We have used these lids several times now, and find them to be very effective.  By following their detailed instructions for use, we have yet to have a jar not seal properly.  Their instructions are printed on the side of the box, and are listed on their website:

1. Inspect top of jar for cracks and nicks.
2. Wash, rinse and sterilize jars. Scald lids and rubber rings. Leave in water until ready to use.
3. Fill jars as indicated per canning instructions for that food type.
4. Wipe top of jar after filling. Place lid and rubber ring combination on jar.
5. Screw band on jar loosely. Center lid on jar and hold in place with finger while you finish tightening the metal band, THEN TURN BACK 1/4 INCH. Product must be allowed to vent during processing.
6. Process as per instructions for various foods.
7. TIGHTEN METAL BAND FIRMLY IMMEDIATELY UPON REMOVAL FROM CANNER.
8. When jars have cooled, remove metal band and determine by feel if lids are securely sealed. Sealed jars may be stored without metal bands if desired.
9. When removing lid gently insert table knife between rubber and jar to release seal — DO NOT USE SHARP KNIFE.
10. Wash plastic lids and rubber rings, rinse, dry and store for future use. Do not save any rubber ring which is cut or deformed.

While Tattler’s reusable lids are a little bit more work to use, they’re well worth the effort.  These lids have a number of worthwhile benefits.

Knowing that corrosion won’t be a problem, you don’t have to worry as much about the shelf-life of pickles and other high acidity canned goods.

By reusing the lids, you don’t have old lids to throw out.  Less waste is always a good thing.

They are made in the USA, so if you prefer domestically produced products (as we do), these are a great choice.  The major manufacturers of the traditional canning lids are also in the USA, so this isn’t really a benefit over the alternatives, but is still a good thing.

These lids are BPA free.  The disposable metal lids from the major producers have a thin lining of plastic on the inside (presumably for corrosion resistance).  This plastic lining apparently contains BPA.

They’re convenient.  By being able to reuse lids, that means fewer trips to the store to buy lids.  It also means you have the peace of mind of knowing that you’re not dependent on having to find/buy lids to be able to can.

After very few uses, these lids are more economical.  If you get quite a few uses out of them, they’re A LOT more economical.

A normal package (1 dozen) of wide mouth canning lids usually costs a little over $3.25 plus tax at a local grocery store.  After shipping, minus tax, the price to buy them online is similar, but probably higher for small volumes, lower for large volumes.  If we assume $3.50 per package, that’s $0.29 per lid.  Not bad.

Buying direct from the manufacturer, Tattler lids are sold in packs of 3 dozen for $23.95 plus shipping ($9.35 to where we are located).  This means the total cost of each lid (shipping included) is $0.93 (rounded).

Given those prices, a Tattler reusable lid only has to be reused 4 times to more than make up for its price.  They make the claim that their lids, when properly used, will “last a lifetime.”  In their frequently asked questions section, Tattler claims that they have had reports of their customers using their lids for more than 20 years.  They indicate that in general if you’re careful with the lids and only use them as recommended they should last many years.  A pack of new rubber rings is only $2.50 per dozen plus shipping, making them cheaper than regular lids.  Even if you had to replace your rubber rings after every use, they could still be cheaper than using regular lids (after the initial investment).

Our ONLY hesitation in using these lids is that we often give canned food away and don’t want to give these lids away with it.  For this reason, when we can something we think we’re likely to give away, we’ll still be using the normal metal disposable lids on at least a couple jars, so we won’t feel like hanging onto them just for the lids.

We will be buying a few more packs of these each year, hopefully acquiring enough to use them for most of our canning.  It would be nice too to be able to have enough to not feel bad about giving them away on jars of canned food, especially to other canners who might thereby discover them.

Check them out, they’re well worth your time.

Since we find we don’t usually get through canned cherries, and since we found our brandied peaches to be a fantastic success, we decided to make brandied cherries.

The recipe we developed is an amalgamation of several recipes we found online, including:

• New York Times Recipe: Brandied Cherries
• Chicagoist: Simple Canning: Brandied Cherries
• Imbibe Magazine: Lu’s Brandied Cherries
• Sloshed: Brandied Cherries

Here is what we came up with (per quart of stemmed, pitted cherries):

• 1 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/3 cup brandy
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 stick cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 6 Reserved cherry pits

For each quart of cherries, combine 1 cup of sugar (reserving 1/4 cup for later), the water, lemon juice, and cinnamon in a pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer at least 3 minutes to infuse cinnamon. Remove cinnamon.

Add cherries, quickly bring back to a boil, and simmer 2 minutes, then remove from heat. Place 3 cherry pits in the bottom of each pint jar, or 6 in the bottom of each quart jar. Using a slotted spoon, strain cherries and load into jars, leaving a little more than 1 inch of headspace.

