don't have to get me anything" when friends and family say they never know what gift to give me. Now, I shamelessly tell them to get me canning jars. Since these are the same people that I share my bounty with, it works out well :0)

I always hate to give away the canned products and lose the jar. A few others that can produce will return the jar ~ which is appreciated. But I use the small mouth jars just enough so I can share that bounty with others. Then, if they don't return them, I am not as aggravated.

If someone shares their canned goods with me, I try to return some of mine in similar jars so they will not be short their jars either.

Thank you.

I haven't bought my canner or pressure cooker yet. I looked online and got some ideas, but I want to go to Ace Hardware, Walmart, and Orscheln Farm & Home before I decide. Hopefully, one of those places will be cheaper. Do you have a recommendation or any helpful hints when picking one?

I did find some reusable plasic flats that are made from FDA/USDA approved plastic and are supposed to be BPA-free. I emailed the Ball/Kerr/etc. people to find out if they've taken the BPA out of theirs. When I get an anwer, I'll post back here.

Some of the canning instructions I have found say to only use the receipes in the various books. Why is this? If I want to can some of my favorite meals, how do I find out what modifications I need to make or precautions to take?

Thanks, again.

Better to can the separate ingredients for your favorite meals. For example the meats need longer processing times but vegetables require less. If you canned them as one and you process it long enough for the meat, the vegies will be mush. Also, some seasonings don't do well when added and should be added when used as a meal rather than before canning. Some dishes can be canned. I have a few old 'farm cookbooks' for recipes and crossreference with specific canning books for safety.

Does anyone still reuse glass mayonnaise jars. In the 70s and 80s My wife and I used many a mayonnaise jar to can tomatoes and dill pickles. Of course in those days regular Ball jar lids and rings fit the mayonnaise jars. Don't know if that's the case anymore.

This is my fourth year back into gardening and am getting organized to the point where I will can tomatoes and make pickles this year. We used to use the granite water bathe for putting up our tomatoes and pickles as that is about all we canned. Man, those things sure have gone up in price! I hate to think what the aluminum pressure canners cost now days. Be nice if I could pick up one of those used for $10 or $15. Any body out there have one of those just collecting dust please send me a D-mail.

For tomatoes and pickles all you need is a waterbath canner. But you need a pressure canner for meat and most other fruits and veggies. The major exception to that is jams and jellies, and preserves. Those you just make in a pot and spoon them still scalding hot into your jars. Clean the rims and crank down the lids. As the fruit cools the air in the headspace shrinks and draws a vacuum. Use the dome lids and you'll hear them "ping" as they shrink.

Texasrockgarden ~ you don't necessarily need a specific water bath container. You can use any deep pan as long as the water will cover the jars with boiling room to spare. I have the water bath canner but it is usually stuffed full of jar lids, rings and canning tools so I use a deep soup pot instead. It is not imperative to use the jar rack in one. To prevent the jars from rattling against each other, you can use dishcloths or dish towels for buffers.

I have heard that the glass companies are making the jar lids a bit different sized these days. I know I had a few of them that didn't seal so have quit using them for anything but dry storage. OTOH, I know there are some here that do use them.

Look for used jars. The new Ball jars with the silver-colored rings are thinner glass and can break more easily; also the silver-colored rings rust more easily.

NEVER store your home canned goodies with the rings still on them. When the jars have cooled overnight after the canning, remove the rings, wash the jars in hot soapy water (esp. around the screw area where overflow of food particles may have accumulated), rinse well and store them without the rings when they are dry. If a seal breaks on a jar on the shelf and the ring is still screwed down tightly, it could be mistaken for a sealed jar... and the contents could make you very ill, or worse.

I have a 31-year-old All-American beat-up pressure canner. I wouldn't trade it for a new one, but I'd hate to have to buy a new one. Of course, what I paid back then was probably relative to the price today.

I use a Mirro 12 quart here.

This is the lid rack... http://www.lehmans.com/store/Kitchen___Canning_and_Preserving___Canning_Helpers___Lid_Sterilizing_Rack_for_Canning___CS20?Args=
I had seen this in the catalogue and stumbled across one at a flea market for a dollar.
They had no idea what it was ~ I wouldn't have either if I hadn't seen it in the catalogue.

I do the chicken in quarts but pints for vegies as there are just two of us.
Both my pressure cooker and the water bath canner only hold one level of jars. I think I made a mistake when I posted 12 quart. It is 12 quart by the volume. It only holds 7 jars ( quarts or pints) at a time and the same with the water bath canner. The pressure cooker has a tray with holes in it that the jars sit on and the water flows under.

You can make a rack to keep the jars off the bottom of the pan by tying/wiring a few extra rings together. I used a rivet gun and pop rivets. Then I hammered it until it was only half the original thickness. I was afraid it would raise the jars too much, but I had plenty of room.

