# Ball Lids: New Procedure



## Pony (Jan 6, 2003)

Don't have time to hunt it up, but this came across my FB feed this morning, thought it may help folks who are experiencing seal failures.


*"The New Recommendation:*

Jarden no longer recommends that we heat the canning lids in hot water before canning.


NOT AT ALL.


Instead, we just wash the lids and use them at room temperature.


Now, just to be clear the Jarden Company changed THEIR recommendations. There have been no changes to the USDA recommendations of 2009. All is the same there and they teach Master Food Preservers to âfollow the manufacturerâs instructionsâ for preparing the jar lids."

http://livinghomegrown.com/2014/08/changes-in-canning-lid-procedures.html


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## simi-steading (Sep 27, 2012)

Kinda makes you think they changed what ever it is they make the seal on the lids from..


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## Melesine (Jan 17, 2012)

Thanks for posting. I did just buy some new jars recently. I wonder if they are stating BPA free on the jar boxes too?


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## bigjon (Oct 2, 2013)

I've always assemblied rings and lids and dipped both (together)in boiling water just b4 installing on filled jars.


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## Wendy (May 10, 2002)

I have never heated my lids before using. I just grab them out of the box & put them on.


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## gweny (Feb 10, 2014)

I have an insta-hot on my kitchen sink that I run the lids under after washing in warm sudsy water. Instant boiling water is awesome for canning and wine making. (If you want to cut the time it takes in half)


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## nappy (Aug 17, 2003)

Thanks Pony for passing this info. along. This will save time. Wonder if sealing failures have been due to heating lids too much or because of the new sealing compound. I also don't like how the lids get corroded (?) spots on inside. Noticed this with canned peaches. I prefer the old style metal on lid's inner side rather than the "painted" white.


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## Pony (Jan 6, 2003)

I still have scads of lids from a close-out back up north, and I still have to test out the tattler lids I bought last year. (Kind of nervous about those, as I fear I will burn my little fingers...)

I keep my lids in really hot water, but I never did boil them. I think you're right, Nappy: Some of the failures may be due to overheating the compound on the lids.


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## Chixarecute (Nov 19, 2004)

Pony, I use a norpro bubble remover (a butter knife works, too) to slip the tattler lids out of the pan of hot water.


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## Ozarks Tom (May 27, 2011)

Thanks for the heads up Pony! We've always just poured boiling water over the lids in a bowl and haven't had a problem, but now we'll pay attention to what's on the box and do as recommended.

We've used tattler lids on and off for a couple years now, and once I found out I was tightening them too tight they've been working great. Old habits are hard to break.


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## Vosey (Dec 8, 2012)

I was just commenting on another thread that the new Ball lids are coming off really easily. No seal failures, but usually it take a bit of heft to get a pressure canned lid off, not these. I wonder if it's the no BPA lids. I've always almost simmered them. Now I have to figure out which of my lids are newer.


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## Melesine (Jan 17, 2012)

Ok maybe I missed it but does that link in the OP actually contain a link to the Fresh Preserving site with this announcement? I'm asking because when I was on Fresh Preserving's lid page it says this:

New in 2014, the BallÂ® Design Series jar lids are available in a bright, metallic blue or green to enhance your canning creations! These BPA-free mason jar lids are perfect for home canning &#8211; or any unique gift and dÃ©cor. Made in America to fit regular mouth jars.

Those are the lids and rings that are colored not the silver or gold tone ones. It doesn't say the regular lids are BPA free which I find odd.


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## Vosey (Dec 8, 2012)

Melesine, when I clicked it went right to the announcement. Maybe it is linking to a page that changes daily?

It does say that all Ball and Kerr lids that either say "BPA free" or have an American Flag/Made in America on them are the new lids. That was the information from Jarden when they were called. 

I went through my lids and separated them out into old and new. I'm concerned about lid failures in storage with the recent jars I've opened that are so much easier to open. But I can't remember what it was I opened!!


