Lids and jars

Even on those lids and jars that seem clean, microorganisms live in abundance that can harm not only blanks, but also health. It is not the microorganisms themselves that are terrible, but their waste products - they are quite poisonous and can provoke severe poisoning. In order not to risk, all jars and lids must be sterilized.

For conservation, it is necessary to choose covers without defects, traces of rust. If their surface is painted, the paint should not be damaged. This leads to corrosion during storage, which negatively affects the products. Both lids and jars should be thoroughly washed - a good result can be achieved with simple baking soda. Then everything is simply washed well with running water.

The so-called "hot sterilization" sometimes confuses housewives. If jars are sterilized different ways- and steamed, and in boiling water, and in microwave oven, and in a conventional oven, it will not work with lids. Metal lids should not be placed in the microwave, they burn in the oven, and plastic treacherously melt.

Cap sterilization methods

Lids can be sterilized in several ways.


The advantages of these methods are obvious: excellent sterilization quality and no additional costs are required.
The oldest and most common method of sterilization, which was successfully used by our grandmothers, is sterilization by boiling. To do this, you need to take a pan and boil in it required amount water, and then simply lower the lids into boiling water. They should be boiled immediately before closing the jars with blanks. They should be kept in boiling water from two to fifteen minutes.

Next, you need to proceed depending on the material from which the covers are made. Nylon can be kept in boiling water just a little bit, otherwise they can be deformed and they won’t fit on the jar. Hot lids should be removed from boiling water with tongs. Let them dry before closing.

There is another way, but it is not suitable for all lids. You can sterilize them in a hot oven - but only metal and only those without rubber inserts. Sterilization time is approximately 10 minutes.


The advantages of the processes are that they are very fast, not laborious, and everyone has ovens and pots, unlike double boilers, for example - they sometimes also sterilize jars and lids.

Sometimes the lids do not warm up at all - some housewives prefer to hold them a little in a solution of furacilin, potassium permanganate or alcohol. This method is suitable for tin, glass, and plastic lids.

In summer, during the conservation season, our task is not only to choose vegetables, fruits and berries, but good recipe, it is also important to choose the right lids for spinning cans. When choosing lids, we are guided mainly by such factors as the convenience of closing / opening the lid and the ability to keep cans with conservation as long as possible. What are the best lids to stock up on in the harvest season - traditional tin lids, twist-off lids, glass or plastic? You will find the answer to this question in this article.

Tin lids with key

This is a classic and proven option over the years. However, it is worth remembering that such covers are not all the same, so when purchasing them, consider the type of blanks that you are going to close. Tin lids are lacquered (yellow) and unlacquered (usually white). As for seaming keys, the principle of their operation is the same for all such covers.

Advantages.
- Good tightness.
- With proper sealing, preservation can be stored for quite a long time, although more than a year is still not recommended, because it is not the lid itself that deteriorates, but the products lose their taste and quality.
- Low price, allowing you to use the caps once.

Flaws.
- The most time-consuming method of preservation.
- In the event of a key malfunction or incorrect tightening, there is a risk of damage to large batches of the product.

How to use. When corking cans with tin lids, a pre-sterilized lid is placed on the neck of the can, pressed tightly, and then rolled up with a key, gradually squeezing the lid by rotating around the neck. It is necessary to crimp so that the rubber ring is sandwiched between the neck of the can and the sheet metal of the lid, and the protrusion on the outer side of the can is pressed into the ring.

Non-lacquered lids can be used to seal jars with not very acidic products, such as jam, jam, compotes, syrups. Lids made of unvarnished white sheet metal are not suitable for preserving sour fruits, as well as fruits and berries with intense color, since the acids and dyes contained in the fruits oxidize tin. Dissolving, it gives canned food an unpleasant aftertaste and an inky purple color.
For sour fruits and berries, vegetable marinades, it is better to use varnished ones, since they are less susceptible to oxidation during storage.

Leak test. You can check the tightness by laying the jar on its side on a towel or other cloth. Gradually rolling it around its diameter, see if air bubbles are released. If this happens, you can try again to gently squeeze the cover. If this does not help, the lid, and sometimes the jar, should be replaced.

