Tattler Reusable Canning Lids

Purchasing something just to throw it away irks me. Our culture is filled with single use disposable items and I've been trying to eliminate as many as possible from our home.

I think that is one reason I love canning. All those shelves of wonderful jars that can be used year after year.

Except for the lids.

I will admit that I sometimes reuse jar lids (or flats) if they appear in perfect condition but reusing traditional Ball lids isn't reccomended.

That is why I was excited to find out about the Tattler reusable canning lids. These lids were designed to be reused. The lids are made of a hard plastic with a lifetime guaranteed. But, according to the company, in over 30 years, no customer has asked for a replacement.


The lid is fitted with a rubber ring. These, too are reusable though with time may need to be replaced. The lids and rings are fit onto an ordinary glass canning jar with an ordinary metal bands.


I tried using the Tattler lids when making applesauce this fall. It did take a little more time to adjust the two piece lids and rings. When tightening the metal bands, Tattler recommends turning the band back 1/4 inch to allow venting. After removal from the canner, immediately tighten the metal band firmly.


The lids to not have the familiar "ping" sound when cooling to indicate that they have sealed. After cooling completely, remove the metal bands and check by feel if the lids have sealed.

Out of twelve Tattler lids I used the first day, two did not seal. I was disappointed, though occasionally I have a regular Ball lid not seal. I guessed that I did not tighten securely. The next applesauce making day, I reused the two lids, tightened a bit more securely and this time they sealed perfectly.


In all, I was very impressed with the Tattler lids and look forward to gaining more experience with them in the future.

An added benefit (and maybe most important to some canners) is that the lids are BPA free. Apparently Ball lids contain BPA. I always figured that with home canning I was avoiding the BPA in metal cans. Since food didn't actually touch the lids, I didn't lose sleep over it. But for tomatoes and acid foods like pickles which are more prone to BPA problems, I'll probably lean toward using a BPA free product now that I know one is available. To me the reusable quality was more important than BPA free.

Maybe a more significant issue is cost. Tattler lids are not cheap. A pack of three dozen cost 20.95. That is about $7.00 a dozen. I figured that this summer I used 375 lids, over 30 dozen. Buying that many reusable lids is rather daunting and would add to the cost of home canning.

On the other hand, I'm young enough that I may can for 30+ years. By then the cost would be pennies. Then I could hand them down to my daughters, along with my canning jars and stainless steel pots.

I could probably use some lids more than once a season. For example, when I get out a jar of applesauce, I'm using the Tattler lids first. Hopefully by the time I can deer meat in December, I'll be able to reuse my dozen Tattler lids. Is it obvious I'm trying to talk myself into purchasing more?

Do any of you use Tattler lids?

You can find Tattler lids at their website reusablecanninglids.com or call 877-747-2793.
Tattler gave me one dozen issuable lids to review but all opinions in this review are my own.
Thanks to Homestead Revival who first introduced me to Tattler lids.