# Canning in a crunch......Oopps!!!



## diane (May 4, 2002)

I found a big hole in my preps this evening. I have been on a big canning binge today trying to can up some soon to outdate meat in the freezer and a bunch of the on sale boneless/skinless chicken breasts. I went to get more narrow mouth rings and saw I just had a few left. It really shocked me that I would overlook something so major. What good does it do me to have lots of jars and lids if the power goes out and I need to can up the freezer stuff if I don't have enough rings? It is recommended for safety sake to leave the rings on for 24 hours. I am able to can probably 100 jars in a day with all the canners going but I don't have even close to enough rings to do that. Sheesh........anyhow........use this as a heads up if you plan to can your freezer stuff if the power goes out.


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## Guest (Sep 11, 2007)

In a pinch if I could not wait and didn't have the extra rings I'd pull them off the already sealed jars about an hour or so after I took them out of the canner. It's easy to tell if the jars remain sealed or not and if you are careful in removing the rings I suspect you wouldn't lose many seals. Those that do get eaten right away. 

I'd take a chance on maybe losing a jar or two over losing many pounds of meat.

.....Alan.


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## turtlehead (Jul 22, 2005)

I have way more rings than I could ever need in 24 hours. 

Every new jar comes with rings.
You can buy lids with rings.
I have rings coming out my ears.

Plus I didn't know you were supposed to leave them on for 24 hours and I don't always. I remove them when the jars are cool enough to wash, dry, and shelve.


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## diane (May 4, 2002)

Yes, in a pinch I would take the rims off and proceed and hope that the seal held. I just would rather not leave myself in that position if I don't have to. I am grateful that I noticed that I didn't have enough and when I buy my replacement lids for what I use this year I will buy them with the rings. It had been many years since I have bought jars and a quite a few since I bought lids with rings. The lids alone are so much cheaper!! I had a bunch of rings that I had used for so many years that they were rusted past useability and I pitched them rather than move them into the new pantry. The pantry was added the fall before my husband got sick and died and I just now am trying to finish it up myself and get it organized. I would like to have close to 100 rings so I could can all day and then remove them the next morning and can again.


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## fretti (Jun 30, 2007)

turtlehead said:


> I have way more rings than I could ever need in 24 hours.
> 
> Every new jar comes with rings.
> You can buy lids with rings.
> ...


Ditto.

I started canning last year with no jars. I now have almost 1000 jars, the vast majority were purchased new. I'm considering papering my kitchen with canning rings. I think that would make a statement, don't you?


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## diane (May 4, 2002)

Wow, it took me 45 years of canning to accumulate my jars. 1000? in one year? That is sure a lot of jars to purchase. Most of mine I got from my mother or at garage sales. I did purchase quite a few of the 1/2 gallon jars and the jelly jars new over the years. 83 dozen jars in a year...........that's amazing!!!!

I was cleaning and organizing a shelf today and did find 3 boxes of new rings and lids stashed in behind some stuff. Sorting my pantry has been like a treasure hunt. I had just made a huge Sam's club buy and a trip to the Amish bulk food store when my husband had his big bleed. I just stuffed everything on shelves, some of which I can not even remember buying. Here I am 14 months later trying to get a handle on it.


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## magnolia2017 (Dec 5, 2005)

Ran onto the same problem recently while canning a few bushel of beans. We just quit when we ran out of rings and continued the next morning as I like to let the jars completely cool before removing the rings.

Of course if we'd been canning here I had a few boxes of new rings and several lids ready. I've also stocked up on rings too as I'm planning to do alot of freezer canning this winter.

Maggie


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## turtlehead (Jul 22, 2005)

Well Diane you're way ahead of me in many ways. You have the sense to buy jars at garage sales and I end up buying them new at the store when I need them.

Plus, I hadn't canned in over ten years and only had a couple of boxes of jars so ended up buying quite a lot of jars. 

Yeah, I can see how ten years from now mine will be all rusty and dinged and no good.


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## Ann-NWIowa (Sep 28, 2002)

I may run out of jars to fill or flats but doubt I'll ever run out of rings. I have two 5 quart ice cream buckets full, 3 boxes of new with flats, and dh pulled a popcorn tin off a laundry room cupboard and asked is this where the matches are...it was full of rings we neither remembered were there. Most of my jars are from my grandmothers, m-i-l, friends, rescued from abandoned cellars, purchased at auctions or garage sales. I could never have afforded to buy all my jars new. I'm always on the lookout for more jars. My highest price point is 10Â¢ per jar although one time I bought enough boxes of jars to fill a stationwagon for $1. Gotta love auctions. My sister and I were once given dozens of jars with rusted thru lids still filled with rotten food that we spend a day dumping, rinsing with a hose, washing in the back yard with bleach water, washing again in the kitchen sink, then running thru the dishwasher and finally boiling for a half hour. My dh said it would have been cheaper to buy new and forbid my ever doing such a thing again!!! I've never seen that old jars are more likely than new to break in the canner. I seldom have it happen but when it does the ratio between old/new seems equal.


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## Guest (Sep 13, 2007)

I do as much dry pack canning with jars as anything and the rings are not needed so they just accumulate. I hate to store them in the workshop, but that's where a lot of the wide-mouth rings are about to end up for lack of space to keep them in the house. Not very many regular mouth rings anymore as I have been steadily phasing them out for everything but jam making.

.....Alan.


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## Wildwood (Jul 2, 2007)

I have more regular size rings than I will ever use but I'm also switching to wide mouth jars..slowly but surely and I never see those used. 

I bought myself a case of wide mouth quarts last year and fell in love with them. It's probably just me but it seems the seal is stronger both canning and vac sealing and they are easier to clean. 

Now if I used as many jars as some of you, there is no way I would switch but I don't have the time to can that much....sure wish I did but I'm thankful for my job so I won't let myself go there.


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## fretti (Jun 30, 2007)

diane said:


> Wow, it took me 45 years of canning to accumulate my jars. 1000? in one year? That is sure a lot of jars to purchase. Most of mine I got from my mother or at garage sales. I did purchase quite a few of the 1/2 gallon jars and the jelly jars new over the years. 83 dozen jars in a year...........that's amazing!!!!.


I never do anything half way.  

I do try to get every jar I can on Craig's list but there's a lot of competition. I'm not into going to garage sales (my time searching out jars means more to me than the $5.00 - $7.00/case) however friends do swap jars for a bit of mango chutney, sauerkraut (very yummy!), Marionberry/Blueberry jelly (great combination!), or one of the other dozens of things I make. I really should start a business.... But the vast majority of my jars were purchased, most from BiMart. They have great prices on canning stuff and stock it year around at my store (LOTS of canners here!). Right now, they are having a 20% off sale on their already low prices for all Ball/Kerr products. :dance: 

And each one of those purchased jars came with a ring. :grump:


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## cem (May 5, 2006)

I always remove my rings after the jar seals. I have never had a problem with them staying sealed. I keep my rings on a looped rope and hang it from a nail in my pantry(it hard to describe) I hated the mess they made in the kitchen.


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## PineRidge (May 2, 2006)

cem said:


> I always remove my rings after the jar seals. I have never had a problem with them staying sealed. I keep my rings on a looped rope and hang it from a nail in my pantry(it hard to describe) I hated the mess they made in the kitchen.


I use a wire hanger. Untwist and slip on the rings, twist back up and hang (mine are in the attic).


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## shar (May 3, 2006)

I have two 5 gal buckets in my fruit cellar and I try to keep them seperated by size,
easier during canning season to find the right size, also lets me know when I am getting low and need to restock. Probably have a 1000 canning jars, but would love to find more of the juice jars that Ball use to make, each case came with a special white plastic cap that you could pour from.


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## Lowdown (May 24, 2007)

We had some friends give us about 200 jars of various sizes. They didn't have any lids or rings with them however. 

Some days the wife has been processing 60 or more jars a day by herself. We took the rings off to reuse sometimes as soon as 3-4 hours after they were processed. We haven't had a single problem so far- much of the veggies and a good amount of the fruits have already been used up. No problems here. 

If I could find a good price on a few hundred bands I would get them. I like to store them with the bands in place for extra "bump" protection.


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## GrannyCarol (Mar 23, 2005)

cem said:


> I always remove my rings after the jar seals. I have never had a problem with them staying sealed. I keep my rings on a looped rope and hang it from a nail in my pantry(it hard to describe) I hated the mess they made in the kitchen.


Yep! Mine hang on a string in my pantry too. I'm going to split that into two strings (ok, I'm way behind on canning jars, space to put them, but I DO have a lot of rings.) one for the big ones and one for the smaller ones. I'm just getting into the canning thing. I've done jam for the last year or two and recently got a pressure canner I haven't canned with yet. 

I need to look into the canning freezer meat, that's a great idea. I was too busy to deal with anything this summer, but I want to make chili to can for sure as things slow down this fall. Even my poor garden suffered badly this year and I only made it to the Farmer's market once (though there is still time for at least one more trip).


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## LOC (Sep 10, 2007)

Okay, this year I can't can. I have my pressure cooker thingy and I'm ready to go. I need the jars, lids, and rings. My goal is to get all the stuff over the winter and spring so I have all that I need next year.

Where is the best place to get them? I don't have access to a car during the day so garage saleling is out for me. Anybody have any ideas for me?
Thank you.


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## pamintexas (Jun 15, 2002)

LOC, our Dollar General here has regular pints with the lids and rings for $6.68 per case of 12. WalMart also has the same size jars for about 6.99 or they did last time I checked. First thing I would do is put the word out to all your friends and neighbors that you want to start canning.


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## magnolia2017 (Dec 5, 2005)

LOC said:


> Where is the best place to get them? I don't have access to a car during the day so garage saleling is out for me. Anybody have any ideas for me?
> Thank you.


Well the lady at the Salvation Army practically knocks me down at the door when they have jars because she remembers that I buy so many. Ask around at the thrift stores and see if they care to hold a dozen or so for you. Another time I answered an ad for jars at $1 a dozen and bought 30 dozen and the people still had about 40 to go. I've also found great deals on jars at auctions. 

