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["Marie McHarry" <mmcharry AT gmail.com>]

 On Jan 9, 2008 10:58 PM, SJC <indexer AT localnet.com> wrote:
> Thanks, but I have tons of jars, so don't need or want to pay for more
> (and the shipping wicked expensive for jars: I don't want to pay for
> that, either), I was simply in hope that I could find a replacement for
> the 'disposable' lid for the jars in common usage.  I already had to
> replace all my jars once (fire) and one time buying hundreds of jars was
> enough!  I was in hopes someone knew maybe where we could get the SS
> lids that were quite reusable, but I guess they've followed dodos...

The only reusables that I can find are the glass lids, and they are no
longer recommended by the USDA because it's not easy to know if they
make a seal. The disposable metal lids give a nice resounding pop when
they seal. They can't be reused because after the first seal the
rubber is not likely to seal correctly, even if the lid isn't bent
from being opened. Those lids are fragile on purpose; you don't want
to be using them again unless you don't worry about dying from
botulism (or don't care about exploding jars on the shelf).

The other old reusable lid was the zinc screw-on lid with a glass
liner. I can't remember if a rubber gasket was used with those, but
that's moot because those aren't made any longer and the old ones
should not be used in canning.

Of course, you can always use really, really old methods like using
fat for sealing, but I have no experience with that.

Marie