Friday, March 11, 2022

Canning lid extravaganza

I had to go into the city this week for errands (long story short, I went to ship some tankards out via FedEx Ground – rural pickup isn't always dependable).  Since I was in town, I ran a few errands. One such errands took me to North 40 Outfitters.

I walked in the front doors of the store and came face-to-face with an enormous display of canning supplies – stacks of jars and pallets of lids. Jars have been commonly available for a while – but lids? Not so much. And here was a veritable mountain of them. (And can you believe I didn't take a photo?)

Unable to resist the temptation, I purchased four boxes of wide-mouth lids and six boxes of regular-mouth lids.

They weren't cheap, but then nothing is these days. But they were abundant, and that by itself was a novelty.

I asked the checkout lady how long they've had those lids in stock, and she said they've had them for months, but mostly tucked back in the gardening section. Only recently did they create the display near the front of the store.

Folks, if you're in need of canning lids and are anywhere near a North 40, it might be worth checking them out.

12 comments:

  1. First, I found an abundance of jars but no ring or lids. Then, the lids and rings arrived and no jars. I had plenty of jars and no wide-mouth lids and rings. Now, with lids, I am all set.

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  2. I saw the same at two Walmarts last weekend: the one in an area where a lot of people probably can was heavily picked-over, but the original boxes were there showing that there had been a lot. The one closer in to Atlanta still had a huge number of both sizes.

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  3. It's a conspiracy. Honestly, jars were easy to find for a while, but no lids. Then lids but no jars. Last check, lotsa lids, only small jars but no wide mouth any size. More than once I wanted to go explore somebody's stock room to see if there was a possible inadvertent holdout going on.
    Anyway, prices on lids are creeping up here too but not like what you just got! I just bought a few more too and regular ones were $2.99 a pack,up 50c from a few weeks ago, and large were 3.48, up 49c. Still, quite a jump and surely will continue to be. They are one of the items I just routinely buy a few boxes of when they're available. It's easier than needing them then going hunting, and it's also easier to budget by just sneaking them in a few at the time.
    Before all the shortages I started asking myself if I'd been foolish routinely snagging this and that. But lately with the dehydrator running it's been a blessing to be able to just pop out a new case of jars or box of lids. And using them this way doesn't affect their future canning potential at all.
    Anyway, you're right about grabbing them while you are able to. At 50c per hike our price here on the other side of the country could match yours quickly.

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    Replies
    1. Had to return to Walmart because, stupid me, forgot cream for coffee, the one thing I so far can't go without. On the way, realized gas was going to cost more than my intended purchase and decided to work on things going on next shopping list. Checked canning section. It had been blitzed. So if you can find them, best get them.

      I used to save the old glass mayo jars because my family always used those to water bath tomatoes and stuff in. Time to excavate them from their time in the shed. Cheap lids on them might work, especially with oxy absorbers for dehydrated stuff. But Foodsaver is explicit about only using Ball or Kerr with their device. Better off brand lids than no lids. If they fail, we used to make pincushions out of them, or for a jar of screws or nails. Good luck!

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  4. About a month ago there were (finally) jars and lids everywhere in my area of Western New York. The the gas prices started jumping 10, 20 and 30 cents overnight. Canning jars and lids are being wiped out once again. One store worker told me they can't keep them in stock. Garden items and seeds are going quick too even though it is still snowing here. If you can find canning supplies, I would buy them now.

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  5. From all I've been reading, none of which is mainstream propaganda, all indications are leading (and the facts keep pointing this way) it might be in your best interest to stock up while you can, while not succumbing to the hoarding mentality. Indicators point towards a severe need by the end of the year. Situations are about get worse before they get better. It's planned this way. Historically, indicators are pointing in this direction.

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  6. I used those "sure tight" lids this year. I noticed that ALL the pickles I did? The lids were all spotted with rust on the underside. Like the coating was very thin. Very disappointed with them. Other stuff with no vinegar were ok...

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  7. Lids are difficult to find in Australia. I bought quite a few of a generic brand a couple of months ago - never again and then paid $1 each ball mason lid when I found them. I was happy to even get some. The company is finding it hard enough to keep up with the supply in the states let alone sending it overseas to us. Jenny

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  8. This is maybe a little off topic but I'm wondering if anyone else has had a larger-than-expected failure rate using the Tattler lids?? Am I doing something wrong?

    The first couple times I used Tattler I realized I was making a mistake in not heating them hot enough for long enough - they have to be super hot in order to seal properly.

    I thought I'd solved the problem by heating them better but, recently during a survey of my stored food, I found the Tattler lids had failed and several jars have gone bad.

    I didn't notice this same failure with the metal lids. (Although I haven't opened the jars with metal lids to inspect the underside. Maybe they've rusted, as Jim mentioned above? I don't know.)

    Anyway, just curious as to other people's experience with Tattler. Am I doing something wrong?

    I love, love, love that they're re-usable and bought two huge bags several years back when they were "cheap" lol.

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    Replies
    1. I have given up on Tattlers. I experimented with them for a few years, and finally realized I was getting about 20% seal failures--but the failures usually happened in storage, not right away, meaning I ended up throwing out whatever was in the jar. To me it wasn't worth it, but I still have them if my stock of Ball lids is ever depleted.

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  9. I'm happy to say our local Walmart has lids and at half this price.

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  10. Checking out some things at Uline.com and checked storage jars for the heck of it. They have jars and lids, both Ball and unmarked jars and lids, no logo,in stock and ready to ship. The unmarked jars and lids look like Ball with no marks. They are used by commercial companies so they're probably ok. The commercial jars are cheaper than their exorbitant asking price for Ball.

    Processing plants produce name brands and label them up, then to keep the factory going 24-7, they produce virtually the same product as store generics. Publix is up front about this and places their store brand generic foods right beside the appropriate name brand so their customers will know. It's something of a game with me to figure out which generics match which name brands. There's a tell. Ever in savings mode, check out the ink on the labels. Companies processing the food like to save on ink too. So if the colors match, you may be looking at the same product. I'm not promising this is always the case because I could be wrong. But so far it has worked for me with the things I like to buy.
    Maybe Uline can help someone with jars and lids.

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