3 Important Reasons to STOP Storing Canning Jars With Rings
I know it seems kind of weird and your jars might look a little naked but there are a few important reasons to be storing canning jars WITHOUT the rings. This extra step is worth it for your family’s safety and piece of mind. If you’re looking for some canning recipes you’re in the right place! Check out my Black Raspberry Jam recipe or this delicious Chicken Soup Pressure Canning recipe.
This post contains affiliate links. This will not cost you anything but will help us offset the cost of running the blog. We only share products we use and would recommend to a friend. Thank you for your support! Click ‘HERE’ for more info.
1. A proper seal on your canning jars can be ensured when the rings are removed
If your canning jars do not seal, the lid will come right off when the rings are removed. I recently pressure-canned corn and when I first inspected all of my jars, the lids all popped down so I thought they all sealed. When I took off the rings to get ready to store them, one of my lids came right off!
You should always check your seals 24 hours after your jars come out of the canner. Check to see if the lid popped down and then remove the ring. You should be able to pick up the jar by the lid gently and it should be very secure!
It is the best practice to use new lids every time you can something new. You can find some here. This will help your jars seal properly.
2. If your canned goods unseal for any reason during storage, you can immediately tell when you inspect the lid. There’s no chance of resealing
If you are storing canning jars with the ring on, there is a possibility that your jars will reseal and you won’t have any way of knowing how long your food was sitting there unsealed. If there’s no ring the top will come right off and you will know the food needs to be trashed.
I have personally had this happen with a blueberry pie filling. I stored the jars with the rings on and somewhere along the line, I believe my jar came unsealed and resealed itself some time later. There was mold inside my jar so I knew to throw it away. Some bacteria cannot be seen so even if you can’t see anything or smell anything, bacteria could still be there. Recently, I had two pickle jars come unsealed. Who knows if they would have resealed themselves if the rings had been on?
3. It’s easier to keep the rings clean and rust-free
Last but not least, sometimes moisture gets trapped under the rings. This can cause rust or worse mold to grow underneath. It’s super easy to keep the rings clean and dry if you
Bonus: STOP stacking your jars
I know I know, sometimes your shelving is perfectly sized to stack two jars on top of each other. It doesn’t seem like there’s anything wrong with this but there is! The weight of the top jar keeps pressure on the bottom jar. This would act the same as a ring if the bottom jar were to come unsealed for any reason.
What happens if your canned goods come unsealed
Several issues can arise if your jars come unsealed during storage. If they come unsealed, bacteria, mold, and yeast can get into your jar and grow. Even if the jar resealed itself (due to the ring being on or another jar stacked on top) the bacteria will continue to grow inside your sealed jar.
Aside from nasty bacteria growth, there’s a likelihood that your food will become soft and mushy and the flavor will change due to spoilage. Yuck. The quality and nutritional value of the food will plummet and there’s a good chance the color will also change. If you notice the color is off on one of your jars this may be an indication that it has come unsealed.
There you have it! I hope I’ve convinced you to keep those rings OFF when storing canning jars. Comment below and tell me what your favorite thing to can is and if you learned something new from this post.
5 Comments
Pingback:
Pingback:
Pingback:
Pingback:
Pingback: