# Canning Jars - Is There A Difference



## YuccaFlatsRanch (May 3, 2004)

I know there is not much difference in quality between Kerr and Ball jars, but today we noticed that there is a Walmart caning jar (Mainstays is the brand) at $6 a dozen for regular mouth quarts and some from Better Homes and Gardens for $8 a dozen. Kerr jars were $9.44 a dozen for Regular and $10.44 a dozen for wide mouth. Does anyone have any experience with the less expensive brands???


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## DryHeat (Nov 11, 2010)

That WalMart brand is made in China, in case that matters. No experience with it, though.


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## Danaus29 (Sep 12, 2005)

I was thinking the cheap ones were made in China also. Never used any and am more than a bit worried about the lead content of Chinese glass.


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## Limon (Aug 25, 2010)

Danaus29 said:


> I was thinking the cheap ones were made in China also. Never used any and am more than a bit worried about the lead content of Chinese glass.


Glass is pretty non-reactive. Unless you're canning hydrofluoric acid, which is pretty lethal on its own, I don't think anything could ever leach out of glass.

The main complaints I've seen of them is that they are more prone to breakage in the canner. That could be from poor handling during the shipping process. The ones in my local store looked like an elephant had tap danced on them.

I think Paquebot tried some this past year without any troubles. There was a thread about them, maybe up in Preserving the Harvest.


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## Canning Girl (Jan 13, 2010)

I know the Chinese Wal-Mart ones are cheaper, but I don't trust them, and I think that it's worth the extra money to support Ball/Kerr, an American-made product.


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## Just Cliff (Nov 27, 2008)

There is a big difference. Next time you go to Wal-Mart, take some sort of magnifying glass or good reading glasses with you. Look really close at the jars. First thing you may notice as you pick it up, it's lighter in weight. look at the glass closely. What I found was air bubbels in the glass, irregular mold separation lines on the sides and sealing surface, irregularities in the surface of the glass (glass was too cool when it went into the mold)and lid threads that were not as tight as I would like.
It is well worth the money to buy good jars. Kerr,Ball or Golden Harvest. Just one failure per dozen will make up the difference in price and agrivation.


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## Mutti (Sep 7, 2002)

I only use Ball or Kerr jars in my pressure canner. I can see the difference in quality between the cheap-o jars and the heavier quality ones. I really don't like to buy used jars either as I have no way of knowing how they've been banged around....one bottom falling out of a jar of grape juice is not a happy event! I use the Golden Harvest jars alot for stuff I hot water bath. Since there are rarely sales on canning jars I buy a couple dozen jars every month as a prep and now have enough Tattler lids for all of my collection. My understanding is Ball and Kerr made by same company.


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## sewserious (Apr 2, 2010)

The BHG jars are okay, but they are round not squared off. They are a bit shorter and fatter than Ball/Kerr jars. They are pretty though. They have a cross hatch design on them and come with red/white checked lids. I bought some once when my local store was out of B/K jars. I use them to store coffee beans and dry foods that we keep out on the counter. I have some pints and quarts.


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## Timberline (Feb 7, 2006)

I bought a case of the Mainstays brand. The bottoms blew out of some of them the first time I put them in the pressure canner. In all my years of canning I had never had that happen. Now I just use them to store dry goods.


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## goatlady (May 31, 2002)

I have heard on other forums that those WM brand jars have uneven rims and as a result have more sealing failures that the Kerr/Ball brand jars. They also do not seem to hold up to multiple usage like the heavier weight jars. Have a tendancy to lose the bottoms when pressure canning more than twice. Just what I have heard.


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## okiemomof3 (Jan 11, 2010)

Don't get the Better HOmes and Gardens ones because my aunt used some last summer and 2/3 of the ones she used, broke during processing. they are pretty but just not to be used for canning.


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## unregistered29228 (Jan 9, 2008)

I bought the Better Homes & Gardens one last fall for apple butter and they were fine. I haven't tried them for pressure canning, but they're pretty, cheaper than Kerr or Ball, and they were available when I needed them. I've also bought the Golden Harvest ones, and didn't have any breakage, but I didn't like that I was supporting stuff made in China.


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## mpillow (Jan 24, 2003)

my walmart ones worked fine....I did have 2 cases of ball widemouths that were defective in that the threaded rim section snapped off during washing....2 out of 12 in each brand new case....broke right off

no banging either...I wash one at a time.


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## Charleen (May 12, 2002)

The only brand I ever had trouble with was Golden Harvest that I bought at a Dollar Store. I had the bottoms blow out on a few of them. Now, I use them as storage for dry things on the countertop. I won't take a chance and can with them anymore.


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## DW (May 10, 2002)

My sis got me some BHG...they seem a little thinner glass and easy to break. The Golden Harvest ones f/family dollar & Big lots have been okay with me. I use lots of 1/2 pts for jams/jellies (gifts) and they all seem good at this size. If I really need NEW (can't find old ones for free), I usually use those ACE 50% coupons and buy Ball or Kerr jars.


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## lonelyfarmgirl (Feb 6, 2005)

I tried the Golden Harvest ones once. ONCE. The big problem with those, is they are just a pinch bigger around than standard Ball or Kerr jars, so a rack designed to hold 7 jars in a canner, they don't quite fit, and one is always up higher than the others.


