Remove rings before storing

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Interesting article. I've not heard of doing that before.

In a practical sense I guess it would all depend on the storage conditions. If your stored food jars were in an area where they might get bumped or moved around the lids could become dislodged thus spoiling the stored food.

I think I will keep keeping the rings on the jars.

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My thoughts are thus:

If the off gassing would "dislodge" the lid without the ring it will be noticiable when you remove the ring. Either the lid will break the seal then, or you should see the lid bulging. I wipe the top of the lid with a damp paper towel before opening. I get the dust off (our jars are in the basement and it gets dusty down there.)

If the ring is needed to keep the lid in place in normal storage you might not have a good enough seal anyways.

Kathleen likes the rings on the jars because they are stacked.

I can do this either way, we have an abundance of rings. I found a "fire sale" at the local grocery store last year that had boxes o 12 rings/lids for $1. I bought what they had.
 
I've not done a lot of canning but my mother-in-law did and she removed the rings for two reasons. According to her, one, the rings could be reused and she saved money. Second, that's what the instructions told her to do.
 
I always remove the rings, mainly because I read somewhere that you're supposed to...

I think it might be in case the jars didn't seal, or become unsealed, then you'll know right away.
 
Back when I did some canning, I remember an instruction to leave the rings on but to not tighten them. You were supposed to leave them loose.
 
Interesting article ... Like FrankZ, my jars are all stored on shelves in the basement and I wipe off the top when I pull a jar down. I always check the top to make sure it's still flat before I open it to make sure the seal is still sealed. I "get" the off-gassing but even with band, I would know.

I think I'll continue to leave the bands on to help with stacking and, most importantly, to make sure I have enough. :) Even after I open them and wash them up for storage for the next season, I leave the band on to make sure I have the right number of bands and jars. Funny how they seem to walk out of my basement. :rolleyes:
 
I just read this blog post that mentions removing the ring before storing your freshly canned produce. Thought it was pretty interesting. Why You Should Store Your Jars Without Their Rings | Food in Jars
I can't open the link so don't know what it says but I told many years ago by an experienced bottler/canner that if the lids were left tightened and the processing was not done properly and the contents fermented or went bad the accumulated gases could cause the glass to shatter with possible injury to anyone near.
 
I have canned for years. Everything from Green beans to squash to jellies and jams. I have always removed my rings. The main reason was that you can use them over again and just buy new lids. I throw them away at the first sign of rust. When I can something the vacuum on the lids is such that they could never be bumped off. I have to pull hard to get them off. Trust me if you have something to not seal correctly you will know that it is spoiled.
 

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