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Anchor Hocking pint jars -- bad lids :(.

5 years ago

Just thought I'd warn you all. Or maybe I am the last person to learn this :-).

I bought some of the cute square half pints from Anchor Hocking, and some regular mouth pint jars. The half pints seem to be fine, but the pint jars, quite a few of the lids don't seal.

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Comments (6)

digdirt2
5 years ago
I didn't even realize A-H was selling jars for canning. All the ones I have seen were sold as "for crafts only". You know for candles, soaps, lotions, and other decorative items.

Still there can be many reasons for lids not sealing no matter what brand they are. Can you give us more details such what foods, what processing, etc.? It would seem if the lids would seal on the small jars they sure should on the larger ones too with the longer processing times unless the rims are chipped.

Dave
theforgottenone1013 (SE MI zone 5b/6a)
5 years ago
I've used the Anchor Hocking lids with their half pint jars without issue. I actually love the look of the squat, squared half pints. Like Dave, I can't imagine the lids being the reason they didn't seal. I haven't used the pints but I wonder if the rims of the jars are thicker or maybe warped in some way.

Rodney
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I had the strangest thing happen yesterday. I had the whole spiel typed out to tell you all and got booted so just dropped the thing. I went into Walmart to buy a roll of masking tape to use on my marking tables today at the Farmer"s Market. Thought I'd cruise down the canning isle and see if they had restocked lids. I didn't need any but just wanted to check. To my surprise all the canning supplies were marked down with those big red and black stickers they use. Quart and pint Ball jars were $5. Wide mouth and reg. were the same. Lids were $1. reg. and $1.50 wide mouth. The platinum wide mouth jars were $2.50 for the four pack. Ball salt $1. I bought 20 doz. of each size lid and 6 doz. of reg quarts and pints. The new freezer jam packs were $2. I bought 6 pks. I did leave a lot there but spent over $100. I got home thinking what a bargain. Very seldom do canning supplies go on sale here. This is a farming community. When I got home I realized I forgot the masking tape. So, after dinner I went back [it's just around the corner] and picked up the tape and went to check the canning isle and everything was back to the original price. Evidently someone marked things down in error. The blue enamel canner with rack was still $13. though.
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I hit the jackpot on Craig's List several years ago. Someone was cleaning out an old dilapidated house and advertised canning jars. Pints, Quarts, Half's. 5, 10, 25 cents each. I sent them a note and told them I'd take all they had no matter how many there were. When they said there were more at the house, I offered to meet them there and they were afraid I'd get hurt so they declined that. They put a bunch in wood crates, fruit boxes, any other cardboard they could find. I think I ended up with over 1000 total for about $145. I gave them $160 for the effort and the wood crates that I didn't expect, and just because... And so they didn't have to give me change. It was so worth it. There are several charity thrift stores locally that sometimes sell them for 25 or 50 cents each. I've quit buying pints and quarts unless they're wide mouth. But I'll buy 4, 8, or 12 ounce for 50 cents or less. There are sometimes Classico jars or actual canning jars at the recycling stations that I'll collect if they're not too busy. Sometimes they have lids. I have also washed jars in the back yard a number of times before running them through the dish washer inside. Rather not have all that dirt end up in my septic tank. I used to not think about that until I started thinking about that. That dirt/mud does not go anywhere once it ends up there. I wash big dirt off of veggies outside as well. Chris
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nila42
Original Author
5 years ago
Well, that's an interesting question. I didn't examine the rims of the jars that didn't seal. I just used the jars again in my next canning one, with different Lids.

I wonder if those were the ones that got the vintage lids that didn't seal -- maybe the jars are a factor, too. I didn't notice any unevenness when I was wiping the edges before tightening the lids, but I wasn't looking for that.
nila42
Original Author
5 years ago
You folks were right -- it was the jars.

They're labeled for preserving, but I don't think the manufacturing processes are up to the job.

I checked a couple of the ones that didn't seal, and they have a palpable dip at one point along the edge. They both felt the same, so maybe they came out of the same mold or whatever.
annie1992
5 years ago
nila, I'm glad you posted this. I saw some of those Anchor Hocking jars today, the little square half pints, as well as some Ball "Stars and Stripes" pints. I'm a sucker for neat jars, but controlled myself and didn't buy either. Now I'm glad that I at least passed up the Anchor Hocking, in spite of the "Made in the USA" label.

Annie
theforgottenone1013 (SE MI zone 5b/6a)
5 years ago
Well that is unfortunate but I suspected there was something off about the pints if they were all failing. I would contact the company and report the issue. It is hard to imagine that they let them get through quality control like that and I would expect the company to try to make things right.

Annie- The squared half pint Anchor Hocking jars are fine. I've got some jars that have been sealed for a year and a half. I will buy them again in the future but I will be staying clear of the pints (except maybe for crafts) after reading Nila's bad luck with them.

Rodney

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