Twist-off lids

Twist-off - screw caps for jars with thread. Today, these covers are perhaps the most popular with housewives who make preparations for the winter.

Advantages.
- Ease of use. No seamer or wrench required.
- Duration of conservation storage - more than six months.
- Compared to tin lids, these lids are denser, so there is less risk that they will swell.
- Possibility of repeated use, up to 3-4 times. But only if the cover is not rusted.

Flaws.
- The price of the lid is higher than that of the tin.
- Sometimes it is difficult to open such a cover. True, now it is not at all difficult to buy an opener specifically for such lids.

How to use. A hot lid, heated over steam or in hot water at a temperature of not more than 60 ° C, is screwed and pressed tightly against the glass of the jar. The polymer coating on the inside of the lid, which acts as a gasket (sealant), softens in heat and allows you to close the lid as tightly as possible, without cracks. As it cools, the top of the lid pulls inward (a slight click is heard) and a dry vacuum effect is created inside the jar.

What products are suitable for. Twist-off lids are suitable for all types of preservation: salads, compotes, cucumbers, tomatoes or marinated mushrooms.
Twist-off lids, like tin ones, come with different internal coatings (more or less resistant to chemical attack). And if you have a rather sour product in your jar (sour fruit compote, sour juice or marinade), then it’s better to take lids with a thick layer of varnish.

Leak test. Closed jars can be checked for leaks when cool by turning them upside down. If the lid is closed tightly, water should not leak. In winter, when you open a jar, remember that when you open it for the first time, a loud pop should be heard - this will mean that the canned food has not fermented and is not swollen. If you notice that the lid on the jar is swollen, the product is spoiled and should not be eaten.

Glass lids

Due to the fact that such lids for ordinary cans are almost never produced, many consider them a rarity. However, some housewives still continue to use them, and apparently not in vain.

Advantages.
- The most environmentally friendly type of lids.
- Easy to use.
- There is no need to worry about buying lids in advance, since glass lids are always at hand, and for more than one year.

Flaws.
- In our time, such covers are difficult to buy.
- The shelf life of preservation is less long.

How to use . An elastic rubber ring is placed between the jar and the sterilized lid. And from above, such covers are pressed with a special clamp.

What products are suitable for. Typically, these lids are used for thick jams, jam, salted sorrel.
Leak test. As in the previous two cases, the jar is either turned upside down or placed on its side.

Plastic lids

This type should not be confused with kapron (transparent) covers. Plastic lids are usually opaque and come in a variety of colors. They are much denser than kapron ones, and they also close tighter.

Advantages.
- Easy to use.
- These lids are easy to open.

Flaws.
- Only suitable for certain types of conservation.
- Do not provide long-term storage.

How to use. To seal the jar, the lid is heated in hot water (70-80 ° C) for 2-3 minutes and put on the neck of the jar. For high-quality preservation of products, choose tight polyethylene lids that cannot be used to seal a jar without preheating them.

What products are suitable for. Polyethylene lids are well suited for canning with a lot of sugar when there is no risk of overpressure from fermentation. Jams and jams will be stored longer if you put a circle of white paper soaked in vodka or alcohol under the lid (on the jam). The alcoholized piece of paper will collect the mold (if it suddenly appears) and you can throw away the damaged piece of paper by putting a new piece of paper on top of the jam.

Very little time will pass - one or two months - and the annual folk fun “Operation Conservation” starts. Experienced housewives they roll up for the winter everything that grows in the garden, in the garden and in the forest. The strategic reserves of cans and lids are estimated in advance, the missing components are purchased, and even innovations in the field of blanks. On the eve of the season, it will not be superfluous to recall familiar technologies or learn new ones.

To create canned culinary masterpieces, lids, glass jars and necessary devices are used - sealing keys of various modifications, pumps, sterilization containers, etc.

