Spent a whole week canning tomatoes last September and it was a nightmare until I figured out the trick

Honestly I was dead set against using those cheap plastic lids from the dollar store, thought they'd never seal right. But after 3 days of ruining jars and losing 20 pounds of Roma tomatoes from my garden in Brockton, I tried them out of desperation. Turns out they work just fine if you boil them for 5 minutes first, same as the metal ones. Saved me like 40 bucks on lids for the season. Has anyone else had good luck with the off brand canning supplies?

2 comments

2 Comments

jenniferb5319d agoMost Upvoted

Oh man, I was totally the same way honestly. I used to think you had to use the name brand lids or nothing would seal, but I tried the cheap ones last year out of pure stubbornness and they actually worked fine for me too.

xena_kim19d ago

That's exactly what happened with me, jenniferb53. I tried a generic brand of storage lids last spring just to save a few bucks and was surprised when they snapped on just as tight as the expensive ones. I figure as long as the plastic feels sturdy and the gasket is clean, you're probably good.