Maggie


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## LOC (Sep 10, 2007)

Thanks for the ideas!


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## diane (May 4, 2002)

A young friend of mine wanted to get started canning and had very little money to use on jars. She took out a small ad in our local shopper "wanted to buy, used canning jars" and she got more than she needed very fast. One lady just gave them to her because she was leaving the family home for a retirement condo and was just thrilled that someone would actually use them.


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## treesonggal (May 4, 2006)

Just love to read these posts! Until canning this year with my boyfriend, I had never heard of REMOVING the rings after canning! My parents, grandparents and neighbors wehre I grew up never did either.

And thanks for the tips on where to store the rings!


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## turtlehead (Jul 22, 2005)

LOC said:


> I need the jars, lids, and rings. My goal is to get all the stuff over the winter and spring so I have all that I need next year.


Around here, canning jars, lids, etc. are a seasonal item and you can't get them in the winter time. 

Any left overs will go on sale about now, so check your dollar stores, hardware stores, and grocery stores.


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## Guest (Jan 18, 2008)

Bump.

.....Alan.


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## Ohio Rusty (Jan 18, 2008)

Removing the rings can be important because if some acidic liquid gets in the threads of the ring and you don't know, it can cause the inside of the ring to rust. The ring then tightens so tight against the glass, you can't get the ring off and you might break the jar trying to remove it, ruining a whole jar of canned goods because of broken shards of glass in the food. The ring can also rust to the canning lid, making it impossible to remove also.
Ohio Rusty ><>

_"This is America !! Where many have fought and died for our right to express our views with inflatable creatures in our yards ......."_


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## YounGrey (Jun 7, 2007)

I'd just get some more rings now, then ever have to worry about it in a SHTF scenario.


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## OkieDavid (Jan 15, 2007)

A.T.....Thanks for rescuing this thread. I had never heard of removing the rings before this. I've always stored the jars with the rings on......The good tips/things I've learned here.


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## Delrio (Mar 11, 2007)

I've got [/U]two 5 gallon buckets full. Still trying to figure out alternative uses for them!!!


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## mainer (Aug 3, 2006)

If you lose your power & are trying to save things in the freezer,how do you can without water? If I don't have power,I don't have water!!


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## Delrio (Mar 11, 2007)

Well bucket!! Hope we never have to go there!


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## Bonnie L (May 11, 2002)

It doesn't take much water to pressure can, & if you raw pack meat you don't have to add liquid to the jars. We always keep milk jugs full of water on hand for "just in case" & right now there's plenty of snow to melt! 

I've noticed that it's the washing up of jars that takes a lot of water, so keep the jars covered or upside down.


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## diane (May 4, 2002)

I have a wood cookstove with a huge water tank on the back of it that heats my water. I keep it full year around just in case the power goes out. I also store gallon jugs of water that I rotate. I live next to a creek but it would be a real chore to carry water up from it. The artesian well is quite a distance from the house also but carry I would if I needed to. Pressure canners don't require that much water. Also, any empty space in your freezer should be filled with jugs of water so if power goes out the cold will last longer.

I agree about the jar washing. Keep your empty jars upside down, washed ahead.


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## Pelenaka (Jul 27, 2007)

To those of you who have extra rings ... barter them my way please.
The majority of my jars were bought or gotten without rings.
Also don't know if it's just me but don't the rings seem as though they are peeling/rusting quicker ? 
I remove rings anywhere from 6 hours to 24 hours later washing and drying them thoughly. Stored in a dry area along with lids. 
~~ Pelenaka ~~


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## Charleen (May 12, 2002)

Pelenaka said:


> To those of you who have extra rings ... barter them my way please.
> The majority of my jars were bought or gotten without rings.
> Also don't know if it's just me but don't the rings seem as though they are peeling/rusting quicker ?
> I remove rings anywhere from 6 hours to 24 hours later washing and drying them thoughly. Stored in a dry area along with lids.
> ~~ Pelenaka ~~


I've got rings for you. Regular size, right? I'll bring them over, probably the next week or so.


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## Ann-NWIowa (Sep 28, 2002)

The Extension Service publications recommend leaving the rings on 24 hours then removing them. That's what I do. I then wash the jars, label on the flat with date and contents (if not obvious). The rings are washed, dried, and then I usually put them in the oven to make sure they are totally dry before storing. I store my rings in buckets with tight lids to keep them from drawing dampness and rusting.


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## texican (Oct 4, 2003)

mainer... if you have a regular hot water heater, you still have water... use the little drain valve to fill up pots or pans... mine has a 'water hose' fitting on it.

I buy lots of lids, rarely if ever rings... two years ago I was able to get a case of lids/rings for less than the cost of rings, at the Dollar Store.

I've bought jars Once in my life... once I put out the word I needed jars, everybody saved em for me... then my grandparents died and I got literally a truck bed full of fruit jars ...unfortunately most still had food anywhere from a year to 40 years old.


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