Jar shortage

[DeadlyFruit]

grouchyoldman Ckbrew @smoklahoma
I ran a couple tests last night to see how leaky my lids were (the one piece grey plastic lids made by Ball). I was hoping they would be ok because they literally say leak proof on them but it was a mixed result. I first filled an off brand jar with water (it said atlas on it and I think it was one of those spaghetti sauce jars not a true mason). It was a regular mouth jar. Regardless how tight I screwed it water leaked. Then I tried a Ball mason jar. It was a wide moth, one of the half sized jars. I lightly hand tightened it and it leaked slightly. I tightened a bit tighter but not reefing it down and that stopped any water leakage. I shook it up a bunch and left it on its side all night with no drips.

My takeaway is for some reason the lids don’t work as well on off brand jars. The jar top seems the same but there must be a small difference in some - glass thickness or minute diameter difference or something. It may be that the white ones don’t work as well as the grey ones but the grey ones do work work on Ball jars.

I don’t think I can post a pic in a sub comment so I’ll attach a pic of the exact lid and jar in the main comment.

[Rwise]

Machine shop worker eh, I was the dude you hated to see coming through the door at quitting time, cause it meant someone was working all knight. I did ovarhead bridge cranes,

[grouchyoldman]

The ones that I had leak problems with are white and they came with the jars. I should also mention that the jars in my case were the little pint sized ones and I think the white plastic lids had been through the dishwasher at least once. Maybe the heat from that warped them?

[DeadlyFruit]

Smoklahoma sorry, I misspoke, mine are actually amber rather than cobalt. I got them for the same reason - to keep out UV light. Agreed the grey one piece lids are so much easier than chasing the two piece ones that always seem to pull a runner in opposite directions whenever I take them off.

Ckbrew I haven’t seen any white ones so not sure if there is a difference but the grey ones are made by Ball and they are designed for the jar. Are the white ones made by Ball as well and just another colour or are they another company?

grouchyoldman did you use the grey ones made by Ball or another type? I haven’t tested the lids with a qwet type liquid but I’ve used them on regular mason jars for storing leftover soups and stuff in the fridge and haven’t noticed any leakage (sometimes the jars get stored on their side to fit on the shelves so there should have been leakage if it was going to). They are supposed to be dishwasher safe (and I’ve washed them all in the dishwasher without problem) but they say on the package that they shouldn’t be used for canning because they don’t have a coating of a sealing substance that the rubber gaskets on the metal disks have so I don’t think you get a true air tight seal in the way the metal lids have but my experience has been that the seal is pretty solid (you have to be careful though that the lid is on straight and threading properly). I didn’t realize it but you are technically only supposed to use the metal disks a single time because of the glue substance on the seal. The next time you make jam or whatever you are supposed to use a new disk. I’ll test a plastic lid to see if it can hold a positive seal on a jar full of alcohol laid on its side.

[Puglover1]

I thought food grade 5 gallon buckets were safe.

[Puglover1]

Last year around this time I had to order complete lids, they didn't have rings and seals. I was gifted 18 free quart jars, not wide mouth but I used them.

[Ckbrew]

Haven't seen grey lids but the white plastic lids do not make a tight seal.

[grouchyoldman]

Hi DeadlyFruit, I tried the one-piece plastic tops but couldn't get an air tight seal so I ditched them. I got suspicious when I used one of those lids for a batch of QWET tincture and got alcohol all over my hands when I was shaking it. No matter how hard I screwed it down it still leaked. Jus sayin.

[Smoklahoma]

Thanks everyone. I'll order some 64 oz glass from uline just to see what the lids are like. After searching the web for a couple days it seems that buckets and totes are used quite a bit. I understand everyone's fears of plastic possibly leaching chemicals and flavors and even down to static pulling tricombs off buds. I doubt anything that might leach out of the food grade bucket while curing can be any worse than the shit I breathe and deal with every day in a machine shop for the past 35 years. During all the searching I came across a idea of a auto burping bucket. Well hell, now I got to make one. Going to try one bucket just to see if there is a difference in anything.

[Rwise]

Yep, lid and rings have been hard to find here as well

[Oreo]

Everyone should have this problem. I can still remember my wife asking where all the jars went to. First the larger jars. Then the smaller jars until the beautiful harvest is totally consumed.

[Smoklahoma]

Haven't seen the cobalt ones. Been eyeballing the amber, supposed to block uv. I've switched all my jars to the grey plastic lids, way easier to deal with.

[Smoklahoma]

They didn't have any 1/2 gal canning. But have regular 64 oz glass. I'll order some monday.

[BCOutdoorBudz]

I am having a different problem I have Mason Jars for days but finding wide mouth mason jar seals was insanely difficult finally found them online at a grocery store and grabbed them after two months of searching

[DeadlyFruit]

Thanks for the feedback g2f. I may try 1.25 oz and save a few jars but I’ll definitely go no higher.