Are Mason Jars Sexist?

[Retrograde]

14. Being serious for a few minutes...

I can, using genuine mason jars (now made by the Ball Company) with 2 piece lids. While I often have problems opening commercially sealed jars, I have no problems with anything I can myself. The seal is created by the rubber part of the lid welding itself to the glass, and the ring is just there to hold it in place while the jars are being processed. When I want to use something I canned, I unscrew the ring (since I screwed it on in the first place that's not a problem) and use an ordinary churchkey-style can opener to lift the lid.

You don't want commercially sealed jars to be all that easy to open: they're sealed so the stuff inside doesn't pick up pathogens or other microbes floating around in the environment. I usually end up resorting to the tall husband method, but I soften them up first. If the lid is metal, holding it under HOT water can help, as it expands the metal a tad. Pliers or a large wrench also work. Hitting the bottle with a hammer is not advised.