I wish that Ball would again make lids for the "narrow" mouth 63mm jars, lids for "gem" mouth 78mm jars, & #10 rubbers and rings for the 3-piece glass lids for the "regular" mouth 70mm jars. Ball stopped making #10 rubbers in the mid-1990's after Presto stopped making the glass lids. The #10 rubbers are the exact size rubber used on Hamilton Beach blenders, the ones that you can use with a mason jar. Also would be nice if we could get new rings for the jars (can't remember what they're called) that the shoulder is half a cm higher than "normal" mason jars. I think they first came out in WW2. We only have a few of these rings left that haven't rusted through. The only place I've seen new jars of this type is what Kraft Real Mayo comes in, so I do know that the jars are at least still being made. We have a LOT of old mason jars that we can't use regularly that we would like to use. They're too valuable to toss, but they're also taking valuable space. Oh well. Also, I haven't seen new 1-1/2 cup short wide mouth jars in years, nor the 3-cup regular mouth jars that are the same height as the pints, only a little wider in the body. Similar to Fluff jars, but Fluff jars are 2-1/2 cups, not 3.

Yes, I do get Ball email, and this was one of them. The survey did cover the basic questions, but when it came to the amount of jars, they left the maximum amount to the words 'or more', which is not a good answer, if you consider what we do can every year. I do agree that the packaging they do now does put pressure on the seal area of the lids, but once you put the lids in simmering water, the seal will go back to a normal smooth surface wiuthout that indented groove it had at the start. MIne have always had good seals once they were on the jars and screwed the rings on.

Hi everyone....just thought you might want to know that Ball Canning and Recipes has a Facebook page and people are posting "bring back the pint and a half jar"....if you are a member on Facebook please post your request. So far I've counted about 35 people that have posted. After you sign into Facebook just do a search on "ball canning and recipes". It is also a great source for ideas. Spread the word, and I'm hoping that we can keep this post going....thanks! Here is a link that might be useful: Ball Canning and Recipes Facebook Page

Sorry, didn't mean you needed to list them all. :) Just meant give us a couple of specific recipe examples where your results have been way off so we could look up the recipe and maybe help ID what may be the cause. Surprisingly, based on posts in the past, most seem to find they get more jars than less and so prepare more jars rather then less. But some examples of general causes of a big difference between the recipe's predictions and results of much less: 1) as with coralb's post above - using the wrong size of jars 2) accidentally leaving out an ingredient and not realizing it - happens more often than you might think especially for new folks and some recent posts here on just that issue 3) mistakes in measuring as Linda Lou mentioned 4) chopping/grinding/dicing - all those terms mean very different things to some folks and particle size can make a BIG difference in the end result. This is especially common with chutneys and relishes. Chutneys are typically a very coarse chop while relishes are a very find chop or a grind. So if you grind chutney ingresients you'll get less jars. 5) over-packing the jars with solids and not enough liquid (the most common cause by far and the only one that poses a potential safety issue). People tend to over-cram either to make it look like store-bought to to avoid having left overs. Especially common when doing tomatoes whole or in halves. 6) over-cooking before jarring results is softer, more compact food particles - BIG effect on tomatoes. 7) the food quality/juiciness controls the amount of liquid A point about Sure Jell vs. the other pectins. Sure Jell is a much harder set than the other brands, especially the Ball Brand pectins. So with Sure Jell's rock-hard set you will often get less 1/2 pint jars. One reason why many of us don't like to use Sure Jell and prefer Ball or Pomona. Personally I'll use Certo if I have to before I'll use Sure Jell. But the important issue is safety of the foods and when done properly the foods should be safe even if it is a jar off. Hope this helps some and if you haven't, consider purchasing the Ball Complete Book of Home Food Preserving. Dave PS: is your BBB the new edition? There have been many changes.