Reddit reviews Ball Lid/Band Regular Mouth Silver 12pc Jar Lids & Bands, 12 Count
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Ball, 12 pack regular jar cap, canning bands & lidsAdds Extra shine to your productManufactured in United StatesBall Regular Mouth Lids with Bands for preserving fit all regular mouth glass preserving jarsSeal in the freshness and enjoy freshly made foods tonight or tomorrowIncludes 12 lids with bandsMade in USA
What I always suggest is to first decide what you're going to can, how much you will be canning at one time and what size jars you will be canning in.
These are important to know because, as others have said, jellies, jams, fruits, pickles and properly acidified tomatoes can be done in a water bath canner, while vegetables and meats must be pressure canned.
Knowing what size of jars you are going to be using makes a difference in what size of canner(s) you will need. If you're canning for a family, you will likely need to use quart sized jars. But if you are a single person or a couple, you will probably only want to do pint jars.
Too, it's customary that jams or jellies are canned in half-pint jars although it is perfectly acceptable to do them in pints if you will use that much jam in a reasonable amount of time once it's been opened. Large mouth jars (both pints and quarts) and their lids are more more expensive than the regular mouth jars. However, meats and things like whole pickles or pickle spears almost require large-mouth jars.
The jar size also matters because some canners don't work with larger sized jars. Also, very large canners will accept two layers of jars which is great for canning many jars at a time but time and energy wasting to use for small batches.
To get started water-bath canning, the only must haves are:
The most affordable places to buy these supplies are going to be somewhere local to you. None are very expensive at all. Some water-bath canners come with a rack inside them, which is both a trivet and a jar lifter itself. New boxes of jars come with lids and rings. The rings (also called bands) are reusable, the lids are not, but anywhere that sells the jars will have more lids. Walmart, Target, K-Mart, Lowes, Home Depot, ACE Hardware and places like that will have nearly everything you need for water-bath canning.
As for pressure canning, you will need:
I highly recommend that you read up and shop around before buying a pressure canner. They are somewhat of an investment at between $70 and $400. When you're ready to select a pressure canner, come back and ask and I know everyone around here will help you decide what's right for you. The inexpensive canners are very good but there are also very good reasons to buy a more pricey one and it takes a whole post in itself to discuss them!
Something inexpensive and very nice to have is a little canning set like this no matter which method of canning you do. These tools will be safer to use rather than winging it and will save you infinite amounts of time and frustration. I've seen these same sets at Walmart for something like $8-$10.
I hope this helps!
Right grocery stores and some department stores will have them if not check amazon, target and walmart online ship to store services.
walmart listing
Don't like walmart / big box stores
If only want one or two jars go check the Spaghetti sauce or pickled vegetable isle in glass jars, there are some brands that try to go retro and the jars even say ball or kerr sometimes. You pick out a few jars you like then buy regular or wide mouth canning lids (much cheaper than a dozen canning jars).
Amazon has jars and a jar lids & bands combo set
You can often find canning jars without lids at garage sales and thrift stores. You can buy lids at any hardware store, or other store that sells canning goods.
Some jars have wide mouths, some have regular mouths (it's based on the diameter of the jar opening. You can buy these plastic lids
http://www.amazon.com/Ball-Regular-Mouth-Storage-Caps/dp/B0000BYC4B
or you can get the more typical metal lids and bands. http://www.amazon.com/Ball-Regular-Mouth-Lids-Bands/dp/B000BWY314/ref=sr_1_9?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1405299770&sr=1-9
The plastic ones are easier to use for storage because you don't have to wash both the lid and band. But since you aren't canning anything, you can reuse the metal lids and bands as many times as you want---as long as they are not rusty.
A wide-mouthed funnel like this makes it a lot easier to pour rice in.
http://www.amazon.com/Ball-1440010770-Home-Canning-Funnel/dp/B00203K1MW/ref=sr_1_40?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1405299891&sr=1-40
You could also pour your rice into plastic freezer bags and stick them in the freezer or fridge.
Another option (probably the best)--buy canisters at thrift stores or garage sales. They're expensive new, but cheap used.
Oh, another option! Store rice in plastic Coke bottles. Or old glass iced tea bottles.
Don't buy more brown rice than you can eat in 6 months. The oil in the hull can go rancid (best if you freeze or refrigerate if you can). But the hull and the oil are very good for you.