I found a great used pressure cooker on E-Bay. Cost was at least 1/2 the price of a new one.

Did you purchase it? I think one of the reasons I had purchased mine new was I was a novice and wanted to know all was correct. Also wanted the book with it.

If you purchased it, I would suggest getting it tested. Don't know about OK but TX county extension offices will do that.

Well, the old lids were "approved" in the beginning too, as was DDT... Makes you wonder a bit, doesn't it?

So is there such a thing as a glass flat? And non-latex rings?

Hey... I barely know what day it is!

What are we talking about?

I don't agree with several comments above and would not have posted at all if I did not think there were some comments that were not in line with food safety standards. I have been canning for over thirty years as well as growing up in a home where my Dad's business was commercial food processing. Some of the information posted is not safe. Firstly, never use anything other than canning jars for canning. The threads on the lids of jars such as mayonnaise are not sufficient to cap down the product. Old canning jars are safe (also mentioned) if they are without cracks or nicks.

Kerr and Ball, once separate companies, are now the same. It's evident if you go to one site or the other. Kerr is usually slightly cheaper and if you buy sets with lids they are silver. Ball has gold lids and some interesting small, squat jar shapes that are great for holiday gifting. I have a collection of old Atlas jars that are favorites. I've not seen them around in years and have not looked for them on line. I make sure they stay at home.

You do need a canning rack or something that will allow the free flow of boiling water beneath the cans. Towels are not appropriate. The purpose of the rack is not only to keep the jars from knocking (which could be prevented with towels in the pot) but also to have the water flowing under the jar as well as on the top and sides. This insures even temperature on all sides of the can.

Your jars need to be several inches under water while they are on the rack and processing. If you have a pot that can provide this situation you are okay but if you are just covering the top of the jar with a bit of water that is not enough. Remember that the top of the pot is the coolest point in the can even though the water is bubbling away up there.

The response to why you can't can any home recipe is that the recipes developed by Ball and the National Center For Home Canning http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/publications/publications_usda.html have been tested for safety. Both sites allow for very limited creative space I agree but I do stick to those rules. These recipes have been tested and found safe based on the density of the food products being processed, the storage capacity of the food product, the acidity of the ingredients and the size of the jar. Anything else and you're flying on your own. I have found that I can substitute most of the ingredients from my personal recipes to make great base or starter products based on what's allowed out there. I can add other questionable ingredients later or do without.

Water bath canning is a whole different process than pressure canning. If you have limited experience with preserving food start with water bath canning and move to pressure canning later. If you are intent on preserving your special recipes intact then you should freeze your product because as cool as it would be to make your own version of gourmet canned foods you can't do it in a home canning situation. Actually, you can, but regardless of what's out there on the internet, you shouldn't.

This message was edited Apr 12, 2011 8:47 PM

Good comments, Laurel. I, too, have a stash of Atlas jars. Rings to fit them are iffy but will work with perseverance.

New Ball jars have silver rings, no longer the 'gold' color.

I've been cannig for 50m years. My rule of thumb is If it is acidic, it can go into a water bath (Think tomatoes) If not pressure cook it. I am always careful to sterileize my cooking area with a bleach solution and keep it wiped clean than clean it again when i'm thru.Being a nurse gives me the germ gitters when canning.
The lids always used to be kept on when storing but they were always loosened. I don't always now. I also used mayonaise jars for canning tomatoes and jellys. They ARE thinner now. Grrrr!
Many years ago my MIL used old snuff glasses to can jelly and jam in using wax for lids.
Vickie

I too am a nurse (surgical) and fanatical about my canning area and equipment. I also bleach and lay clean towels down. I used to leave the rings on but now remove them because escaping vapor during the canning process from acidic foods often rusts the rings making them unusable for future use. The moisture between the lid and the jar alone is enough to rust the rings. I wash and dry rings carefully after canning so as to have them to reuse, leaving several in the kitchen to seal opened jars. Canning products have become not only expensive but more difficult to find. Often here in the country they are available too late to can some early things like strawberry jam or greens and gone when you need more for late season work like beans and okra. In the city one would have to go to specialty shops and pay a premium because stores like WalMart don't always carry canning products in city stores.

I hate to sound like a nut, but it's a conspiracy - government and big business (primarily big business) don't want people to be able to be self - sustaining.

Although let's face facts - there's not enough people who'd be willing to grow gardens and can food in order to make a major economic impact on corporate profits, so I don't know what they're big deal is....

anyway, off my soap box.

this is my first year gardening, so it'll be a while before i'm ready to can :) but l like reading this forum.

have a nice day.

