Rebel Canners Visits Superb Industries

 We don't often get to see presses working in manufacturing. Canning lids are an essential item that we use, and we have been using Superb lids this year. It's not high speed, so you can actually figure out what is going on. 

John in Philly did some experimentation that will help all of you home canners out there. "A few moments after posting my comment to your blog, the part of my brain that just sits there and idly thinks about stuff nudged the other part of my brain and said, "I don't think it would be that hard to make a jar lid torque measuring device, and I have a plan."

About 20 minutes later I had assembled this. 

Ignore the reading because I did not push the zero calibration button yet. 

I used an electronic torque gauge that has been sitting in the toolbox ever since I splurged on a nicer torque wrench. 

The little bit of blue you see at the top is a piece of grippy silicone used to open jars. 

The test.

I stood on a step stool to get the same height as I would have been at when we are working on the kitchen counter and turned the band with slight downward pressure until the bottom of the eight ounce jar turned on the grippy pad. 

The torque was less than one foot pound and  when I removed the jar from the test stand I could easily turn the band a few more degrees with moderate pressure. 

The next time I leaned pretty hard on the jar lid while turning, and when the jar bottom started to slide, the torque was around 1.3 foot pounds. This time I was only able to move the band a tiny bit more when I tested the tightness. 

While canning I use a pair of neoprene dipped gloves from Harbor Freight to grip more easily, provide some degree of protection in the event of a jar breaking, and also to provide some amount of protection against the heat.

These are the gloves.

https://www.harborfreight.com/hi-vis-polyurethane-coated-work-gloves-medium-64474.html

And I turned that band pretty darn tight. 

I wondered how to get a better feeling for the maximum torque we were putting on the jar lid without hurting myself. 

I put some grip tape on the glass, and used a hose clamp to hold some wooden scraps against the grip tape. 

I tightened the hose clamp until I could not make the blocks slip. Next time I will don those Kevlar gloves I wear when using the food mandolin. (That kitchen tool frightens me) But I was making progress and forgot. 

This time I set the blocks against the clamps so that the blocks acted as anti-rotation keys and we set up another test.

When I twisted the band about as hard as I would have twisted it when canning, I got 4.2 foot pounds of torque. 

We then broke down the test rig and put everything away. 

When we do the next batch of canning I will 

snug up the band to just a tiny bit more than fingertip tight.

Old dogs can learn lots of new tricks if they want too!

Thank you for posting the information. 

John and Sharon"

Many Thanks, John and Sharon! This is information that will be helpful. University Extension offices used to teach home canning, test pressure gauges, etc., but those services have disappeared in Illinois. Learning how to can your produce requires careful research nowadays. Susan has become somewhat of an expert in canning the output of our garden.