Tattler Reusable Lids — Do They Work?

Tattler reusable canning lids continue to be the subject of controversy. Some home canners love them. Others can’t seem to make them work. So what are Tattler reusable lids? And more to the point, do they or don’t they seal?

What Are Tattler Lids?

Tattler reusable lids consist of three pieces: a rubber gasket, a flat plastic disk, and a metal screw-on band. S&S Innovations manufactures these lids and sells them under the Tattler brand. They are a product of USA, BPA free, and dishwasher safe.

The lids are reusable as long as they remain undamaged. The rubber gaskets are also reusable provided they don’t get cut, stretch out of shape, or lose flexibility.

Tattler lids come in boxes of a dozen or in bulk quantities. The lids come standard with the rubber gaskets, but not with screw-on metal bands. The bands are identical to those used with single-use metal Jarden lids (such as Ball or Kerr). Metal bands and replacement gaskets for Tattler lids may be purchased separately.

Initially, Tattler lids are more expensive than single-use metal lids. But since they may be reused, they are considerably cheaper in the long run. Of course if you are canning foods to give as gifts or offer at a farmer’s market, your expensive Tattler lids would become unavailable for reuse.

How To Apply a Tattler Lid

Tattler lids are applied in a slightly different way from the metal lids made by Jarden. If you are already using two-piece Jarden lids, the Tattler process takes a bit of getting used to. Here’s the procedure:

1. Wash and rinse lids and gaskets.

2. Place lids and gaskets in simmering water until you are ready to use them. I put them in a sauce pan full of water, bring them to a simmer on the stove top, then move the pan to a hot plate.

3. Using a canning funnel, properly fill each jar according to your recipe. Head space typically will be 1/4 inch for jam, preserves, pickles, relish, and juice; 1/2 inch for fruit, tomatoes, and sauerkraut; 1 inch for soup, meat, poultry, seafood, and most vegetables.

4. Check for (and eliminate) air bubbles in the food, then wipe the jar rim with a clean, damp paper towel.

5. Place a gasket and lid combination on the jar. When reusing a gasket, place the grooved side against the jar, smooth side against the lid.

6. Place a metal band over the lid and screw it down (see below: “How Tight Is Tight Enough?”).

7. Using a jar lifter, place the jar in the canner for processing. Regardless of the type of canner used, the water in the canner should be hot, but not boiling.

8. With all the jars in the canner, process according to the recipe you are using. An excellent source for safe canning recipes is the National Center for Home Food Preservation. I go there often to check current safety guidelines for my favorite canning recipes.

9. When the processing time is up, turn off the heat.

10. Remove the lid from a water bath or steam canner and let the canner cool for 10 minutes. For a pressure canner, wait until the pressure drops to zero, then remove the pressure regulator and let the canner cool for 10 minutes.

11. Remove the jars from the canner and wait until the food stops bubbling in the jars. Then firmly retighten the bands to ensure a good seal (never retighten Jarden lids!). Some people like to use a jar wrench to retight hot bands (and to loosen sticky bands after the jars cool). Preferring a hands-on approach, I use a set of potholders, one to hold the jar and the other to tighten the band.

12. Let jars cool, untouched, for at least 12 hours. Then remove the metal bands and test each jar to make sure it sealed (see below: “Did It Seal?”). To loosen a sticky band, simply run tap water over the lid.

Did It Seal?

A downside to Tattler lids is that they don’t “pop” when they seal. Those of us who learned to can with metal lids, consciously or unconsciously count the number of pops as jars cool. With Tattler lids the jars must be completely cool and the metal bands removed before you find out if all your jars sealed. The wait can be nerve-racking when you first start out.

The same vacuum pressure that would seal a metal lid pulls the plastic Tattler lid against the rubber gasket to form a tight seal. After the jars are cool and the bands removed, you can tell a seal is tight by lifting the jar by its lid. If the lid comes off the jar, the seal failed. You then have the choice to either process it again or eat it soon.

Some people argue that Tattler lids can’t seal because the plastic disk lacks flexibility. That’s complete nonsense. For more than 100 years, Europeans have safely canned with Weck canning jars, which have inflexible glass lids and rubber gaskets. Tattler reusable lids work the same way as Weck’s glass lids.

How Tight Is Tight Enough?

