Reusing maple jar bottle caps

[Lenniejo]

My husband insists on reusing the bottle caps from the prior year. Every year we have problems with bottles not sealing and mold forming on our jars of hard work. I have canned for years and the rule of thumb is NEVER REUSE THE LIDS!!! Any comments and advice from other maple syrup entrepreneurs???? Thank you in advance for your advice.:)
Joanne

[Run Forest Run!]

Hi Joanne. If you are keeping those bottles in the freezer then you are fine. Otherwise your better half is "penny wise, pound foolish".

[Lenniejo]

Hi Joanne. If you are keeping those bottles in the freezer then you are fine. Otherwise your better half is "penny wise, pound foolish".

We do not freeze our syrup, make 50 gallons, store them in cool place. AND they still mold. But I know the problem, just need somebody to verify it for me. Bottling/Canning syrup is like canning anything else. Learned in Home Ec. NEVER reuse the lids, think the same principle applies to bottle covers.

[stoneslabs]

I can my syrup in mason jars, NEW LIDS ONLY ON USED JARS, heated to 185* and bottled into hot jars, stored up to 2 years in a dark cool place... never had mold. We work wayyyyy to hard for this stuff to be ruined by mold.

[Mikemartin274]

Rule of thumb is to never reuse lids. I have on personal jars and have not ever had a problem. Make sure the syrup is up to temp and immediately after filling jar flip it over for two minutes. This will sanitize the top.

[Woodsrover]

I just ordered a bunch of new caps from Bascom's to re-cap old bottles that I have received back from friends and washed out. The caps are $.10 each.

[maple flats]

While we only pack in used bottles for home use, we never use the old cap, they are only good for 1 time use.

[Daveg]

New 10¢ lids are 1% of the final cost of a $10 quart.

[DrTimPerkins]

Reusing any type of cap/lid (and often bottles) would be illegal for retail sales.

[barnbc76]

What about if you are bottling, then in the middle of bottling you realize you forgot to check the density, so you remove the cap, test density, thin/reheat then bottle again. I would not sell these bottles but would they still seal properly and be sanitary? I can't see why not just curious.

[Joe Hillmann]

If your syrup is molding are you sure you are cooking it down enough? I use a hydrometer to determine when my syrup is done and I can have a jar open in the kitchen for months and it doesn't mold.

With that said it is bad practice to reuse lids. Are you using regular canning jars or something different? I often reuse canning jar lids that are in good condition for high acid or high sugar foods but never for meat. I wouldn't recommend others do it but as far as I know I have never had one fail.

[gmcooper]

Never reuse a cap or lid. If you are getting mold a good bet is from bottling at too low temp 185 min, or contaminated bottle or cap. Can be both if your reusing caps.

[Kelly Wells]

I never use old caps. I sometimes use old jars that I run through a hot dishwasher and buy new caps from Bascom's for pennies.