Why do my eyes rings rust in the pressure canner? All discoloration comes off the lids, but never the rings. These rings have already gone through the pressure canner a few times, so they're the most discolored I see. But same thing happens with brand new rings too. Only happens when pressure canning.
by curlyfry754
10 Comments
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Poor quality rings. Try a different brand. Have never had my Ball rings rust, and I’ve reused them for years.
Your water might be acidic.
Are those Superb brand rings? I use Bernardin lids/rings. Jars are stored with rings off so I have hundreds to choose from when canning. They do wear a bit more during the pressure canning process (although never as bad as what is pictured above). When they show any signs of breaking down, I toss them since they can be more difficult to thread (and you don’t want that when jarring up hot food).
I throw away rings when they get rusty. Eventually I will not have enough spares and will need to buy replacements.
Everybody’s water is different. The source water that your water company uses is going to be different than the source water my water company uses. Therefore, the chemicals they choose to treat it with will not be the same. The residuals in the water when it reaches your kitchen tap will not be the same.
When I pressure can, I like to add a glug (very precise measurement, maybe an ounce) of vinegar to the water. If I forget, then all my jars will have a clear film on them when they come out that is not the easiest thing to remove. I don’t know what it is but some sort of interaction between the aluminum of my canner, the metal rings, and my tap water causes it.
I don’t know exactly what makes pressure canning speed up the rusting process, but it does. Also, running those rings through the dishwasher will rust them quickly too; dishwasher detergent is harsh.
My guess (not a chemist) is that your water is mildly corrosive, and pressure canning increases that corrosiveness. It has to do with the mineral content of the water and how oxygen behaves under pressure.
Ok, I’m just guessing, but maybe filter your water first? Maybe there’s too many mineral salts and it’s breaking the rings down faster? Or a bad batch of rings idk.
Edit: I read down more and I agree it’s probably the vinegar. However, it could be the salts and the vinegar is a red herring. Again, idk.
Dishwashers really rust the rings quickly.
Where I live city water is very hard with a ton of calcium. Pretty much everyone here has a water softener as a result.
It was only a few years ago that I learned the cold water tap in my kitchen is un-softened water. Tastes better than softened. My point is that I fill up the canner with the hot tap to get softened water. Leaves less ‘dust’ on the outside of the jars.
Maybe everybody already knows this? 🙂
I looked up info on Ball manufacturing, which is still in Indiana. sourcing the tinplate is now internationally procured.
“Ball Lid Sourcing:
Material Shift: Due to shortages, the company moved away from solely relying on U.S.-produced tinplate for their lids.
Manufacturing Location: The core manufacturing process, where the tinplate is turned into lids and bands, is still located in the United States.
Quality Control: The company claims that the selected international suppliers for the tinplate meet the same quality standards as their previous U.S. sources.”
Obviously not the same quality?!