Looking for a novel way to store your canning rings? Borrow an idea from my mom and use an old blanket or comforter bag!
Here in Portland, it is raspberry season. I couldn’t resist picking up a half flat of gorgeous berries on Saturday at the Beaverton Farmers Market. When I got home, I asked my mom to pull out her canning stuff so that I could make a quick batch of jam. She ducked into the garage and came back in with her shiny stainless steel stock pot and a plastic comforter bag filled with canning jar rings (as well as couple boxes of new lids).
Using a stock pot and blossom trivet
as a canning pot is a trick I taught her, but using an old blanket or comforter bag to corral canning gear was entirely new to me and I was stunned by the simple brilliance of it. At home, I use a pair of two gallon zip top bags to keep my rings in check. However, they’ve always been an imperfect solution because the zippers eventually fail and they’re just not quite big enough. The comforter bag has a real zipper, the plastic is sturdier, it holds a ton, and it does a good job of keeping the dust and dirt out.
If you have one of these bags floating around your house and you’re struggling to store your canning rings and other gear, consider doing like my mom!
I use a straightened wire coat hanger to hold rings. It fits into all sorts of strange place and holds a lot of rings.
Great idea! Last year I bought two great rolling chrome shelves and added plastic drawers for lids and rings plus other “gear”. Keeps them dust free and easy to access.
I also reuse those comforter / blanket / sheet bags for storing other items like my winter sweaters, etc.
As for storing my canning rings and flats; them I store in one of them see through plastic containers / tub. I moved up from the shoe size container to larger size. Works great and stores nicely on my pantry shelf along with my other canning supplies.
I use a large glass jar to store rings.
I store my rings on a long ribbon that hangs on a hook in the laundry room. Wide mouth on one, small mouth on another. 🙂 The bag looks cool though to keep it all together.
Love this idea, saw something similar on pinterest and would like to try it.
That’s what I do. I did discover that doing several shorter ribbons prevented a crashing spill of rings rolling across the floor when one was in a hurry.
I do the same as Sherry MacK. The rest of my supplies, such as extra lids or boxes of pectin and canning funnels go into an ordinary grocery bag which I keep inside my enamel canner. That way it’s all together.
I like your mom’s idea because it’s easy to see exactly what she has, even when it’s in storage.
This is the kind of idea that makes me slap myself on the forehead and say “Why didn’t I think of that!?!” Please tell your mom thanks from a canner in Maine. 🙂
I love those bags. I just used a queen blanket one yesterday to store a deflated kiddie pool.
I saw, on a different web site, some one using bungee cords to store their rings. They made a circle and hung it from the rafters in the basement…but of course, there’s the dust/dirt issue. This is way better.
I thread my rings, in groups of 10, on left over yarn, then hang them on hooks from the pantry wall. It has really helped organize my canning supplies. Placing everything else in a plastic bag is an awesome idea, that I’ll have to try this year.
These are all great ideas! Thank you for sharing.
I love this idea! Now I need to find one of the comforter bags. : )
love those bags – I use them for lots of things, but not canning storage (yet). I’m lucky to have some old kitchen cabinets in the basement, so I use the drawers for sorting and organizing smaller supplies. When I need something, I take my dishpan down and fetch the number I need.
All Great ideas and I have all of these things. I love the Marisa’s post….I have one of those too. Time to get organized.
Brilliant! And I ever have one or two of these kicking around in the linen closet. Right now my rings are precariously overfilling a couple cheap square glass vases on the top shelf of a kitchen cabinet…definitely not optimal. 🙂
I use comfortor bags to store lots of stuff, but not canning rings. I store all of my extra rings on cheap upright paper towel holders in my pantry. It hardly takes up any space! And when I get a surplus of rings, I make wreaths from the extras.
I also store my rings tied together on a rope – but have never figured out why they don’t sell jars without lids/rings. Every time I buy jars, they come with lids and rings. They sell the lids separately, because one cannot use them again; but since one can reuse the rings, it seems odd that they keep supplying them every time.
I do a lot of canning through the year and I hang my rings (too many! Why don’t I just keep a couple canner loads worth????) in our storage room. My other supplies are in a shocking pink rubber tote that everyone can find…
I also use those bags to store all kinds of things. Seasonal clothes and camping gear come to mind first. I like to store canning supplies in round baskets that fit nicely inside my canners. Takes up less space and everything is in the same spot.
Typical Portland summer weather isn’t it 🙁 It’s nice for berry picking though.
I use a three drawer storage container with wheels. It was left over when we cleaned out my daughters room. When canning I just wheel it out.
I use jars for everyday food storage and as my waterbottle with a cupow. So we use ours daily. I put up a pegboard with those straight hangers. I place then on there. It’s been the only thing that has worked for us, and I LOVE it!
I use a little thrift store basket (because my zippered sheets bags are currently in use as my tax receipt storage filing system).
I put my rings back on the empty jar and store them upside down in the original cardboard boxes, which stack on top of one another. I use an empty plastic ice cream bucket to store my extra rings. All the rest of my canning gear gets stored inside my big lidded canning pot. Stuff like the magnetic wand, the jar lifter, an old towel, chopstick, etc all fit into the pot.
I have a ton of those bags! I can never through anything away that is even remotely useful. This is a great idea!
That’s an awesome idea! My rings are in ziplocks, but like you said, they stop zipping after a while, and it’s annoying. I’ll have to hunt around to see if I have any unused comforter bags…
Handy if you want to keep your canning supplies portable. I keep my lids and such divided up in a 3-drawer plastic thingy. Wide in one, regular in another, 3rd drawer for the funnel, lifter, etc. It’s on wheels so I can just shift it around wherever I need it – pretty much just lives in the kitchen for summer/fall and moves to the basement the rest of the year.
I always save my zipper bags from bedding sets and such, but rarely end up using them. Which, of course means I have a little-used collection of them collecting dust in my guest room closet. This is a great idea!
Great idea. I keep my rings on strips of fabric or yarn leftover from sewing projects. Small and large on separate strings. I like the look of it and they hang out of the way in my garage next to my other canning supplies which I keep stored in a clear plastic tub. I’m always thinking of ways to reuse those store bags though so I will keep this idea in mind.
Thank you for passing this one along! I always keep those plastic bags; they seem too sturdy to throw away, but I never know what to do with them. Now they have a purpose AND my rings have a more convenient storage place!
Ziplock makes those large and XL/Grand size bags with handles that can hold even sporting equipment. Also space-bag type bags. That’s what we use for all sorts of stuff. I’d put mine in there. There is even a ‘label space’ built in for writing with a Sharpie marker.
I also use strips of fabric to store rings. If one ring is tied onto the strip near one end (about 8 inches from end) then the other rings can be added to the fabric strip and will not slide off the end! When all rings are on, the loose ends can be tied (I usually hang them from a closet nail by one of the rings). When the strip is untied to remove rings, just be careful to hold the strip by the correct end to keep from losing the rings
I use 1 gallon and 2 gallon ziploc bags and throw some RICE in the bottom as a dessicant to prevent rust.
Just discovered your website….amazing!!! Every question I had answered and then so much more. merci’ I originally continued to can to keep my mother’s traditions alive….NOW, saving the bucks and quality. Too late to “live off the grid”…so I garden and do the next best thing. Your website is a keeper!!
I store them in my canner & pressure cooker after I’m done canning. Together & ready for next year!
That works!
How cold can my stored canning lids get?
You don’t want them to drop too far below freezing. Extreme temperatures can cause the sealing compound to crack.