A cause of anxiety for many home canners is learning to screw metal bands onto Tattler lids with just the right amount of tension before placing jars in the canner. Processing a jar with a too-tight band won’t allow air to excape from the jar, preventing development of a vacuum.

Just the right tension is “fingertip tight.” A helpful way to learn correct tension is to practice with a jar filled with water to within one inch of the top.

Place the jar on the counter. Place a gasket, lid, and metal band on the jar. With one finger lightly touching the center of the lid for stability, use the other hand to screw down the band just to the point of resistance. The point of resistance occurs when the jar just starts to turn on the counter. The band is now “fingertip tight.”

You can test your technique by turning the jar sideways. With a “fingertip tight” seal, water won’t leak from the jar.

My Experience with Tattler Lids

When I first tried Tattler reusable lids I had been canning for more than 45 years. So I figured how hard could it be? Still, I purchased only a few dozen as a sample. All went well, so I bought 400 more.

As luck would have it, between my two purchases the design had changed to the current E-Z Seal style. So when I started experiencing failed seals, I attributed it to having to learn to use the new design — the only thing I could think of that had changed. But no matter how hard I tried, things just didn’t improve.

Like every home canner, I am used to experiencing an occasional failed seal, but with Tattler lids my failure rate eventually reached an unacceptable 50%.

I contacted the company and connected with owner Loren Stieg. To his credit, Loren spent time like he had it going over the Tattler procedure with me. During the course of the next two years (not a misprint!), he and I repeatedly discussed every possible reason for failed seals, trying to pinpoint the cause.

Finally Loren gave up. So did I. Canning was no longer fun. In fact, I grew to dread it. Even after I returned to using metal lids I couldn’t shake the anxiety of experiencing so many failed seals.

My co-canner, husband Allan, was all for tossing out the Tattler lids as a bad investment. But I kept thinking that some day those lids may be the only way we had to can what we grow.

Well, that time came much sooner than I expected. In the summer of 2020 we started running out of metal lids. As we quickly learned, if we found any at all, they were at usurious prices.

Coincidentally, while using up the last of our metal lids, I noticed that some of my metal bands were no longer threading smoothly. So Allan and I went through our numerous bands and threw out any that didn’t look brand new.

Faced with a garden burgeoning with produce ready to can, and no other options, we reluctantly began again to use the Tattler lids. This time, no problem! It seems the same old metal bands we had repeatedly used to successfully seal metal lids were causing most of our problems using Tattler lids.

What We Learned

Before I connected with Loren, Allan and I had chewed over every possible cause of failed seals. And then Loren and I went over all the same details. Here’s the gist:

A common cause of failed seals is food residue between a jar’s rim and the lid. Food residue may come from overfilling a jar (leaving too little headspace). I discovered early on that Tattler lids are more sensitive to slight overfilling, compared to metal lids. I resolved that issue by using a head space measurer.

Food residue may also cling to used gaskets and lids when jars are opened. To ensure removal of old residual food, I toss recently used gaskets and lids in the dishwasher small-parts basket. I wash them again before reusing them for canning.

After jars are processed, making the mistake of retightening bands before the food stops bubbling causes seals to fail. Some seals may appear to be good, but then they release later while the jars are in storage. So waiting for bubbling to stop is definitely part of the Tattler learning curve.

Another part is scrutinizing metal bands for imperfections. Now, I immediately toss any bands that don’t screw down right the first time or that tarnish or develop any other blemish.

Like most home canners, I experience fewer failures using a steam or water bath canner than when pressure canning. But either way, the failure rate is now the same for Tattler lids as for metal lids. In both cases, failed seals are few enough that we just refrigerate the not-sealed food and serve it right way.

Pros and Cons

What I like least about Tattler lids is that you have to be super vigilant not to retighten lids while food in the jars is still bubbling. Also I still want to listen for the lids to “pop” when they create a vacuum.

What I love about Tattler lids, aside from the fact that they’re made in the USA, is that they’re reusable. So no longer do I worry about running out of lids, only to find that none are to be had. Also, having reusable lids is a huge money saver for those of us who grow most of what we eat.

Finally, unlike metal lids, which eventually rust, Tattler lids are non-corroding. Processed correctly, canned food keeps longer when sealed with Tattler lids.