I found two cases of Quarts and two cases of half-gallon dark Amber, (takes out 99 percent of UV light) and I bought them all.. I have looked at smaller jars at times but the costs where quite high.. as were these.. the quarts were sitting just over 3 each and the half gallons were pretty much 7 dollars each.
Now they are Ball jar, which means they are top of the line compared to many other cheaper jars and if they are looked after properly with care, they could outlast me 🙂 I know this because I have found and own jars that are older than I am and they are going strong!
Pressure canning is much harder on the jars overall compared to water bath canning, however not using a proper bottom on your water bath canner can weaken the bottom joint ring and cause them to let go.
When it comes to jars, I have the cheaper brands, but I have found them to have a much shorter “life” depending on the batch and what they are used for.. The Wal-Mart brand hold up well for juice, jams, jellies and for gift giving when you know the odds are you are not going to get those jars back..
However the higher quality jars are a better investment if you are going to be canning up meats and veggies, soups and stews.. I have some soup/stew work jars that are coming on their 15th year that hubby takes his lunches on.
Every time a jar breaks or chips, it’s a waste.. there is really no way to reuse a broken jar on the farm, I do not even like the idea of using it in the bottom of plant pots and so forth due to cutting possibility.. If you know of a homestead use for broken glass, I am all ears.
I have been watching the cost of rings going up and more up.. What are lids costing you this year? I hope you would be willing to take the time to let me know. I was shocked to see that 12 lids for regular mouth jars is 2.97 and 12 for wide mouth is 3.97 plus 13 percent tax on top of that at the till..
Once again, its cheaper to buy the box’s of 12 new lids/rings combo at the moment then it is to buy just new lids.. I found this last year.. its a glitch that I am sure will be closed soon enough.. I normally like to buy them by the case.
I decided to see if I could order them by the case online and so far no luck on finding a proper full case.. they are trying to sell them in sets of 12 boxes.. ah.. no.. a case is 48 box’s, thank you very much!
I have heard that at least in the states that they changed the rubber compound to the point that the jar’s lids have been failing at a higher then normal rate and that many of the homestead lady’s are ordering in though a few select sites.. I can dig out that stores name if need be.. but perhaps one of you will know?
We still have our Canadian brand and so far to date, while I do believe that the rubber IS thinner, I am not yet having any issues as long as I pre-heat my lids.. They “say” that we don’t need to do that and for pressure canning, I do not.. but even I had a couple lids fail on the same batch when I did it the way they said.. HA..
I went back to hot jars, hot lids and hot whatever when water bath canning and surprise (not) not a single lid gave after I went back to doing this.
So while I certainly am not recommending you boil your new lids, I will stand by the fact that putting a hot lid on does not hurt at all in the process.
Its a sad thing that at this point the replacement lids are going to start costing us canners more per jar then the jars will once their costs are spread out over the years. I do reuse canning lids in many ways, if I am putting a jar in the fridge or a storage jar or herb jar etc.
However I use a new lid for both canning and pressure canning always.. I know lots of folks that reuse lids and there are times where I know that I would risk it on lids I have taken off but hubby does not have that “touch” and crimps/dents the lid when he takes it off..
It does take a talent to release the pressure on that lid with it coming off clean.. Who in your family is the best lid remover?
Just another Day on the Farm 
I always heat my lids….little work compared to the irritation of having a seal fail. I can’t recall the price I paid the last time I bought jars…I tend to just look the other way, if I need them I need them. I have a lot of jars that use the glass lids with rubber rings and wide rings – having trouble finding the rings. I have a lot of jars that use the domed glass lids and wire bails – given those over to spice storage as I can’t find rings for those either. Ultimately I like the snap lids anyway, easy to tell if sealed. I never reuse snap lids. Now if somebody can give me an idea on what to use milk and cream bottles for – I have a glut from my grandparents dairy, along with a huge pile of cardboard ‘stoppers’ that fit in the neck. They’re too small in the neck to get a teaspoon down – so spices are out. 😊
It’s been a while since I’ve bought lids, but I want to say that price is about right over by me. I usually buy them in the fall when they go on clearance.
I used to do the same, wait for the end of sales clearance and then buy them out.. but for the past three years, I keep asking and looking but they are not going on sale.. I have even seen some stores just hold them over the whole winter now..
Bulk sleeves of Bernardin lids are available at Golda’s Kitchen. They have a web page, but also check amazon, I have gotten them cheaper even though Golda is filling the amazon order?
Thanks, I will check that out!
O my gosh, Thank you Kathleen. I just went to the site and what a savings! It will take my replacement standard lids from the current stores costs round me at 24 cents replacement costs down to 16 cents instead! That will add up fast.. and again for the wide mouths from 32 cents per to 25 cents.. I can’t wait to get a couple sleeves ordered up!
Hey FG, good topic! So I actually broke down and bought a jar of beet relish last month, but I could not get it to release in my usual way of prying (with the edge of the lid in between the very end of the bottle’s thread and the seal:/) This technique has worked for years and I’d never bent a seal’s edge. Not once. Ever. But this thing was was SO thin, that not only could I not get any purchase between the two, the edge actually bent from trying!:/. Finally wound up gingerly using the end of one of my wide-ended table knives but that seal was bent so badly that it probably wouldn’t even close well enough to keep dust out of the jar between fill-ups. Just kidding (sort of)
Now I have no idea where these bottles were made or purchased (HA!:/) and both bottle and seal appear to be brand new – but oh my god, I swear I could feel the jar-ring flexing under my fingers, simply from the torque of trying to remove that stupid seal. No doubt about it, that jar seal functioned, but you could never use it again, for anything – and I really doubt that it would’ve stayed intact for a full six months, never mind a whole year…
All good point, they mean it when they say single use only.. I swear they have thinned the metal down, I know metal costs more but ??
Thinned the metal, changed the sealing compound, thinned the interior enamel coating (and likely the coating on the exterior surface as well:/)
Cheap, Cheaper, CHEAPEST crap EVER!!!
Oh hey, can you let us know how the quality is on those ones from Golda’s please?
Will do as I have ordered some already and we will see..
So did you order directly from Golda’s then, or through Amazon?
Hi Deb, I ordered directly from them as they give a discount on orders over 125 and so it was free shipping compared to 14.95 per sleeve in shipping from amazon.. that adds up considering I ordered a total of 5 sleeves or 1600 jar lids.. I saved a good chunk of change by direct ordering.
I have bought from them in the past and quite liked the results: )
I too have noticed the price change on lids. I can remember not long ago, getting them at the Dollar Stores for $1.25/dz…not anymore! As for heating lids, I always simmer them. I have also reused some lids, depending on the shape of the lids and the condition of the rubber. I haven’t noticed any increase in seal failure, but I also haven’t tracked between new and reused lids.
Its a huge increase in the costs for sure and they are not putting them on the clearance sales like they used to do so. I used to reuse them more when it was a better quality lid.. they could go a couple times but I do not find the new ones can do that anymore. I am interested in seeing what the new ones I ordered will come in as..