Last year I nearly cried every time I threw away a perfectly good slightly used canning lid. Then I learned they can be used time and again. So I started saving mine. I would carefully lift the lid, inspect, tap the edge on my wood counter top to remove any slight dimple, wash and bag.
I learned a lot about canning last year. First, these government regulations apply only to the US and they have changed from the requirements in older books. Then canners across the pond have trouble finding pressure canners. They water bath everything and they boil the jars twice as long as pressure canning. You have to respect someone who works over a hot stove for three hours keeping boiling water covering jars of beef or chicken. Then we can make our own recipes and simply can based on the longest time for any given ingredient in the jar. Finally, dry canning. I wasn't impressed with following a book when I did potatoes a few years ago. The potatoes just didn't taste good and I didn't care for the texture.
This year I used my old lids first. I had found a few lids in the stores, but not nearly enough to stock my pantry. This year I started canning hamburger meat and chicken using the old lids. Everything sealed! So far everything has stayed sealed. I use both water bath and pressure canners.
I only had one problem. I canned dry potatoes in wide mouth quarts and one of my jars busted at the bottom. I was using a new lid. I can potatoes because a friend gave us at least 30 pounds. Most would go bad before I could use them.
Now I did buy a sample of the reusable Tattler lids. Have not tried them yet.
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