Helpful tip for using the vacuum jar sealer

13 years ago

A few other posts have mentioned the usefulness of the FoodSaver vacuum jar sealer attachment which lets you vacuum seal a lid onto a standard canning jar. I bought one recently and I wanted to pass along a helpful tip that another buyer posted on the Amazon comments. The trick is simply this: punch a tiny hole through the lid and then cover it with electrical tape. The lid will still seal tight but now when you want to open it you just peel the tape back to allow air back into the jar and then you can lift the lid right off with no danger of bending the edge of the lid! This allows you to use the same lids over and over until the seal finally gives out. I've tried it and it works great. I punch my holes using a hammer and a needle that I chopped short. This makes a very tiny hole.

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Comments (4)

chartim
13 years ago
Helpful
digdirt2
13 years ago
Good idea! :) That is how the Vac n' Seal hand pump vacuum system works with its adhesive tabs. And this would probably give you a stronger vacuum too. Thanks for posting this.

Dave
steve22802
Original Author
13 years ago
Today I went to open a pint jar of homemade playdough that I had sealed this way a few days ago and when I peeled back the tape nothing happened. I had to poke my needle through the hole again to let in the air. I think some playdough must have clogged the hole from the inside. I thought it was interesting that the lid was still sealed too tight to pull off with my fingers. Obviously if the hole is very tiny it takes much less "plugging power" to maintain a seal, so the tinier the hole the better the chance of having a good long term seal.
steve22802
Original Author
11 years ago
I just wanted to add another related tip. I recently discovered that it's possible to use the wide mouth jar sealer to seal a regular size lid onto a half pint jar. You simply nest the half pint jar inside a wide mouth pint jar, carefully place a regular size lid on the half pint jar, then clamp the wide mouth jar sealing device over the pint jar without a wide mouth lid. When the vacuum pump stops pull off the vacuum tube and the regular size lid will seal onto the half pint.