North of 54: The Downside of Home Canning

I have been preserving the bounty of my vegetable and berry gardens for many years using every method and means available to me (wines, jams, pickles, juices, canned vegetables and fruits, drying, freezing, cellar storage). I have limited freezer space so I jar up much of the produce and process in a pressure canner, things like berry and rhubarb juices, crab apple concoctions, zucchini, and tomatoes.* I also like to make home canned soups. They are just so much tastier than store bought and a quick and easy meal.

I purchased all my canning equipment many moons ago - pressure canner, water bath canner, big pots and bowls, juicer (like a big steamer), jar grabbers, funnels, ladles, etc. I would imagine all these items would run to at least $600 or more by now. And jars, my heavens do I ever have lots. I've also been accumulating wine bottles and I have beer bottles with bales and seals that I use for syrups. So I'm all set up, right?

Wrong.

If I were a conspiracy theorist I would no doubt be pointing a finger at some food producing conglomerate, gabbing with friends over the kitchen table about how "they" are out to get us. What's the problem? It's the cost of jar seals, in some cases as much as 50 cents each. Price varies a lot from place to place but one factor is consistent - every year cost goes up and availability goes down. You can find new jars with seals and rings lots of places, but the seals alone are harder and harder to find. And the seals cost nearly as much as the new jars! What's with that? Is there a think-tank somewhere that has decided it's better to throw away or recycle jars than to reuse them? Kinda makes you wonder why you should plant, nurture, harvest and preserve your own food if it costs as much or more as buying a jar or can of it in the grocery store. The "I know how it's grown and where it comes from" argument can get a bit thin when you are working your you-know-what off and not even saving a few dollars in the process!

This year I'm trying something new - Tattler Reusable Canning lids. I first read about them in Mother Earth Magazine, thought about it but the U.S. Dollar cost and the shipping slowed me down to a point of no purchase. Then last week I was in Canadian Tire, looking for seals, and there they were, Tattler seals - ON SALE! So I bought 3 dozen of the regular and 3 dozen of the wide mouth. (They don't have the middle size Gem jars in the States). Tattler seals work much the same way as the old Gem jar seals with the rubber rings and glass tops and claim to be reusable as much as 5 times (or more). So their higher cost should pay for itself in a year or two. I also checked the price of these on-line and they were triple what I paid, so shopping around makes a difference.

There are still some reasons to use the throw away seals - if you plan to give away what you have canned, if you do not use a pressure canner (I don't for pickles, jams), or if you do not plan to use the product within a year or so. You can't reuse something until you use it in the first place! I figure juices, soups, stews, fruits and tomatoes will be used in a year so that's where I'm going to start. Time will tell. I'll keep you posted...

* I am inclined to prefer the taste of some things frozen, so I usually blanche and freeze peas and beans and enough raspberries for our favourite breakfast - crepes stuffed with cottage cheese and topped with raspberries and whipped cream. A plus factor regarding freezing - bags are about 10 cents. But you are consuming power to keep things frozen, so that's a hidden cost.

Tattler Reusable Canning lids, review and my experiences.

www.simplycanning.com › Other Canning Equipment

Tattler Reusable canning lids. My review, pictures, video and results.