For the last couple of weeks I’ve been steadily selling off canning supplies, including a couple of days ago when I sold all of my fantastic Tattler canning jar lids that I never got around to telling you about last year.  

Though I’m not using them now, I still want to share about them since even in the canning community, many people don’t know about them and they’re a great option to be aware of. 

Tattler lids are made of BPA free plastic, and have a separate rubber ring that is fitted onto the lid before the lid is placed on the jar.  After putting the lid on, you put the metal canning ring on to hold it on, then process as usual.  The only difference is how you tighten the lid before processing, and when you tighten the lid after processing (instructions are on the box). 

What’s great about them is that they can be used long term repeatedly – no more having to buy lids and then dispose of them after one use (and though I’m a frugal person, reusing lids isn’t a way I recommend saving money).  That means that one dozen lids can be used continually for many, many batches of canning!   The other big advantage is there’s no concern about BPA leaking into your food. 

The big challenge is the upfront high cost of the lids – about $7 – 8 dozen (not including the rubber rings).  That means you have to can about six batches of food to break even (compared to the cost of buying disposable lids).  For me, I was able to purchase a large number of these lids for a super price through a private seller – I bought about 60 dozen lids that included the rubber rings (all unused) and paid about $120 for all of them- I was really excited about this when I found them.  

I passed on my savings to the person who bought from me – I know I could have made a nice profit by selling them at a higher price (which would still have been less than 50% of retail price, but that’s not what I wanted to do.  I was so grateful to have found these at a price I could afford and wanted someone else like me to be able to have the same experience.  She knew what these lids were and appreciated what an amazing buy they were; she told me she had been asking G-d to send her these lids since she really wanted them but didn’t have a budget for buying them at the regular price, and as I told her, “G-d provides!” 

Parenthetically, the buyer of these lids was Mormon.  Mormons are advised by their religious leaders to have  a year’s supply of food stored in case of emergency, though I’ve read only 10% of practicing Mormons do this.  She wanted to know how I could sell off all of my canning supplies at a time when it seems there is tremendous instability, and many are afraid that massive inflation and all that comes along with that is coming down the road for the U.S. in the not so distant future.  At this time, more people than ever are interested in canning, buying in bulk, and being prepared to weather at least a part of the financial storm by creating a pantry ‘hedge’.  We had quite an interesting conversation!

You can find these lids online , but as I said, there is a high upfront cost (though there’s a bulk option that lowers the cost).  These lids have been around since the 70s and so there’s a long term record for them holding up for decades (though the rubber rings will need to be replaced at some point if they get stretched out – they’re not expensive), so if you can often, even at the retail price you would still end up saving in the long run.  And it’s a nice to have a reusable option rather than constantly buying and discarding lids.

Avivah