Do you leave the rings on or off your canning jars?

[freemotion]

An elderly lady who gave me some canning jars told me to store the rings separately to make them last longer, they will not rust so quickly.

It dawned on me today that she may have meant filled jars, too, when I thought she was talking about empty jars, which she was handing to me when she said it.

I just put a batch of catfood into an underbed storage box (fits pint jars perfectly!) and took all the rings off since the lids would not get knocked around in the plastic tote. Had to boot one cat out of the box, he was busily licking all the rims, trying to figure out how to open the jars....poor guy gets so disappointed when we open a jar of pizza sauce, sounds like catfood to him!

So now I am obsessing, as usual. I know this is an opinionated bunch, so, opinions, please?

 

[sylvie]

Off. I have more jars than rings so as I can the rings move to the next batch.

 

[keljonma]

I've seen "remove the rings" on recipes after canning.

I always leave them on.

#1 When you open said jar, how do you reclose it to refrigerate the unused portion, if there is no ring on it?

#2 When you give canned food away, a ring helps prevent any accidents while transporting and allows the end user to close the jar afterwards.

#3 If a jar tips over in the back of a shelf in the pantry, gets knocked about for a few months... the contents are less lucky to spill all over the place. (ask me how I know)

 

[Beekissed]

It varies for me, depending on how distracted I am at the time. Usually those rings come off, as its easier to see at a glance if the lid rim is damaged in some way and may have lost its seal. Plus my mom always taught me to do it that way!

I always save the dandy plastic lids from my generic Miracle Whip bottles, as they are a cheery, kelly green color and they come in handy when recapping canned foods for the fridge. I always screw one on over the lid of any canned goods I give away. This gives them something to cap with and reminds them from whence the jar came....in hopes it finds its way home!

 

[me&thegals]

I take them off once everything is sealed and scrub anything that has leaked out, otherwise it molds on the outside of my jar. Plus, the rings don't rust so badly. When it's time to give it away as a gift or store in the fridge, then I get the rings back out and put them back on.

 

[2dream]

Off for me too. I keep my lids in zip lock bags in my kitchen. When I open something if I need a lid for storage purpose after its opened I just grab a lid and screw it on.

As for storing the cat food I would think you would need the lids on since they are not sealed.

 

[freemotion]

Sounds like 3-ish for off and one for on-ish....

The catfood is sealed, I pressure canned it, Oliver just licks the molecules that may be on the outsides of the jars....he strongly disagrees about how much food he is given!

And Bee, Miracle Whip?!?!? And I was just getting really convinced that you are my evil twin, separated at birth!!

Or should I choose this one?

 

[TanksHill]

I left min on for the first year or so, Now I take them off so I can clean the out side of the jar real well. I keep a ziplock or two around for when I give them away. I bought a box of little white lids that fit the reg mouth jars. Nice to have for the fridge.

 

[nightshade]

I take them off clean the jars and make sure that they sealed. Then I replace the ring with a plastic instant tea jar lid. They fit great. I really like them for over jellies and jams that are sealed with wax instead of the metal lid. They look a lot nicer can be used over more times and clean up easy between uses well.

 

[punkin]

On when they are full and off for storage.