I’ve mentioned before that I’ve been using Tattler lids for quite a while. The other day Vince was unpacking boxes and he came in, all smiles. He said “I found a box I bet you didn’t even know you had! It’s never been opened.” He handed me a box from Tattler.
I told him, truthfully, that I did know I had that box, that I had ordered it years ago and I explained to him that I had ordered them during a sale because I feared that some day, canning lids might be in short supply. Back in 2013, when that order was placed, I didn’t know if canning lids would be hard to find, if the cost would go up substantially . . I had no idea but I felt like having a good supply of canning lids was important for the way we were raising and putting up as much of our own food as possible.
I couldn’t remember any details about the sale but I do remember talking to Vince about it and he said what he always says “If you think we need it, get it!”
You can see that I ordered 100 each regular and wide mouth rubber rings and 12 dozen boxes of wide mouth lids with rings. With the coupon madness discount, I paid $98.72, including shipping. Today, that feels like a steal.
Last night I started thinking . . with the economy and shortages, how do we know when it’s a good time to stock up? If I didn’t have canning lids and came across a huge supply in the store, would I buy just enough to use today or would I buy enough for all of next year? Would I get a few boxes and hope prices come down and I can get more later at a better price? I don’t know.
Jon says
I have tattlers and I like them but I have to say I have usually at least one seal failure in each batch.
judy.blog@gmail.com says
I probably have a few more than I have with metal lids but I doubt I have one per batch. I haven’t figured out why and what I can do to avoid it.
Jon says
I’ve read a couple posts that say if you leave a bit more headspace than what is called for, it tends to help tattlers seal better.
judy.blog@gmail.com says
I’ve read that too but so far, it hasn’t seemed to make much difference. I rarely have more than one fail even when I’m doing 24 or so quarts so I just use the one that failed and don’t worry about it, or if I have another batch to do, I’ll stick that one in the second load.
Have you tried leaving more headspace and if so, does that seem to help? Thanks!
Jon says
I actually just did a batch of beans and left about one and 1/4 inch headspace and had no failures! So I will do that from now on. I invested in a lot of tattlers so I want to start using them regularly.
judy.blog@gmail.com says
Thank you. I will make sure I try that and see what happens. I think (but am not sure) it’s a combination of having to leave the rings not quite as tight as we do on regular lids and maybe if they’re full (less than 1-1/4″ head space, some of the contents bubble up and get under those rings. I’m not sure – just guessing, but I sure do like being able to re-use the lids.