You can read hundreds of reviews here. The current lid shortage is a complex puzzle. Product availability is affected by a myriad of different issues, but to simplify why there's still a shortage of canning lids in particular, we can chalk it up to a few basic things.
Production slowdowns are a major factor. Most manufacturers tried to keep up with the surge in demand but just could not. Restrictions on how many people could be in one area and how close they could be to each other while working took their toll on production speeds. In addition to production slowdowns, certain materials, like metals, were in high demand globally, plus the national transportation grid had some major hiccups.
Most people don't realize that the product they buy from the store shelves can take many months, if not years, in the production pipeline going from raw material to finished product available for sale.
We could point back to our high school lessons on supply and demand. We all know how that works, but when it comes to the price of the mighty mason jar, it seems ridiculous to pay more than triple the price of for canning supplies, but the supply shortage has proved to be no laughing matter.
It's easy to forget when shopping for a basic product like canning supplies that the price you see is made of multiple national, global, environmental, political, and even weather-related issues that can cause delays and price increases across entire otherwise unrelated industries.
You might think that companies selling canning supplies to you are just out to make a quick buck, but you'll see that most companies had their own soaring costs to deal with, players in every industry struggled to be even marginally profitable during these trying times. Many businesses are short staffed. Not only due to covid 19 restrictions, though that has played a huge part, but also political issues like vaccination requirements and the availability of unemployment insurance for large groups of people led to massive staffing shortages.
Weather events like the massive freeze in Texas contributed to chemical shortages affecting almost every industry. Shutdowns of customs offices because of covid 19 caused delays in imports and exports affecting even those without direct contact to pandemic.
Once in a blue moon events, like the Ever Given container ship getting stuck in the Suez Canal, can cause ripple effects for months. Even without that delay, transportation prices for both finished and raw goods coming from Asia have more than quadrupled in from last year.
Lumber prices soared in early , leading to a shortage of pallets for goods to be packed on. Without pallets or drivers to move the pallets shipping prices soar. Though this one isn't due to a shortage of glass, it's still a factor. Due to diminished relationships with international recyclers, aluminum supply is at an all-time low. Many manufacturers switched from aluminum cans to preserving their goods in glass mason jars. This may have had a far bigger impact than any impact by home canners.
You can reuse canning lids for dry storage, freezer storage, and any number of crafts, 11 Creative Ways to Reuse Flat Mason Jar Lids but we cannot recommend reusing canning lids or the flat part of two piece lids on mason jars for canning purposes. Yes, people do it, but we aren't going to recommend this as a good alternative. There is one reusable substitute for the type of mason jar canning lid that we are talking about, Tattler lids.
They are more expensive but can last you for years. Other food preservation substitutes include dehydrating, freezing, and fermenting foods. Make sure that you know exactly what to do in each scenario. We've covered the basics for freezing food in jars here. We understand limited finances and budget restrictions, but the only thing worse than expensive canning lids is spending during the lid shortage on lids that don't work and don't seal.
Don't be fooled by sites plastered with American flags, just because they are posting flags on every product does not mean the lids are American made. Check how long a company has been operating online we've been online since and check for grammar and punctuation errors as well.
If it sounds off, it probably is. Every canner should watch to make sure their food is canned properly. Mason Jars that don't seal should be refrigerated immediately and used quickly.
Canners who ignore this can have food spoil and go to waste, or worse, experience food poisoning and even death. Amazon and dollar stores might have cheap and appealing lids available during this lid shortage, but is it worth the risk? Not only do you not know what your new lid is made of all of the Newell Brands lids have been BPA-free since at least , it may not be made well, leading to your canning lid failure. Sizes can be off. Yes, a large part of what makes a mason jar so amazing is that it comes in one of two standard sizes, Wide Mouth and Regular Mouth.
If you're buying lids from a cheap overseas supplier, you might find that the wide mouth lids you purchased were made in a hurry and don't actually fit your wide mouth or regular mouth jars well or at all. Keep an eye out for misspelling of common words or strange phrases. If the description uses words like 'silicone' in place of 'plastisol' or 'rubber', you might want to think twice.
Does the company have any history? In , Edmund and Frank started a small business making kerosene containers lined with tin. They soon switched the tin lining to glass, but when their supplier for the glass linings burnt down, they opened their own glass factory in to make the linings themselves. Since they had the glass factory anyway, they decided to make other glass products.
In , they discovered that the Mason jar patent had expired, which meant they could start making them, which they did. By , they pressed their other brothers into service to help with the growing business, and they moved the glass part of the operation to Muncie, Indiana, lured by the city fathers there offering an attractive package including a cash subsidy, free gas, railroad connections and a good deal on the land.
Ball Blue Book, 37th edition, In , the Ball Corporation sold off the Ball Home Canning line; the corporation itself now makes other things such as recyclable metal containers and aerospace products. The Ball logo can often be seen on your favorite can of beer, but is no longer related to the Ball jars bearing the same logo being produced today.
For the history of the Ball Home Canning line since , see the page on Newell. We understand why it might be confusing but those dates are correct. The jars celebrate the th anniversary of the period of incredible innovation that took place at Ball between the years and Screen capture on file.
The lids on the heritage jars are the standard, two-piece mason jar lids used on modern Ball jars. Ball Brothers Glass Manufacturing Company. Accessed July The Perfect Mason. On Amazon, you can see the variety of these jars, and also the household items now being made from them such as soap dispensers and spoon rests: Ball heritage jars.
In , Ball accelerated its push into overseas English-speaking countries. It opened in the UK in June Preserving the British Summertime. Ball Australia. Ball South Africa Site abandoned as of Dec. We reported this to Ball several times in but as of the orphaned domain was still in a vacuum.
Ball UK. Click to enlarge. Ball USA Facebook. Ball on Youtube. For Golden Harvest in Canada, contact Bernardin. Ball is very responsive on their Facebook account. Phone: , Monday through Friday, a. EST to p. EST current as of May The items are all made in the same Newell-owned factories in the states. One notable difference between the two lines is that most Bernardin-branded jars have three flat sides to them, making labelling easier. These small Ball jars can be great for canning single-serve portions of things for friends and family living on their own.
I am looking for the Ball electric canning pot. Do you know where I can get one??? Olde Thompson. Olde Thompson Mason Storage Jar.
Minimum of 2 required to ship. Flute Jar in Clear Set of 4. Glass Fermentation Kit in Clear. Mason Jars. Freezer Jars Set of 3. Back 1. Related Categories. Canning Are you looking for handy canning supplies to preserve fruits and vegetables at home? These include tools, recipes, and detailed instructions.
Moreover, it is an all-in-one set for making canning products under high pressure. The set consists of a duo pressure cooker, canning rack, wrench, jar lifter, wide-mouth funnel, magnetic lid lifter, ladder, and bubble exhaust.
Besides, it comes with a canning recipe book with other thirty recipes.
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