i am not a canner but i figured you guys could help me. i wanted to make some of my new green tea cold and put it in a mason jar and slapped a lid on it while it was still very hot and put it in the fridge. now i come back to it a few hours later and this lid will NOT come off at all. she’s real stuck! how on earth do i get the lid off??
by eviesmother
4 Comments
Use a can opener or a bottle opener under the lip and it’ll pop right off.
Usually a butter knife or a spoon can get it off, just gently use it to pry an edge up and it should break the seal. For really stubborn jars I usually use a bottle opener to lift the edge of the lid.
The heat from the tea created a vacuum as it cooled. Just get your fingers around the little over hang of the lid and pop it off. Sometimes you really need to put some muscle into it. Or you can use a can opener(the kind they use to open bottles ) if you do that your lid will bend.
People used to can by boiling the jars and lids, filling with boiling hot contents, and putting the lids on. It was hot enough to create a vacuum and seal.
This is not considered a safe way of preserving, but a canning jar will seal without water bath or pressure canner if the contents are hot enough.