Canning Jar lid concern

by Bonnie
(Yorba LInda, CA)

I want to make my kumquat marmalade for gifts, and purchased pretty 6 oz. hexagon jars with lug lids. These lids do not have that little bump in the center that depresses when sealed. I was told these jars will seal using a water bath. what advice can you give me. Will they seal?

___________________________

Hi Bonnie,

I have not used them and I know that the USDA has not specifically approved them. If your lids had the little bump to indicate the seal, I'd feel more comfortable saying that it is fine.

However I also know that many have used them with success.

Be very sure that they have actually sealed by making sure that the center of the lid has popped down. Double check them when you remove them to use them as well.

I'd probably hesitate to use them with a low acid food. I"m always a little more careful with them because of the botulism concern. But marmalade doesn't have that added concern.

This is something I'd sure like to hear from others too. Have you used these types of lids with success?

So this is sort of I THINK it would be fine... but you really need to use your own judgement.

Comments for
Canning Jar lid concern

Click here to add your own comments

hexagon lids
by: Roberta

I am not too sure that I would trust these jars.

First, they are not recognized by people who have been canning a long time.

Second, it takes more manufacturing specifications to make a hex shape and that means more room for error.

Finally, it may be ok for kumquats, but you know that if the jars are there to buy, someone will use them for heaven's knows what. Just my thoughts

Hexagon Jars With Lug Lids--Safe?
by: Cheryl M. Johnson

Hexagon jars with lug lids are perfectly safe to use in canning. You will find specialty foods canned commercially in them, and canning is canning, whether home or commercial.

I have canned with lug lids and all manner of sizes and shapes of jars in the past. I have been a canner since my childhood (I am 55), and my mother used these before me. Just because something isn't endorsed by the USDA doesn't make it automatically unsafe. I've used them over and over, until they wouldn't seal any longer, and they are perfectly safe as long as they make a seal. A good knowledge of microbiology helps to know what the science behind canning is, and lays to rest a good many questions. I have explained it in another page on this site.

I've used jars with lug lids right alongside Mason jars with two-part lids, in the same batch, with no problems whatsoever, and I've done this over the years, so I know what I'm talking about. I have never had a problem with them. I have seldom had a jar break in a canning batch, and it's been the Mason jar as often as any other.

If your lug lids do not have the button top, you can still tell if they are sealed, because the top will go concave, and there is a certain feel to a jar with a good vacuum seal. If you're not sure how it's going to go, do a test batch and see how it works out.

Click here to add your own comments

Return to Simply Canning Home page