Self sufficiency in canning supplies

[Mr. Goosebumps]

I've bought a large quantity of canning lids but I still lay awake at night wondering how I'm going to manage to preserve the large amounts of food required to keep a large family group of around 25 people with food for a long Canadian winter. Is there any other canning methods where both jars and lids can be re-used repeatedly? I recall my grandmother using glass lids with rubber seals but haven't seen any for sale pluse I imagine even the rubber would only be good for a few uses.

[swampman]

I reuse canning lids all the time. The secret is how you pop the seal.  Do it very carefully so the lid is not bent.  If the lid is pitted, do not reuse it.  If the seal is bent, do not reuse it.

[cygnus]

There are also a type of plastic reusable canning lids that go by the brand "Tatler" (sp?)  I've heard mixed reports on them, and I haven't used any myself yet (bought a few dozen dozen to try out) so I can't say how well they work.  But in the cases I've heard where they were a success, they seem to be able to be reused at least half a dozen times or more. 

I reuse sterilized used lids judiciously, not for pressure canning but for water bath, and I also have a large stock of replacement lids in the Pantry O' Doom, and a couple of cases of the Tatler lids.  So I figure I'm probably good on lids for 8-10 years if things work out.  I'll try some tatler lids soon and see how they do for us. 

[Katiecakes]

Weck canning jars use rubber rings and glass lids.  They are quite pricey though... they're something I'm always on the hunt for at thrift shops / yard sales but I don't see them as often as the old fashioned Ball / Kerr jars.  I've heard from several folks about reusing lids like swampman suggested.  I'm going to give it a try next year.

[Hope@ZeroKelvin]

You can buy these weck canning jars at www.weckcanning.com but they are quite pricey.

Also, it looks like they are only good for water bath canning, not pressure canning.

Does anybody know how to make the Ball lids reusable or make new ones?  All the Ball literature says to not reuse the lids.

[rbrgs]

There's also a product that can be painted on old (but unbent) metal lids to make a new rubber seal.  I don't remember what it's called offhand.

Nuts don't take any special tools or fuel to process for winter storage.

[nicekitty]

For real, long-term self-sufficiency, you'll need to look at a root cellar and a dehydrator.  Eventually, you will run out of canning supplies.

[Hope@ZeroKelvin]

For real, long-term self-sufficiency, you'll need to look at a root cellar and a dehydrator.  Eventually, you will run out of canning supplies.

It is very humid here and the water table is quite high, but I could probably build something in the crawl space of my house as it is built on pier and beam.

Do you have a good line on a solar dehydrator?  I have an old American Harvester that works quite well, providing the electricity is still on!

Perhaps my next career in the post-crash world will be to develop an industry to make things like canning lids....

[nicekitty]

Actually, my most recent 'solar dehydrator' was a needle, a thread, a bunch of berries, and a bit of cheesecloth...strung berries on thread, hung in warm place, with cheesecloth over top to keep bugs off...worked pretty well...of course, I live in a very arid area. 

[mtlouie]

You need to think about drying a lot of your food.  For one thing, it keeps the nutrition of the food much more viable than canning.  For another, your canning jars are saved for things that can't be dried: pickles, jams and jellies, etc.

You don't need a dehydrator to dry food.  You can use the ground, old window screens, glass cake pans, etc.

[HungryRaven]

Keep bees and then you'll have bees wax.  You'll need a few hives to get enough.  Then melt that and use it for the seal like jam was covered in the old days.  Maybe with some experimentation that can be used to reseal the metal lids? 

[jerrypenguin]

There are also a type of plastic reusable canning lids that go by the brand "Tatler" (sp?)  I've heard mixed reports on them, and I haven't used any myself yet (bought a few dozen dozen to try out) so I can't say how well they work.  But in the cases I've heard where they were a success, they seem to be able to be reused at least half a dozen times or more. 

I reuse sterilized used lids judiciously, not for pressure canning but for water bath, and I also have a large stock of replacement lids in the Pantry O' Doom, and a couple of cases of the Tatler lids.  So I figure I'm probably good on lids for 8-10 years if things work out.  I'll try some tatler lids soon and see how they do for us. 

I tried using the Tatler lids for high pressure canning of meat.  My experience was negative.  They may be better suited for other types of food or water bath canning.

Keep other food preservation techniques in mind.  These range from pickling and dehydration to root cellaring.  My grandparents were located in the coal mining region of western Pennsylvania.  Their house was built into a hill side and had two root cellars.  The house, barn, garden, grape arbour, wells, fruit trees, and wild game would be the envy of any contemporary doomer.

[Grower]

I agree -- there will have to be other ways of preserving, eventually, including salting, smoking, pickling, drying, preserving in oil (if available), root cellaring, etc.

Preserving Food Without Freezing or Canning: Old World Techniques and Recipes

This is a great book for non-electricity preservation. I'm working on a few recipes so that I can get better at it before I have to.

Also, a book called Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon contains a lot of fermenting recipes.

I have enough stuff on hand to get through a few years, but pretty soon, we're going to have to recapture a lot of knowledge that we lost with our grandparents and great-grandparents.

[revoltingdevelopments]

I agree -- there will have to be other ways of preserving, eventually, including salting, smoking, pickling, drying, preserving in oil (if available), root cellaring, etc.

Preserving Food Without Freezing or Canning: Old World Techniques and Recipes

This is a great book for non-electricity preservation. I'm working on a few recipes so that I can get better at it before I have to.

Also, a book called Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon contains a lot of fermenting recipes.

I have enough stuff on hand to get through a few years, but pretty soon, we're going to have to recapture a lot of knowledge that we lost with our grandparents and great-grandparents.

Grower- Have you used the recipes from the Preserving Food book? The one person I had talked to about it was quite negative so it would be nice to hear what your experience has been.

[Grower]

I have to say that all my preservation has been done through canning, freezing, or drying this year. Dehydrating was my new thing this year. However, I have some tomatoes that I dried that I'm now keeping in a vacuum-sealed jar. I want to dig out that book above and see about preserving them in oil. I'll let you know how that turns out once I get it done.