Product Review: Tattler reusable canning lids

[Ishkabibble]

Hi everyone,

I received my Tattler lids (widemouth mason and standard mason) two days ago. I have put them to the test and am very pleased. Here are a few things I can tell you about them:

1. The rubber rings are thicker than the rubber found on a disposable canning lid. This means the lids can imprint enough to provide as reliable a seal as the disposable lids. I had no trouble getting my jars to seal.
2. There are concentric rings around the rubber seals and the lid where the seals touch it. This is smart because it creates a few small ridges that seal independently.
3. The lids are very slightly oversized, but not enough to cause problems with any sealer rings. Because of the slight oversize dimension, it is easy to catch the lid with your fingers and open it without damaging a rubber ring.
4. Pressure canning went well. I've read that some people have trouble if they don't read the instructions. I did read them and though there are some differences between using these lids and the disposable ones, I found the process easy and reliable.
5. The wide-mouth mason lids work exceptionally well with the Foodsaver vacuum system which really surprised me. I dry-canned 30 jars with no trouble at all. I wasn't able to test the standard mason lids with the foodsaver as I lack that attachment.


I wholeheartedly recommend these lids to anyone that cans for their own consumption.

[Oldmansmith]

Been using the regular ones but just picked some of these up. I bought them because they are BPA free; the acid in tomatoes is especially good at liberating BPA I've read.


It is tomato bloat right now, I have a big pot of tomato sauce ready to can.

[obilly]

with regular ball lids less than $0.17 ,,,,that would be $1.99 for 12.. tattler $0.87 for one, $10.50 for 12. sorry math does not add up. i can lid 5 reg jars with disposable lids for the price of lidding 1 jar with a tattler????? JMO

[Oldmansmith]

Agreed if price is your motivator. I have a one year old and BPA is an endocrine disrupter that leaches into foods, especially acidic ones like canned tomatoes. Not what I want to think about when enjoying my otherwise pristine home grown food.

[TnAndy]

[QUOTE=obilly;423410]with regular ball lids less than $0.17 ,,,,that would be $1.99 for 12.. tattler $0.87 for one, $10.50 for 12. sorry math does not add up. i can lid 5 reg jars with disposable lids for the price of lidding 1 jar with a tattler????? JMO[/QUOTE]

It only works IF you get more than 5 uses out of the Tattler lids.

The weak link in them is the rubber ring, not the lid itself. The "lifetime" lid is useless without that separate ring. Maybe they've changed them since I bought mine years ago, but it looked to me like you wouldn't get that many uses out of the rubber ring before it fell apart from age, or repeated heatings. I just wasn't impressed with the thickness or quality of that rubber. NOTHING like the old rings you could buy for the zinc/porcelin Ball lids of yesteryear.

So, yeah, I have a case of the Tattlers, but I have a WHOLE lot more single piece lids.

I've got some canning to do in the next couple days......I dig out the Tattler lids that have been sitting in storage for about 5 years now, and see how the seal rate does.

[obilly]

pls let us know TN,,,,,,,i get many uses out of my disposalbe lids after the first pressure canning,,,,the lid is wash and saved reused on pickels we make that are not canned,,,,,they are used on masons for misc storage of open dry goods, they will take to a vacum pack mason, you know results quickly,,,i will not reuse a lid for pressure canning.

[mnmom]

I've used the tattler before and they do hold up well. I personally didn't find them to be worth the money, but each person has a preference. As for the leeching, your tomatoes shouldn't be touching your lids. Make sure you leave proper head space in your jars when canning.

forgot to mention... if you don't like the kerr or ball lids there are a few amish stores that sell better quality lids for relatively cheap. I get 348 regular gold lids for $42 shipped.
Dutchman's Store 103 Division St. Cantril, IA 52542. Phone: (319) 397-2322
http://www.dutchmansstore.com/

[TnAndy]

I order my lids from Goodmans.

http://www.goodmans.net/d/603/ball-canning-lids-caps-bands.htm

60 dozen regular lids are 96 bucks

36 dozen large mouth are 85 bucks

[Oldmansmith]

Canned a bunch of tomato sauce using them, seemed straightforward. We"ll see about the re-usability, but like I said I'm primarily looking to avoid BPA. Of course who knows what other sinister chemicals are in these.....

Fat times right now in the garden!