Forum:

food preservation

Which size lids do you use?

pollinator

Posts: 335

Location: Central Texas

posted 1 year ago

4
Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

This will be my first year trying to preserve my garden instead of just giving the excess away. Do you use regular or wide mouth? I know it’s a pretty silly question but which one and why?

I am assuming it’s preferable to have them all the same for convenience sake…

I’m starting with nothing so I can go either way.

Thanks!

Robert Ray

gardener

Posts: 3346

Location: Cascades of Oregon

852

posted 1 year ago

9
Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

I like wide mouth lids. I sometimes use 1/2 gallon jars, so to keep everything the same I use the wide mouths. I have big friggin' hands that won't fit into either.

KIMG0418-(1).JPG

Our inability to change everything should not stop us from changing what we can.

Timothy Norton

Steward of piddlers

Posts: 6091

Location: Upstate NY, Zone 5, 43 inch Avg. Rainfall

2924

I like...

posted 1 year ago

9
Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

I've gone with wide mouths because my mind went "Easier to stick hand in to empty out". Not probably the wisest reason but a real reason.

- Tim's Homestead Journal - Purchase a copy of Building a Better World in Your Backyard - Purchase 6 Decks of Permaculture Cards -
- Purchase 12x Decks of Permaculture Cards - Purchase a copy of the SKIP Book - Purchase 12x copies of Building a Better World in your Backyard

PEP - BB60 Badge (verified skill)
Skill verified by gir bot

J Garlits

gardener

Posts: 514

Location: Wabash, Indiana, Zone 6a

250

I like...

posted 1 year ago

9
Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

Generally speaking, wide-mouth jars were created for making it easier to can whole veggies. Regular Mason jars are best for liquids and other things you can easily pour. From that perspective, you might go with mostly wide mouth jars. But there are a couple caveats: First, the wide mouth lids (you re-use the rings) can be harder to find. And lastly, there are some things that need the shoulders of the regular Mason jars to keep solids below the liquid line.

Clear as mud, right? Regular jars are everywhere. You can even find really old ones at flea markets and auctions, and the regular lids fit them. If you go that route, you'll want to cut up your veggies instead of canning them whole.

j

Joe Hallmark wrote:This will be my first year trying to preserve my garden instead of just giving the excess away. Do you use regular or wide mouth? I know it’s a pretty silly question but which one and why?

I am assuming it’s preferable to have them all the same for convenience sake…

I’m starting with nothing so I can go either way.

Thanks!

Passionate advocate for living at a human scale and pace.
Help me grow the permaculture presence in Indiana https://permies.com/t/243107
Concise Guide to Permies' Publishing Standards: https://permies.com/wiki/220744

PEP - BB20 Badge (verified skill)
Skill verified by gir bot

Christopher Weeks

master gardener

Posts: 4699

Location: Carlton County, Minnesota, USA: 3b; Dfb; sandy loam; in the woods

2461

I like...

posted 1 year ago

9
Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

I prefer wide and that's all we buy...now. But we have a bunch of both and keep using them every year. Now you've got me wondering if it would be worth getting rid of the narrower jars to standardize.

PEP - BB100 Badge (verified skill)
Skill verified by gir bot

Anne Miller

steward

Posts: 17514

Location: USDA Zone 8a

4469

I like...

posted 1 year ago

9
Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

I prefer the wide-mouth pint jars.

There are only two of us so the pint makes it easier not to have a lot of leftovers. And easier for making stews and soups.

The wide-mouth jars make it easier to fill and get bubbles out.

I still have a lot of quart jars still full and unopened from years ago.

Invasive plants are Earth's way of insisting we notice her medicines. Stephen Herrod Buhner
Everyone learns what works by learning what doesn't work. Stephen Herrod Buhner

John F Dean

master steward

Posts: 7644

Location: southern Illinois, USA

2823

I like...

posted 1 year ago

8
Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

I used to go to more than a few auctions, so I have a mix.

Some people age like fine wine. I aged like milk … sour and chunky.

Joe Hallmark

pollinator

Posts: 335

Location: Central Texas

posted 1 year ago

5
Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

Looking like widemouths are gonna take the win. What started this thing is tractor supply had 4 sets 1/2 off. So I buy them and get home and notice they had different. I’ve never canned anything so I didn’t notice at first.

Larisa Walk

pollinator

Posts: 384

Location: South of Winona, Minnesota

posted 1 year ago

5
Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

Regular lids seal easier since there is less circumference to make the seal. Half gallon jars only come in wide mouth, however, unless you find a source of antique jars. We use our half gallon jars mostly for dry beans, grain, etc. so don't usually can with them. We do "can" apple cider by filling half gallon jars within 1/8" of the rim and put hot lids on them and they will seal without further processing. We use regular lids for tomato sauce (in quarts) and cider syrup (in pints). Everything else gets dehydrated, root cellared, or pickled/fermented.

Carla Burke

Rusticator

Posts: 9218

Location: Missouri Ozarks

4983

I like...

posted 1 year ago

3
Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

Another vote for wider mouth, here - at least for most things.

"The only thing...more expensive than education is ignorance."~Ben Franklin
"We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light." ~ Plato

Judith Browning

Posts: 9646

Location: Ozarks zone 7 alluvial, clay/loam with few rocks 50" yearly rain

2862

posted 1 year ago

6
Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

When I canned a lot it was mostly regular mouth quarts because I was given dozens and dozens...we canned green beans, fruit, tomatoes both whole and sauces, chutneys...pickles and all in them...just get a nice stainless canning funnel for filling the jars.

Now, even though I mostly dehydrate and ferment I prefer widemouth as they are more useful for us. i make quarts and quarts of yogurt in them, use them for my sour dough starter and for small ferments and refrigerating broth.

I love the half gallon jars for big batches of yogurt and storing dehydrated things.

The lids and rings seem really expensive for either one now but I'm mostly reusing them.

And as Timothy says being able to get your hand inside is a plus.

"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

Cujo Liva

Posts: 95

Location: Indiana

posted 1 year ago

6
Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

I've standardized on wide mouth wherever possible, mostly to make getting things in and out easier as well as easier to fit in my hand. The only regular mouth jars are cup sized.

I was fortunate to get a bunch of lids at end-of-season clearance before the Covid rush and a bunch of free rings, so I'm set for years.

K Kaba

pollinator

Posts: 219

Location: MD, USA. zone 7

posted 1 year ago

6
Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

Wide mouth. They're just easier to work with for all the reasons listed here.

But I do keep a collection of the other ones around, and if they're free I might add to it. They're good for sauce type things.

Joseph Lofthouse

author & steward

Posts: 7371

Location: Cache Valley, zone 4b, Irrigated, 9" rain in badlands.

3577

posted 1 year ago

5
Number of slices to send:

Optional 'thank-you' note:

Send

20% of my bottles are wide-mouthed. The rest are regular-mouthed.

Wide-mouthed lids and rings cost about double what regular-mouthed cost. Regular-mouthed bottles are less expensive, and more readily available as new and used jars.

Landrace Gardening, author
Open Source Plant Breeding Forum, founder
Adaptation Agriculture: Video Course, Community, and Seed Share

I agree. Here's the link: http://stoves2.com