It might be fair to call it a conspiracy if the aforementioned entities (government and big business) forced you to can according to certain methods using only their products. The information out there from Ball and the National Center For Home Canning represents recipes in which the specific ingredients have been lab tested for storage safety. That's not a simple or inexpensive process. The option is to test whatever you creatively can on yourself and your family or rely on information and recipes you find on line. The thing about the tested recipes is that if, let's say, you want to make chili you may use pinto beans, black beans, red beans or others. You may use red peppers, green peppers, jalapeno peppers or a mixture, Vidalia onions or Maui or omit the onions and peppers if you care to. You may also usually add whatever spices you like in amounts you like as long as you follow the recommended amounts of perishable products and liquids going into the jar.

Water bath canning of high acid foods requires care but because high acid foods are not as perishable as low acid foods the safety factor is greater. Low acid canning requires greater caution as the bacteria that may grow (even in boiled and sealed cans), at the least, will make you very sick. I have not personally been to a farmer's market where home canned low acid foods are allowed to be sold. We do a lot of volunteer work with food pantries and shelters. None of them will take home canned food or meals prepared with home canned food.

My first post on this forum. Hello, everyone! On farmer's markets and home canned foods: I would imagine that part of the reason they do not allow it is that they have no way of knowing if the person who canned that food followed safe practices, and another part of the reason is liability issues. The way the liability laws work nowadays, the market would be held accountable if someone got sick, even though they have no way to oversee the production of the canned foods. It's not like they can go into the house of every person who sets up at the market and check that safe practices are being used! But they would still be held accountable.
I use water bath canning and pressure canning, both. I have two pressure canners, both bought at household auctions, one with an instruction book, one without. And the mayonaise jars? Around here they are now made of plastic! :( Not even very good for storing dried beans! I agree that the newer canning jars are thinner than they used to be. Love finding old jars at sales!
I have seen Tattler's lids advertised in several magazines lately. They are re-useable, plastic, and are rated for both water bath and pressure canning. Has anyone here used them? They are a bit pricey, and I'd like to hear someone's opinion before I buy.

Welcome to the forum!

FYI, I saw canning supplies in a Walmart garden center today.

They are in at walmarts here also. I've managed to get mine from Yardsales.

maypoplaurel thanks for clearing that up! i'm new to gardening and hope to start canning like my grandparents did, but they're gone, and i feel confused about where to begin, safely.

Outlaw, glad you found the info useful. I did not grow up with access to canning knowledge and mentors. Everything I learned over the years is from books, extension service and university lab resources. I cook professionally and vegetable garden avidly so I wish the canning process was so simple that I could take whatever I felt like making and can it.

Slyde, the Tattler lids look interesting. I've thought about using them for a couple of years but I'm not sure there is a savings. The lids themselves would probably last forever. The rubber rings are going to deteriorate. Their replacement cost looks like more than buying disposable lids. Correct me here if I'm wrong. I'd like to know approximately how long the rings last.

Msrobin, ya gotta run when the Walmart has canning supplies. Once they're out they don't reorder. My favorite place these days for decorative jars is Lowes. They have great shapes and also carry the current Ball Blue Book. I bought my second one in twenty years this past year. New recipes have been added and there has been some modification to instructions.

i'm getting the ball blue book this year if it kills me! i found a water bath canning set, just the pot, and wire rack at salvation army for $10 but didn't buy it because i thought that seemed awfully pricey for a beat up old water bath. especially since it was DONATED to them! is it me or is salvation army getting expensive? sorry, whole other topic. but anyway on that same day they had a box of various lids, rings, and all types of jars, but nothing matched, and most of the jars were sauce jars and a few ball jars. and that mess was $5! i was shocked. that seemed ridiculous. especially when dollar general and family dollar stores have brand new jars with lids

The canner was a deal, I think, if it holds seven quart jars. There are a few sizes of water bath caners. You will pay at least twice that at Walmart. Buy new jars and lids to start. Invest in the most current Blue Book you can find and go to the sites I posted for advice, especially the Nat'l. Home Canning site.

i should have bought the bath. definately didn't buy the dirty old jars lol

i wish we were taught as kids, but due to the nature of canning we weren't allowed anywhere near the kitchen, so i have to learn from scratch. my grandfather actually worked at Enrico's here in syracuse ny which is known for their canned sauces, and they made some contributions to the process of canning. wish i had him here to teach me! but i do have his jar tongs :) sadly, my grandmother got rid of the canning supplies on the curb just a week before i asked about them. some lucky trash picker may have been in their glory.

I grew up on Miami Beach so there really wasn't a canning and garden culture there. To my advantage, my dad started in the wholesale produce business but moved into food processing. His company made many packaged products including jelly's jams and marmalades. Their food handling was fanatically clean and to the book. It disturbs me when I see posts about what garbage, hair and rat droppings go into factory processed foods. I saw the way the water bath-type process works on a big scale and have been water bath canning for many years but I am relatively new to pressure canning.