When to Re-Use Canning Lids and How to Make Your Lids Last Longer

This is a controversial topic, to be sure.  We've been admonished over the past several decades against re-using canning lids.  We all know the risks of failure are higher with used lids.  And it's not just the risk of seal failure that is of concern.  There's also the risk of making someone sick.   

And yet, for the past nearly two years, canning lids have been as scarce as hen's teeth.  Those who did not have an adequate supply on hand early in 2020 have had to make some hard choices.  Those who had a good supply and wish to maintain it are also faced with some difficult decisions.  Those lids don't grow on trees, you know.  

Sometimes those lids are coming from China.  Many of us question the wisdom of putting our food into close contact with lids manufactured by an enemy that would like to see us die.  (Maybe we're just being paranoid.)  Others aren't sure they want to take out a mortgage to preserve the garden's bounty.

So many a respectable canner, myself included, has turned to the almost forgotten practice of re-using canning lids, despite warnings to the contrary.  We're taking a new approach to deal with a problem that isn't likely to disappear anytime soon.  

Of course, it is always best to use new lids.  But if you've got to cut corners somewhere, here are the best foods to re-use canning lids with:

Any item you will be eating right away.  We eat a lot of canned beans, so I will generally re-use lids with a jar or two per canner load.  If the jar fails to seal, it's not a loss--that jar simply goes into the refrigerator and we'll eat it sometime during the week.

High acid/high sugar items like jams and jellies.  These foods used to be sealed with paraffin.  The high sugar content (for traditional preserves, not ones using low-sugar or no-sugar recipes) retards spoilage

Water.  Some people like to can water to have on hand in case of emergency.

Vacuum-sealing.  If the seal fails, there is no danger of food poisoning occurring as a result of the seal failure.  Also, the lid is far less likely to be tweaked.

The above circumstances are the best ones for re-using lids with.  They carry the lowest risk of failures or illness. However, if you have decided to re-use lids with other high-acid foods or in pressure canning, make extra sure that the jars were really sealed--try to pry the lids up with your fingers several times.  If the lids are easily removed or if there wasn't an audible pop or hiss, it's best to discard the food. 

Now that you are considering re-using your lids, here are a few tips for making them last longer.

• When removing a lid from a jar, lay a butter knife flat on top of the lid along the edge.  Then use a bottle opener to go around the edge of the jar, using the bottom tooth as normal on the underside, and placing the top on top of the butter knife.  Pry up just a little and work your way around the jar in about six different locations.  The lids are far less likely to be tweaked out of shape this way.
• Use plastic as soon as you open the jar.  Ball sells nice, expensive plastic caps.  The cheap Chinese caps in my experience have been just that.  They threads don't line up right, so the caps are difficult if not impossible to screw on.  The (usually) green lids from Parmesan cheese containers fit perfectly.  Lids from most mayonnaise jars also fit.  Lids from some peanut butter containers (the plastic ones) sometimes fit.
• Wash and dry the lids and bands immediately after opening the jar, paying careful attention to get the sealing compound perfectly clean.  Store the lids and bands in a manner to keep them dry until you use them again.  

Never re-use a lid whose center stays depressed even when not under a vacuum.

The sealing compound may be rejuvenated by simmering the lids in a quart of water with a 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda for 15 minutes.  

Links to related posts:

Reviving Canning Lids
The First 100 Items to Disappear
Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Canning Jar Lids

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