Return syrup to heat and add remaining sugar. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer 2 minutes. Remove from heat, let stand a moment to cool, then add vanilla and brandy. Mix in quickly, and pour the syrup over the cherries, using a knife to remove air bubbles and pack the cherries. Leave 1 inch to 3/4 inch headroom.

Seal the jars and process in a steam or water bath cannner for 15 minutes. Allow to age at least 4 months before opening.

The cherry pits are supposed to add a slightly almond-like flavor to the cherries. You can, alternatively, brandy whole cherries with the pits in, but then you have to worry about dealing with the pits when they are eaten.

This is our first experience with the brandied cherries, but if they’re anything like the peaches, we imagine they will be excellent with ice cream, in beverages, or as a garnish to other deserts.

We had syrup left over, so we went ahead and canned that too, as we did with the excess syrup from our brandied peaches. The difference here is that this syrup already has the brandy in it. This syrup can be cooked down to use as a desert sauce, or used as a sweetener/flavoring for drinks.

Bread and Butter pickle recipes often call for onions.  We figured we’d try them without the cucumber.

Our recipe is adapted from a traditional Bread and Butter pickle recipe called Bread ‘n Butter from Pickles and Relishes: From Apples to Zucchinis, 150 recipes for preserving the harvest, which was in turn adapted from a number of sources.  The recipe printed there does note that the brine works well for onions alone, but we had to adapt the measures to account for that change, and also reduced the amount of bell pepper called for, along with a few other small changes simply made because of preference.

It goes as follows:

• 16 cups of sliced onions (sliced with a food processor’s slicing blade works very well)
• 1 yellow, orange, or red bell pepper, sliced
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1/3 cup pickling salt
• 3 trays of ice cubes
• 5 cups sugar
• 3 cups cider vinegar
• 2 Tablespoons brown mustard seeds
• 1 1/2 teaspoons celery seeds
• 1 1/2 teaspoons turmeric

Combine the onions, pepper, garlic, and salt in a non-reactive bowl or container.  Add ice.  Mix well and let stand for 3 hours.

Drain the vegetables and combine them in a non-reactive pot with the remaining ingredients.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat.

Ladle into hot, sterilized jars, leaving 1/2 inch headspace.  Seal and process in water-bath or steam canner for 10 minutes.

This recipe yields about 6 pint plus some leftover brine.

These pickles are good on the occasional burger, or on a hotdog in lieu of sauerkraut.  The main way we’ve enjoyed them has been over rice, with a fried egg and some soy sauce.

To do this just peel, then shred the onions in a food processor.  Fill your crock pot with them to its capacity.  Turn its temperature to low and put the lid on, slightly canted, or with an edge propped up, so some moisture can escape.  We also added a couple pinches of kosher salt to ours, to try to draw out more moisture, but this probably isn’t necessary.

Come back and stir them every few hours.  When you’re gone for the day, or asleep at night, make sure the crock pot is on its lowest setting.  On ours the lowest setting is warm.  This will keep it warm enough to keep bacterial growth at bay, and will continue the caramelization, but should keep it from burning while you can’t stir it.

After several batches, we found that the onions reliably reduced to about one cup for each quart of shredded onion.

The onions are finished when they are a deep brown color, and when they have stopped reducing.  The time will depend on the water and sugar content of the onions, and on the volume and temperature of your crock pot.  In our 5.5 quart crock pot, on the warm setting at night and the low setting during the day, with Walla Walla Sweet onions, an average batch seems to be taking about 30 hours.

When completed, ladle into food storage bags, small canning jars, or other freezer-tight/safe and convenient containers.  I used half-cup and cup measures so I had a couple convenient volumes I could pull out of the freezer to use.

Since we’re still processing these, we haven’t used them much yet.  We suspect their texture will break down to some extent when thawed.  They will probably be best added to soups and stocks or sauces, or anywhere else where the flavor is desirable but their form and texture won’t matter as much.

Best of luck!

We ordered 2 different peach trees, 3 different grape fines, and 3 wintergreen plants.

The packaging on these plants was fantastic.  They were very secure and well packaged.  Everything was in great shape, nothing broken, and roots still moist.

What impressed us most about our experience with Raintree was the instruction manual they included.  This had instructions for planting and caring for all of the different plants they sell.  It also had great information about how to store the plants themselves if you couldn’t plant right away.

The only thing they could have done better was to be more communicative about when the plants were coming.  We knew they would ship in the spring, but not when, and we only had two days notice when we got the UPS notification.  This was a minor problem though.

We will certainly be using Raintree in the future for nut trees, more fruit trees, and various berry bushes.