Let's start with the lids. Tin (metal) and polyethylene (plastic) lids are used to preserve supplies. The most familiar and affordable are tin lids made by stamping. What should I pay attention to when using these covers? Firstly, such a cover must have a recess of sufficient depth for the sealing rubber ring, there must be no burrs and stamping defects along the edge of the cover. From the inside, the tin cover must be covered with a protective varnish layer. How good it is, you can check this: moisten a cotton swab with acetone and rub the lacquer surface. Quality varnish acetone will not dissolve. It is desirable that stiffening ribs are pressed out around the circumference of the lid, this will allow the lid to increase strength. Tin lids are recommended to be used once. Sterilize tin lids in boiling water for no longer than 3 minutes, otherwise the rubber ring may be deformed. The rubber in the lid should not tear from a little effort. The lid fits the jar if, being put on hot on the neck of the jar, it does not move (there is no play). The shelf life of the tin lid is no more than 3 years and it must be stored in a dry place.


More convenient, recognized by hostesses, are lids called “twist-off” (eng. unscrew), or colloquially, such lids are called screw lids. The lids are slightly more expensive than regular tin lids, but are quite affordable and can be used twice or thrice if used carefully. You can check whether the lid will hold well, as follows: pour water into the appropriate jar (with a thread) and close it with a screw cap without much effort, turn the jar over onto a napkin. If no drops of water appear on the napkin, then the lid will seal such a jar securely. Twist-off closures are suitable for sealing all types of preservation. Close the lid on the jar should be hot and with the contents of the jar hot. Lids can be sterilized in boiling water. Such lids can be opened with a special key or after heating the lid to t + 60 °, it can be easily opened manually. A feature of the screw cap is a valve located in the center, which becomes convex if fermentation processes occur with the contents of the jar.


For capping mainly sweet canned food, polyethylene caps are used. These lids are thicker than regular lids. Being cold, they will not fit on the neck of the jar, only hot they are easily placed where they are needed. Keep in boiling water to sterilize the thermal cover (as they are also called) should be no more than 15 seconds. The lid is usually marked "for preservation". It is advisable to use thermal covers once, since polyethylene is often deformed and cannot provide tightness.


The newest, most expensive, most reliable and reusable lids are vacuum. The vacuum cover is a convex plastic dome with a valve in the center. Complete with a cover there is a pump connected to the valve. This pump pumps air out of the jar, thereby creating a vacuum in which microflora does not develop. Although the lid is not cheap, but its cost is justified: the lid can be used 200 times. The vacuum cap can be sterilized in just a few seconds. What else is good about such a lid is that it can be left on the neck of the jar (we took several vegetables from the jar and again pumped out the air with a pump, the product does not deteriorate). These lids can be used on cans with or without cutting.


Some Helpful Tips

1. Pay attention to glass jar: if a “seam” is visible along the can, then such a can is more likely to burst. At the bottom of the jar there is an imprint of the year of manufacture. If the jar is many years old, then it is better not to use it for conservation.

2. If glass chips are noticeable on the neck of the jar, even small ones, then such a jar cannot be placed under the seaming key.

3. It is better not to preserve in plastic dishes, it is harmful to health.

4. An uncorked jar of pickles from mold and fermentation, even in the refrigerator, will be protected by an ordinary pharmacy mustard plaster placed under a regular plastic lid (put the mustard layer down).

In this article we will tell you how to choose the right canning lid SKO 1-82.

As before, the SKO 82 canning lid is very popular; it is widely used by housewives at home and canning factories on an industrial scale, as they have higher reliability and resistance to mechanical and damage.

The canning lid SKO 1-82 is used to hermetically close the jar. In the process of twisting (rolling) the SKO-82 cover, special seaming machines are used.

The most important and basic rule of successful preservation is sterility. What is a canning lid made of? The canning lid SKO 82 is a tin circle, slightly concave in the middle, to control the tightness, and curved edges that are needed to wrap around the jar and a sealing rubber ring (Wickel ring). The ring should fit snugly against the walls of the lid and not stretch. The thickness of the tin from which the SKO 82 cover is made is difficult to determine by eye. Let's just say that for conscientious sellers, one canning lid SKO 82 will weigh at least 0.14 g.