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## suitcase_sally (Mar 20, 2006)

nappy said:


> Thanks Pony for passing this info. along. This will save time. Wonder if sealing failures have been due to heating lids too much or because of the new sealing compound. I also don't like how the lids get corroded (?) spots on inside. Noticed this with canned peaches. I prefer the old style metal on lid's inner side rather than the "painted" white.


That's not plain metal on those lids. They are coated with tung oil and dried. Many canned food containers (cans) are coated on the inside with tung oil.


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## Melesine (Jan 17, 2012)

Vosey said:


> Melesine, when I clicked it went right to the announcement. Maybe it is linking to a page that changes daily?
> 
> It does say that all Ball and Kerr lids that either say "BPA free" or have an American Flag/Made in America on them are the new lids. That was the information from Jarden when they were called.
> 
> I went through my lids and separated them out into old and new. I'm concerned about lid failures in storage with the recent jars I've opened that are so much easier to open. But I can't remember what it was I opened!!


Yes, the link goes to Living Homegrown, but AFAIK that Living Homegrown isn't owned by Jarden/Ball/Fresh Preserving, nor could I find a link in the article to the original source. I'm looking for information from Jarden, since their website only mentions the "design series" lids as being BPA free.


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## badlander (Jun 7, 2009)

I'm sitting here with a package of Ball Regular Mouth Lids in front of me that I bought two weeks ago. The front of the box is marked "The lid you trust. BPA FREE".

On the instructions on the back it reads "Prepare Your Lids. Lids are for one-time use only. Wash lids in hot soapy water. Rinse well. Place lids in saucepan, cover with water. Simmer until ready to use."

These lids are silver. I used a few of them out of the package, preparing them as directed along with some older lids I was trying to use up and so far, no problems. The lids are well sealed on the jars and the only failure I have had this summer is when a quart jar cracked on me during processing. 

Hopefully I won't loose any tomatoes. I've canned.

It also says 'This product is brought to you by Jarden Home Brands' on the box.


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## HoofPick (Jan 16, 2012)

I just took a canning class through the state extension agency. They told us as long as the lids were new and clean you didn't have to put them in the hot water. I believe it was Ball that did the study.


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## countryfied2011 (Jul 5, 2011)

I just open a case that also has the bpa thing and the flag and on the outside of the box is says heat your lids


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## tngal71 (Aug 10, 2014)

I called Jarden this morning and representative said they still advocate washing in hot soapy water OR heating and simmering on range. I usually simmer and take out of pan as I need. So who's right?


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## Werforpsu (Aug 8, 2013)

Perhaps heating them too much has a higher failure rate then not at all. Maybe there is a 'sweet spot' of heating it perfect but people do it wrong and it leads to failure.


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## Pony (Jan 6, 2003)

I'm just going to keep doing what I've always done: Wash 'em, heat 'em, use 'em.

If I start to get failures, I'll just wash them. But it seems to me that you wouldn't have to heat them if you wash them well, b/c the processing should certainly make them more than hot enough.


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## Pony (Jan 6, 2003)

If you go to the Homegrown link in my OP, you will see that she has updated.

Maybe calling Jarden is like calling the IRS: Different answers from different people? 

Go read what's there. Do what works for you.


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## Vosey (Dec 8, 2012)

I decided to try not simmering my lids. I couldn't help but dip them in the hot water in the canner : ) But I had my first ever lid failure right after canning! I've had 2 unseal in storage, but never not seal out of the canner. 

Maybe it's a coincidence as I've only been canning a few years and it's bound to happen sometime, but I'm going back to simmering.


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## Werforpsu (Aug 8, 2013)

I bought new boxes of ball brand lids yesterday. they say to simmer on the box.


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## o&itw (Dec 19, 2008)

I notice ealier that somone wonderd if boiling the lids before using them might be causing heat degradation. It seems to me that that water is going to reach a maximum of 212 F. The lids will get much hotter than that if used in a pressure canner, so I would think boiling them should not be a problem.

One thing that I have noticed about the lids used now as opposed to twenty years ago: the rubber seal material is thinner. I guess they save a half a cent per lid that way. Over a couple of million lids I guess they are making money. Personally, I would rather pay a penny or two more per lid and have the thicker seal.


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