Have any of you had an inordinate number of seal failures since Ball
changed the use instructions (don't simmer them in water)? A lot of
people on the Facebook canning group I look at have been complaining
about crappy jars and crappy lids. Me, I had NO jar or seal failures
last summer. I don't do pressure canning, if that has any bearing on
it.

--
--
Barb
www.barbschaller.com, last update April 2013

On 2/16/2015 7:29 PM, Melba's Jammin' wrote:
> Have any of you had an inordinate number of seal failures since Ball
> changed the use instructions (don't simmer them in water)? A lot of
> people on the Facebook canning group I look at have been complaining
> about crappy jars and crappy lids. Me, I had NO jar or seal failures
> last summer. I don't do pressure canning, if that has any bearing on it.
>
I don't use Ball or Kerr lids anymore I buy them in tubes of over 300
lids from that place that starts with an L and sells all kind of canning
stuff. Misplaced the URL or I could tell you the company name. That many
lids lasts me about six years on average and they're kept in a plastic
container with a tight lid.

We always simmered our jar lids regardless of BWB or pressure canner,
was taught that many years ago.

On 2/16/2015 8:35 PM, Dave Balderstone wrote:
> In article <2015021619290620902-barbschaller@earthlinknet>, Melba's
> Jammin' > wrote:
>
>> Have any of you had an inordinate number of seal failures since Ball
>> changed the use instructions (don't simmer them in water)? A lot of
>> people on the Facebook canning group I look at have been complaining
>> about crappy jars and crappy lids. Me, I had NO jar or seal failures
>> last summer. I don't do pressure canning, if that has any bearing on
>> it.
>
> I haven't had any particular problem, Barb. Either pressure canning or
> BWB.
>
> djb
>
Are you still warming up the lids? I can't believe that folks wouldn't
heat them up in hot water first anyway. Manufacturers often tell fibs
about their product to get you to buy more.

In article >
George Shirley > writes:
>>
>I don't use Ball or Kerr lids anymore I buy them in tubes of over 300
>lids from that place that starts with an L and sells all kind of canning
>stuff. Misplaced the URL or I could tell you the company name.

I thought you were being coy, not forgetful.
I assume you mean Lehman's. I ordered a batch of those last year,
but haven't used them yet.


--
Drew Lawson | I'd like to find your inner child
| and kick its little ass

On 2/17/2015 10:27 AM, Drew Lawson wrote:
> In article >
> George Shirley > writes:
>>>
>> I don't use Ball or Kerr lids anymore I buy them in tubes of over 300
>> lids from that place that starts with an L and sells all kind of canning
>> stuff. Misplaced the URL or I could tell you the company name.
>
> I thought you were being coy, not forgetful.
> I assume you mean Lehman's. I ordered a batch of those last year,
> but haven't used them yet.
>
>
Yeah, that's the place. Was having a brain fart at the time. Happens
regularly around this old folks home. Sometimes we forget who we are and
where we are and we drive carefully too. <G>

On 2/17/2015 8:55 AM, Dave Balderstone wrote:
> In article >, George Shirley
> > wrote:
>
>> On 2/16/2015 8:35 PM, Dave Balderstone wrote:
>>> In article <2015021619290620902-barbschaller@earthlinknet>, Melba's
>>> Jammin' > wrote:
>>>
>>>> Have any of you had an inordinate number of seal failures since Ball
>>>> changed the use instructions (don't simmer them in water)? A lot of
>>>> people on the Facebook canning group I look at have been complaining
>>>> about crappy jars and crappy lids. Me, I had NO jar or seal failures
>>>> last summer. I don't do pressure canning, if that has any bearing on
>>>> it.
>>>
>>> I haven't had any particular problem, Barb. Either pressure canning or
>>> BWB.
>>>
>>> djb
>>>
>> Are you still warming up the lids? I can't believe that folks wouldn't
>> heat them up in hot water first anyway. Manufacturers often tell fibs
>> about their product to get you to buy more.
>
> I always warm them.
>
I like your blog and your attitude toward payment. Many moons ago I was
a gunsmith and had a repair shop of my own. That was in conjunction with
helping raise two kids, had a full time shift job in a petrochemical
plant, farmed ten acres with livestock too, and, for a few years, went
to college at the same time. Of course I was in my twenties and up to
mid thirties back then.

People would come in the shop and want to pay in advance. I would tell
them I wouldn't know the cost until I could repair the gun or whatever
needed doing because I charged by the hour plus the cost of new parts.
All I could give them was an estimate, which was generally right. Then
there were the folks who thought $8.00 an hour was to much money for
working on a gun that cost $2000.00. Mostly made out pretty well with
it. When Dad retired from the refinery in 1966 he came into the shop
with me and mostly did the bluing and stock making as he wasn't very
handy with little fiddly things. When I took the family away from the
home place in 1976 he just did a little work until 1982 when he passed.
I was home from Saudi at the time so took some extra vacation and sold
the entire contents of the shop to a gunsmith in Louisiana I had known
for years and banked the money, which lasted until Mom passed in 1994. I
don't miss gunsmithing but I do keep the guns up for family members just
for the love of it.