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## Groene Pionier (Apr 23, 2009)

Oh my your most expensive jars are CHEAP
We have 1 system here and that is Weck and some occasional Leifheit. The latter I never bought, but the weck system is costing about an average of 3.50- 4.50 usd a jar! The most expensive jars in the US are 0,85 usd (if i am good with the calculator LOL).
If it is said that the American made jars are way better quality and it is also promoting your own economy, I would go for the expensive jars, always. 
Xant


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## Packedready (Mar 29, 2011)

Last year I was able to buy Ball jars for between $4 and $4.50 per case new on sale, I would much rather buy Ball than any other jar. Kerr is fine also.


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## Tracy Rimmer (May 9, 2002)

I have used them in past. I was helping a friend can some things and asked her to pick up a case of jars on her way over. This was what she brought.

Every jar we canned of that case, the seal failed.

IMHO, it's worth paying the extra.

If you can't afford to buy new, good quality jars, try putting a notice up at your local post office, etc. Spring cleaning time is coming up, and there are often jars available for very cheap, or free. I put up a notice in my local post office the first year we were here, and ended up with, literally, thousands of jars. Most people just gave them to me, despite the fact that I had offered $5/dozen for good quality, clean jars. I also had people calling me, telling me that they had a bunch that had been stored in their barns, were dusty and dirty, but if I wanted them, come and haul them away. I even had a guy call me from the local dump telling me that a lady had just brought in a load of canning jars. Got there, and they were Bernardin brand, pints and quarts, some of them in boxes that had never been opened!

Added benefit of this was that many people, generally those who had inherited from their farming parents, had canning EQUIPMENT, as well, and they threw that in. 

DH still complains about having too many jars. I tell him, he enjoys what comes out of them, so there is no such thing as "too many"!


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## Ann-NWIowa (Sep 28, 2002)

I think Golden Harvest jars are also made by the company that makes Ball and Kerr. Not positive but think so. I don't like Golden Harvest because you cannot put the full number of jars in the canner with those as said above they're just a little bigger around. I do have a couple dozen GH and I try to use no more than one in each canner load. If you put the GH in the middle it will fit. 

I took the Walmart & Better Homes jars out and looked at them. Decided not to buy as they are thin. Also, I'd rather pay the extra and support made in USA. If we don't, there soon will be nothing made in USA. 

I've have had very few jars break in the canner. Occasionally I'll lose a jar to the bottom coming off and once had a jar crack. I've been canning since 1961 and I think probably not more than a 6 bottoms have broken. A safety hint...when you remove jars from the canner lift them straight up and hold for a few seconds in case the bottom does decide to come off. Better the mess in the canner than a trip to the ER with burns. BTW I've never had a pint break. I think the bottoms break on the quarts because they get bumped more often in washing and in general use.

Another interesting point is I've never had a really old jar break and I have canning jars that my grandmothers gave me when they quit canning in 1950's. Those older jars are much heavier than the new. In fact, I can tell a difference in Kerr/Ball from 1970's/1980's and new by weight.


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## Charleen (May 12, 2002)

Ann-NWIowa said:


> Another interesting point is I've never had a really old jar break and I have canning jars that my grandmothers gave me when they quit canning in 1950's. Those older jars are much heavier than the new. In fact, I can tell a difference in Kerr/Ball from 1970's/1980's and new by weight.


Very good point. I've never had an "old" jar break either. They are obviously thicker and better made than what's considered 'new' today.


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## YuccaFlatsRanch (May 3, 2004)

The weaker older jars have also been weeded out by TIME. Any imperfections would have already broken.

--------------------------------------------

I have often wondered why it is that Conservatives are called the "right" and Liberals are called the "left." 

By chance I stumbled upon this verse in the Bible:
"The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left."
Ecclesiastes 10:2 (NIV)

Thus sayeth the Lord. Amen.


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## GoldenCityMuse (Apr 15, 2009)

The older jars are going to be thicker overall. Even those from the 70's. Just last week picked up some Bicentennial jars from the thrift.


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## ladybug (Aug 18, 2002)

I had one of the Wal-Mart brand jars break in my water bath canner last summer while canning up pickles- the jars were brand new too. I wish I had read the package at the time, but from now on all I will buy are Ball/Kerr brand. We have been using the Wal-mart jars to store beans, pasta, and rice instead.


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## Mutti (Sep 7, 2002)

Still using Kerr jars from my hippie 60's. Now I only buy Ball as that is what is sold most commonly in my area. Golden Harvest jars I use for hot water bath items only and haven't had any breakage with them. We are able to buy the 1/2 gal jars here so use them for storage....take that you mice! I store most of my canning in the original cardboard cases so they aren't banging around...not happy with the flimsy half boxes they come in now.....


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## manygoatsnmore (Feb 12, 2005)

Altrista makes Kerr, Ball and Golden Harvest jars. I've used all w/o a problem. I prefer to find free or thrift store/garage sale jars. I really like the older jars as I feel the quality is better. I don't trust the Chinese jars. They are thin and thin equals fragile. If they do have lead in them, it can leach. The "experts" don't even recommend using lead crystal decanters any more.


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## margoC (Jul 26, 2007)

I have used golden harvest and have had no trouble with them at all. THe only ones I've had trouble with were tiny ball half pints. I tried to make some kumquat preserves and had a very high rate of failure. Upon examination I found the rims wavy. Some of them were so wavy they would wobble when turned upside down!!!!

I use them as juice glasses now. I use at least 3 differant brands and those were the only ones that I had trouble with. I got them from a friend whos mom had died. The boxes were aged, I assume they were old jars.


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