Canning jars - storage

[Bethanial]

How do you store your jars (and lids and rings) when they're not in use? (Remember, I'm a newbie to all of this ) My mom had bought some before I got into canning, and uses them to store stuff in the freezer. I call her and my sister the plastic nazi's - they don't use anything plastic if they can help it. Anyway....

Now that I'm canning, and we're using the same jars/lids/rings, and more are accumulating, space is becoming an issue. I have solved the problem of "which lids are safe to use" by writing in sharpie on the lid the contents and month/year canned. If it's been written on, I know not to use it for canning

Of course, now that I've told her the canning lids contain BPA, I think I can talk her into helping me invest in some Tattler reusable lids!

What I'd really like to find, though, are those one-piece (plastic) screw-on lids for the canning jars. I've seen them most often in pix/videos about milk. Can anybody help me find those?

 

[miss_thenorth]

Canning jars, I store in their original boxes when not filled. I do not reuse the lids for canning, but will when i store stuff in canning jars in the fridge, (like kefir or whey, or leftover stuff). I know they are previously used lids b/c I label the lidswhen I have canned stuff in them. The rings, I have a box upstairs, and downstairs that I put the rings in. When I get too many upstairs, I bring them downstairs to the storage room..

 

[Blackbird]

Hehe.. Plastic nazi here!
I will use plastic for the freezer and fridge, but I really try to keep it down to a minimum.

Back home we kept the boxes they were stored in, so if we were ever given any they would go there. All of our canning jars were stored in the pantry or in the garage in a cupboard.

Supposedly regular canning lids are mostly safe because they are only heated for a relatively short period of time and even then don't touch the food a majority of the length because of the head space..

I think the plastic lids you are talking about are these?
http://www.hoeggergoatsupply.com/xcart/product.php?productid=3597&cat=9&page=1

http://www.hoeggergoatsupply.com/xcart/product.php?productid=3866&cat=9&page=1

We have a set of the wide mouth for milk jars back home, but I'm not sure where you can get them cheaper.

 

[dipence71]

Walmart, ace hardware, farm and home stores and most places that sell canning stuff have the new plastic one piece lids to use for storing in the fridge. ( I use them after I have opened a canned jar) and they store in the fridge great
hope that helps

 

[freemotion]

You can get boxes of the lids where canning supplies are sold. Around here it is off season now, but I know of two hardware stores that keep some stock year-round and will order anything for me. The lids come eight to a box and are very handy. Some mayo jar lids will fit on the regular mouth jars.

I have a drawer (large!) in my kitchen that I keep my rings in, and the empty jars are stored in the cartons all over the place...under the bed, stacked on shelves in the garage, in the spare room, in the upstairs bathroom....oh, I do have to get my jars corralled and under control! The drawer for the rings is in a bureau that I painted to blend with my kitchen and it is very handy to have the extra storage space.

I used to hang them from a cord, strung by size, with one ring tied to the end of the cord to hold all the others in place. If you remove rings for storage, which is a good idea, you will end up with more rings than you really need, most likely. You need enough for a day's worth of canning, really, or two day's worth if you will be canning a lot.

 

[dipence71]

You can get boxes of the lids where canning supplies are sold. Around here it is off season now, but I know of two hardware stores that keep some stock year-round and will order anything for me. The lids come eight to a box and are very handy. Some mayo jar lids will fit on the regular mouth jars.

I have a drawer (large!) in my kitchen that I keep my rings in, and the empty jars are stored in the cartons all over the place...under the bed, stacked on shelves in the garage, in the spare room, in the upstairs bathroom....oh, I do have to get my jars corralled and under control! The drawer for the rings is in a bureau that I painted to blend with my kitchen and it is very handy to have the extra storage space.

I used to hang them from a cord, strung by size, with one ring tied to the end of the cord to hold all the others in place. If you remove rings for storage, which is a good idea, you will end up with more rings than you really need, most likely. You need enough for a day's worth of canning, really, or two day's worth if you will be canning a lot.

Great minds....
and I second the "you will end up with more than you need" I somehow ended up with ooooodddllleesss of rings LOL...but mostly because at the end of the season they are usually left and are really cheap lol

 

[Bethanial]

Thanks for all your help, and those are exactly the lids I was looking for! But I like the idea of looking for them at wally world/ace/farm supply.

The big reason I want the Tattler lids is not so much the BPA concern, but the reusable factor, which makes them much cheaper in the long run.

I will definitely save the boxes the jars came in!

 

[Boogity]

Thanks for all your help, and those are exactly the lids I was looking for! But I like the idea of looking for them at wally world/ace/farm supply.

The big reason I want the Tattler lids is not so much the BPA concern, but the reusable factor, which makes them much cheaper in the long run.

I will definitely save the boxes the jars came in!

I just discovered the plastic canning jar lids at the WallyWorld in Campbellsville, KY today. I had never seen them before.

 

[Bethanial]

I used to hang them from a cord, strung by size, with one ring tied to the end of the cord to hold all the others in place. If you remove rings for storage, which is a good idea, you will end up with more rings than you really need, most likely. You need enough for a day's worth of canning, really, or two day's worth if you will be canning a lot.

Why is it a good idea to remove the rings for storage? I do take them off after the jars are sealed, and wipe the rim of the jar and the inside of the rings, and then put the rings back on.

 

[dipence71]

I used to hang them from a cord, strung by size, with one ring tied to the end of the cord to hold all the others in place. If you remove rings for storage, which is a good idea, you will end up with more rings than you really need, most likely. You need enough for a day's worth of canning, really, or two day's worth if you will be canning a lot.

Why is it a good idea to remove the rings for storage? I do take them off after the jars are sealed, and wipe the rim of the jar and the inside of the rings, and then put the rings back on.

they can hold moisture and rust