Had a sign up in the shop: $8.00 an hour for labor, $12.00 an hour if
you watch, $25.00 an hour if you help. Folks got a laugh out of it and
knew to leave me alone while working. Lots of fun back then and the kids
enjoyed learning about running a business. Daughter is an Assistant
Principal nearby here, son is the purchasing manager for Texas
Children's Hospital. Reckon they learned a little about managing things
from their old man. I am a retired safety profession with 47 years in
oil and petrochemicals and have managed as many as 120 folks at a time.
Managing engineers is like herding cats, you have to have a lot of
patience and, on occasion, being gentle with idiots.

It's a cold, dreary day here, hoping spring is coming soon.

Melba's Jammin' wrote:

> Have any of you had an inordinate number of seal failures since Ball
> changed the use instructions (don't simmer them in water)? A lot of
> people on the Facebook canning group I look at have been complaining
> about crappy jars and crappy lids. Me, I had NO jar or seal failures
> last summer. I don't do pressure canning, if that has any bearing on
> it.

i do not simmer them, but i do warm them in hot
water. Ma boils them. neither of us has too many
seal failures.

last summer i had troubles with non-Ball lids
that we got at WM. took them back and replaced with
Ball lids that worked as they always have.

the difference that i could note was the WM lids
had sealing compound that was shiny and that didn't
let any air escape so they blew off. first time i'd
ever had that happen, scared the crap outta me, but
then a few minutes later more of them went... luckily
no damage or mess, just popped off lids and rings.

i always use the same method for filling, cleaning
rim, tightening lids (finger tight plus smidge more).


songbird

Melba's Jammin' wrote:
> Have any of you had an inordinate number of seal failures since Ball
> changed the use instructions (don't simmer them in water)? A lot of
> people on the Facebook canning group I look at have been complaining
> about crappy jars and crappy lids. Me, I had NO jar or seal failures
> last summer. I don't do pressure canning, if that has any bearing on it.
>

I still simmer them. I have very few seal failures. (I think I had one
last year.)

Bob

On 2/17/2015 3:51 PM, zxcvbob wrote:
> Melba's Jammin' wrote:
>> Have any of you had an inordinate number of seal failures since Ball
>> changed the use instructions (don't simmer them in water)? A lot of
>> people on the Facebook canning group I look at have been complaining
>> about crappy jars and crappy lids. Me, I had NO jar or seal failures
>> last summer. I don't do pressure canning, if that has any bearing on it.
>>
>
> I still simmer them. I have very few seal failures. (I think I had one
> last year.)
>
> Bob
Looking at my canning notes I had one failure while cooling and another
went bad a few days down the line. That was about twenty years ago and
the note says they were Kerr lids, same same as Ball but never had a
Ball turn loose to my memory or in my notes. Never had any blow off.
Like Songbird I always turn them to stop and a little touch more.
Always, always, wipe the rims and ensure the lids are properly sat. Had
a friend years ago who always reused the lids until I told her about lid
failure and botulism. Said her Mama did it so she did it.

On 2/17/2015 7:53 PM, Dave Balderstone wrote:
> In >, George Shirley
> > wrote:
>
>> It's a cold, dreary day here, hoping spring is coming soon.
>
> Bitter cold here today, but that's not unusual for February. We aren't
> clear of frost until mid-May, although I may tempt fate with some cold
> frames and cloches this year. My green thumbs are getting twitchy, and
> the first seed catalog arrived the other day.
>


I should be planting my pepper seeds now. (I have lights set up in my
basement that would make a marihuana farmer jealous.) But I'll be
driving down to Texas in a couple of weeks to help out my parents while
my dad has/recovers-from a hip replacement. Nobody to keep them watered
while I'm gone (I'm barely reliable enough to keep plants watered in the
winter) so I will wait until I get back and get a late start.

Late March or early April is a good time to start tomato seeds and
flowers. I need to hurry up and order the seeds I want... ("Reliant"
tomatoes after all the blight the last few years, and I need to keep
them sprayed this time)

Bob

On 2/17/2015 9:26 PM, zxcvbob wrote:
> On 2/17/2015 7:53 PM, Dave Balderstone wrote:
>> In >, George Shirley
>> > wrote:
>>
>>> It's a cold, dreary day here, hoping spring is coming soon.
>>
>> Bitter cold here today, but that's not unusual for February. We aren't
>> clear of frost until mid-May, although I may tempt fate with some cold
>> frames and cloches this year. My green thumbs are getting twitchy, and
>> the first seed catalog arrived the other day.
>>
>
>
> I should be planting my pepper seeds now. (I have lights set up in my
> basement that would make a marihuana farmer jealous.) But I'll be
> driving down to Texas in a couple of weeks to help out my parents while
> my dad has/recovers-from a hip replacement. Nobody to keep them watered
> while I'm gone (I'm barely reliable enough to keep plants watered in the
> winter) so I will wait until I get back and get a late start.
>
> Late March or early April is a good time to start tomato seeds and
> flowers. I need to hurry up and order the seeds I want... ("Reliant"
> tomatoes after all the blight the last few years, and I need to keep
> them sprayed this time)
>
> Bob
>
Don't forget where we live Bob, you're always welcome here. Is there a
need for us to help your parents? Not that far to where they live.

George