Important:

Stiffening ribs are convex rings on the surface of the SKO 82 canning lid. It is very important that the lid has stiffening ribs and preferably two. Stiffening ribs provide additional strength to the entire structure of the SKO 82 cover.

The SKO 82 lid begins its journey with a roll of EZhK tinplate. The roll is cut into sheets and then varnished with food varnish or lithographed (drawing a picture, images, inscriptions, etc.) to make the lid resistant to an aggressive environment from the outside and inside of the lid. Pay attention to color and shade. The canning lid SKO 82 should be covered with food varnish, but the inner coating of the lid is more important for us.

Try to use a canning lid SKO 82, with a silver or mother-of-pearl design on the inside. This color means that a food varnish was used in the production. This lid reliably preserves food during canning, is resistant to aggressive environments and oxidation.

The next stage is cutting the sheet into special shapes, after which the cover with two stiffening ribs is cut and stamped. The lid is completed with a rubber ring made of food grade rubber and packed in a thermal film. The total weight of the lid is not less than 0.14 g.

In order to choose a high-quality lid, you need to take the lid out of the package and pay attention to how the lid is covered with food varnish on both sides or on one side, whether there are chips or scratches on the lid, whether the golden color is uniform. If you plan to preserve pickled vegetables with vinegar or sour berries, then the lid must be covered with food varnish on both sides. Pay special attention to the rubber ring, it should be elastic, not crack and crumble when bent. The quality and reliable storage of products, as well as the shelf life of your favorite preserves, depends on how high-quality the SKO lid is.

With the onset of the warm season, any housewife only gets more trouble. First you need to plant something on the site in time, and then still find the strength to harvest. After that, many are faced with the problem - how to save it so that in winter you can regale your household? The main way to preserve berries and vegetables is conservation.

This method has undergone many changes over the years of its existence. Everyone remembers the old seamers. Many use them to this day. The disadvantage of this device is that it must be used with great care. With a little more effort than required, you will get a jar with a damaged neck, which you will not be able to use in the future. But as a result of numerous tests, today housewives know how to properly roll up cans with a typewriter.

But everything is changing, and the old cans have been replaced by new ones, the lids of which are twisted. That is why more and more housewives are asking this question: "How to roll up jars with screw caps?"

Operating principle

Screw caps are called twist-offs and have been used for preservation in Western countries for a long time. The essence of their principle of work is as follows. On the inside of the lid there is a special polymer coating that acts as a gasket. Under the influence of high temperature, it expands and tightly seals the jar. With a decrease in temperature, as it cools, the top of the lid is pulled inward, which is accompanied by a slight click. As a result, a vacuum effect is created in the bank. Therefore, before rolling jars with screw caps, it is necessary to heat the caps.

Terms of Use

Most housewives, after looking at their neighbors or girlfriends, decide to purchase such lids for themselves, but they don’t know how to roll up jars with screw lids. There is nothing complicated here. First you need to sterilize the jars in the same way as regular jars. At the same time, this can be done with covers. The temperature for the lids should not exceed 60 degrees. Otherwise, this will lead to the destruction of the polymer coating.

The heated lid is placed on a jar ready for seaming. In this case, it is necessary to ensure that the grooves on the lid exactly coincide with the stripes on the jar. And more important is the inspection of the can, or rather the neck, before

Quality control

In order to check and relieve yourself of worries about the reliability of the conservation performed, set closed banks neck down. In this position, they should stand for at least 2 days. If during this time no smudges appeared, and the lid did not swell, then you can safely hide the jars in the cellar or basement.

How to open such a bank?

You can hear from housewives more than once that it is very difficult to open such banks. And if there are no problems with how to close jars with screw caps, then it can be impossible to open them. In order to do this, you need to know a little secret: just turn the jar over and hit the bottom with your palm. Then screw on the lid.

Thus, from the above, we can conclude that the use of new jars with screw caps has made life much easier for housewives. This preservation method is suitable for those who do not want to mess around in the kitchen for a long time or do not know how to roll jars with a machine.