Dunk Your Rusty Canning Rings In Vinegar And Thank Us Later

If you are a gardener or just someone who buys fresh produce in bulk and wants to store it over the winter, canning is a great method to preserve fresh fruits, vegetables, and even meat. However, when canning, it is important to sterilize everything and follow the procedures to a T because making mistakes when canning food at home can cause harmful bacteria to grow and completely ruin your canned goods. To avoid this problem, you should always sterilize your jars, lids, and canning rings — which can easily get rusty when stored. The good news is that the simple solution to rusty canning rings might just be vinegar.

Distilled white vinegar is a powerful cleaning agent that works well to clean rust without the use of harsh chemicals. However, when using this vinegar hack, it is essential to remember that while canning rings are reusable and can be cleaned, canning jar lids are not and should not be cleaned or stored for later. So, go ahead and save those canning rings in a resealable bag but remember to toss the lids into the recyclables after finishing each delicious jar of your home-canned veggies.

There are two primary ways to clean canning rings with vinegar, and which one you choose depends on how rusty they are. If you have a lot of rings that are quite rusty, you may want to soak them all in vinegar first to make them easier to clean. According to a Redditor on the canning forum of the website, the best way to clean rusty canning rings is to "Soak in diluted vinegar and hit them with a Scotch Brite pad or something a bit abrasive."

However, if you have only a few canning rings with some spots of rust, it may be easier to soak a washcloth or paper towel in distilled white vinegar and then start rubbing at the rusty spots until they are gone. No matter which method you use, Farmer's Almanac warns that you will need to wash the canning rings well with water after cleaning the rust because if the vinegar is left to sit on the rings, it will end up damaging the metal.

One way to prevent the need to clean your canning rings or soak them in vinegar at all is to store them in a way that helps prevent rust in the first place. To do this, you want to ensure your canning rings are completely clean and dry before storing them. This is because rust is caused by exposure to air and moisture, so the less moisture your metal rings are exposed to while stored, the better. This is also why you should try storing your canning materials in a clean and dry location. Many people choose to keep their canning rings in resealable plastic bags with the air squeezed out.

Another option to avoid the rusty canning ring problem altogether is to purchase stainless steel rings instead. Stainless steel is easy to clean and more rust-resistant than many other metals. So, if you have cherry trees or blueberry bushes in your backyard and plan on making your own canned fruits yearly, you may want to invest in stainless steel canning rings to make reusing them easier.