How do you open canning jars?

   / How do you open canning jars? #1  

EddieWalker

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We've had a really good year in the garden this year, and my wife has gone crazy canning stuff. Her salsa is AMAZING!!! But now I'm struggling to open the jars.

I had a plastic handled thing that was OK, not great, at getting them lids open, but I broke it last night. Today I really struggled to get the lid off of a jar of salsa for my eggs, and I need to find something that will do this for me.

What do you use? Or even better, what could I buy for my wife to use so I'm not the jar opening guy?

After reading your replies, I'm editing this to clarify that it's the ring that I'm struggling to remove. Some are easy, others take some effort and a few feel like they are welded on.
 
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   / How do you open canning jars? #2  
I assume you mean the ring, right, not the lid... ?

We remove our rings after the jar has sealed....wife washes the jars them and puts them up....then washes the rings for another run. If we get one that won't come off (most do....the longer the are on the jar, the worse they set up...like glue), we simply run it under hot water for a short time....and if that doesn't do it (rare), tap the ring with the back side of a case knife in 3-4 places....that always works.
 
   / How do you open canning jars? #3  
Maybe this will help:

JAR OPENER BUYING GUIDE: how to choose jar opener that works • Jar and Can Openers % %

We've had a really good year in the garden this year, and my wife has gone crazy canning stuff. Her salsa is AMAZING!!! But now I'm struggling to open the jars.

I had a plastic handled thing that was OK, not great, at getting them lids open, but I broke it last night. Today I really struggled to get the lid off of a jar of salsa for my eggs, and I need to find something that will do this for me.

What do you use? Or even better, what could I buy for my wife to use so I'm not the jar opening guy?
 
   / How do you open canning jars? #4  
I assume you mean the ring, right, not the lid... ?

We remove our rings after the jar has sealed....wife washes the jars them and puts them up....then washes the rings for another run. If we get one that won't come off (most do....the longer the are on the jar, the worse they set up...like glue), we simply run it under hot water for a short time....and if that doesn't do it (rare), tap the ring with the back side of a case knife in 3-4 places....that always works.

Case knife? That brings back a lot of memories...but I haven't heard a table knife called a Case knife in 60 years! My Mom always referred to it as a "Case knife".
 
   / How do you open canning jars? #5  
Bottle opener breaks the seal.
 
   / How do you open canning jars? #6  
I assume you mean the ring, right, not the lid... ?

We remove our rings after the jar has sealed....wife washes the jars them and puts them up....then washes the rings for another run. If we get one that won't come off (most do....the longer the are on the jar, the worse they set up...like glue), we simply run it under hot water for a short time....and if that doesn't do it (rare), tap the ring with the back side of a case knife in 3-4 places....that always works.

My wife, Arnold, also removes the rings easily after they are sealed and reuses the rings for the next patch. Worked that way for 40 years. :D
 
   / How do you open canning jars? #7  
We remive the ring after they seal and cool down, then simple opener to pop the lid. We also make salsa, yummmm.

If the ring is a problem, i would think oil filter plyers would work great.
 
   / How do you open canning jars? #8  
Case knife? That brings back a lot of memories...but I haven't heard a table knife called a Case knife in 60 years! My Mom always referred to it as a "Case knife".

Well, we're kinda ole fashioned here....... :D
 
   / How do you open canning jars? #9  
If you mean the ring - run under hot water. If you mean the lid - a "church key". Be gentle with the church key and don't deform the lid.

If you are a brute and DO deform the lid & seal - two layers of Suran Wrap and the ring.
 
   / How do you open canning jars? #10  
Maybe it's self defeating but my wife cans a bunch and we leave the sealing rings on. When it comes time to open a jar of say spaghetti sauce or pickled beets or Kraut (we make a lot of kraut here, I do the work on that), I take a pair of needle nose pliers and grip the rolled edge of the sealing ring and wind the pliers up (just like an old ham can key) from the bottom of the ring to the top and that removes the ring from the jar and then I use an old school can opener to remove the lid. Wife is very particular about her jars and she has many very old blue glass Ball jars.

Works every time and I've never broken a jar. Sealing rings and lids are cheap anyway. Wife buys them in boxes of 50 each.
 
 
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