Dills in gallon jars

I have copious amounts of cucumbers, they need to be pickled and they will. I have quite a number of gallon jars, from gatherings of years gone by. I short brine the pickles, don't bother with the long brining, I am just too lazy. Has anyone figured out a way for the metal lids that are on these gallon jars to NOT get rustyish from the brine? I know the lids are scarred from years gone by from the brine touching them and wondering how to get around this. There is no way to prevent the salt brine to touch the inside of the lids. Am I missing something in what I am doing? Wondered about cutting a thin piece of cardboard (like when you buy for example, miracle whip) and putting that inside the lid, but then not sure if that would be good either. Comments pleeeeeze. Have a wonderful day, CynthiaM.

I have a gallon jar sitting on the counter and wondering that exact same thing. I had it full of pickled eggs so just used some saran wrap, but to use them to make pickles I am not sure.
I was wondering about painting it with something???
Sure hope someone has some ideas. Love these big gallon jars.

Chickeesmom, yep, I thought about the saran wrap, but would like the jars to seal, and I am not sure if this would inhibit the sealing process. Guess it really doesn't matter if they seal or not, they are preserved in the brine, and would be eaten all up before they went bad anyways. I have a Sister on the coast that has 6 kids that love dills and I know that they are sitting with mouths hangin' open, awaiting that day when their Auntie's dills from homegrown everything come to those hangin' open mouths. I don't think that I could pickle enough of them -- and I can rest assured that a gallon would not last more than a couple of days. When we farmed my farm together, we had hundreds of quarts, they didn't last until the following summer, smiling that big smile. Picture 6 kids, all having a hankering from home made dill pickles -- and did I mention I have tons of home grown garlic too to grace that pickle jar. Oh brother, a'ramblin' I always go. Have that beautiful, most awesome day, CynthiaM.

I really don't know much about pickling or canning but I got some pickles from my cousin last year and she used glass lids on them, with the rubber ring to seal them. Not sure if you can get the glass lids for the larger gallon jars or not? I guess it would depend on how big the mouth of the jar is.

No wonder in the olden days, glass lids and rubber bands were used, long before the invention of the metal rubber sealed-around-the edges lids were used. Tried and true, glass, I also have a thing about drinking from glass-only glasses. Gotta get back to the old tried and true, glass, ceramic, nothing of a metal content, smiling, beautiful days, beautiful nights...CynthiaM.

hmm, my friend sealed jelly by pouring wax on top, guess it could work with pickles, probably messy.
I have seen plastic lids for gallon jars, although I don't like plastic, what about parchment paper?

What about if you melted beeswax and painted it on the inside of the jar lids? I have no idea if this would work. Regular paraffin would probably be too brittle and flake off. But beeswax seems to stay more flexible. If it did flake off and land in the pickles, it wouldn't harm anyone.

uno wrote:What about if you melted beeswax and painted it on the inside of the jar lids? I have no idea if this would work. Regular paraffin would probably be too brittle and flake off. But beeswax seems to stay more flexible. If it did flake off and land in the pickles, it wouldn't harm anyone.

Hmm...Uno, now that is a very good thought, I do have a whole lot of old wax sitting around, just waiting for the day when I do something with it. I think that is something that I am going to try, good idea!! I'll let you know, cause I think that is what I am going to do. Beautiful days, CynthiaM.

I agree with Uno. On hunting trips, and winter camping excursions in the mountains, we used wax to seal things and prevent rust. I think this will be your best bet.

Note from my hippy days when I used to do batik and used a lot of melted wax...buy an old pot from the thrift store because once you melt wax in a pot, you pretty much never get that wax out! DO NOT do this in a good cooking pot! And expect the brush you use to be a tosser too, you are not likely to get the wax out. Make sure the lids are DRY and room temp. LEt us know how this works.

I love love LOVE homemade pickles!

Put your wax in a glass jar, and place that in a pot of boiling water.

Sealing of jars and cleaning of cars
combs for the bees to lay eggs
candles, of course, shining the floors
and smoothing those hairy legs


Oh all the wonderful uses for wax,
there must be a Kajillion!
and I would be willing to try them all
except maybe Brazialian


Sorry, just had to wax poetic

Hey Cindi,

We make our pickles in big crocks, the lactic fermentation way (no vinegar and so easy). If you have the cold storage for the crock method it is a fabulous way to go and the pickles are delicious.

This is what i do with some of the gallon jars

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Fowler, I don't think you could be Foul-er if you tried! Nyuk, nyuk!

FarmChiq, you are subtle like a kick in the pants.

HillBilly, you get the brilliance award. Wax heated in hot water is less likely to go BOOF and burst into flame. I take it you batiked your t-shirts back in your hippy days?

uno wrote:I take it you batiked your t-shirts back in your hippy days?

I would never wipe with my shirt.

I was a boy, and wax is flammable. You do the math.

Beeswax melts at 147 degrees F. It will catch on fire shortly after that, smiling. Just some little trivia. Long live beeswax. I think I have about 10,000 pounds of that, along with 5 millions pounds of propolis, from many years of saving wax and propolis, smiling. Do you think I exaggerate, well I do like to embellish, just a little. I do have a whole lotta wax in my larder, hidden far away from Uno, smiling that big smile. have a most beautiful night and day tomorrow, CynthiaM.