Mason Jars
I love canning jars. It’s sort of a little thrill to run up on a box of jars in a thrift store, taped over and forgotten somewhere on a bottom shelf. Estate sales are a good place to find jars. And don’t overlook yard sales. I grab every jar I can find! Some might say it’s an obsession, but have you seen the price of new jars lately? With the new revival of gardening, homesteading and canning the fruits of our labor, jars have gotten scarce. And it seems I somehow have my hands on a jar every day. I use them to store dried goods in the pantry. Leftovers in the fridge because I try to avoid using plastics and aluminum foil when I can. And I use a ton of them in my herbal shop, to store individual ingredients, tea blends, or tinctures and oils.
Once in a while, I will uncover a very old jar from the early 1910’s or 1920’s! Even though these jars would be just fine for canning food, I tend to use them in my herb shop because they are unique. There’s something about an old jar with herbs that brings a smile to my face!
There are a few caveats to finding good used jars:
Look for chips on the rim Jars are fairly sturdy, but they can get chipped on the rim if they clank together or even dropped. A chipped jar should not be used for canning food. I do use them for dry storage if the chip isn’t too large, especially in my herb shop. I’ll take a piece of emery sanding paper and carefully smooth down the sharp edges of the chip, so they won’t cut or injure someone handling the jar. Get in the habit of quickly checking for chips each time you pick up a jar. A chip can happen when you least expect it!
What to do with jars when you get them home:
Storing Jars. Often, these used jars will be in a cardboard box when I bring them home, just like new jars. I don’t like to store jars in cardboard and generally avoid cardboard for any type of storage. Pests tend to harbor in the cardboard, and I prefer to avoid that when possible. Plastic milk crates or produce crates work well for storage and the ones I find can hold twelve or fifteen jars. These crates are often free for the asking, or the storekeeper might charge a buck for them. The crates stack safely so I don’t have to worry about disintegrating cardboard that don’t hold my jars safely. I’ve even used five-gallon buckets to bring home my jars and they made their way to storage too, but they just don’t hold that many jars. Eventually, I built some shelves and repurposed an old shelving unit in one stall of my barn dedicated to storage. I feel much better about the safety of my jars than in the cardboard boxes! I just turn the jars upside down on the shelf or in the crate. If you have a basement or cellar for storage, it makes for a wonderful place to store those empty jars. Easier to keep up with how many you have on hand, too.
One of my favorite aunts did a lot of canning every year, and she had a habit I try to copy. As she emptied out a jar, she would wash it well, let it dry, and then place a new lid on the jar with a ring. The jars then went to storage in her cellar. The next year, she’d get out her jars, rewash before use, and she had her lid and ring ready to go! I try to stay well ahead on the number of lids in my stash, but I dont have as many rings as I do jars. However, I will follow her lead for as many extra rings as I have on hand. Every year I try to replenish my rings and get rid of any rusted rings. I never reuse lids for canning but will repurpose those used lids for dry goods and herbs. If lids and rings get rusty or spotted, I will remove them from my kitchen. They make great plant markers!
Sterilize old jars before using. If jars have leaves, cobwebs or debris inside, I’ll just spray them outside to get rid of any heavy residue. Next, the jars get a good bath in the kitchen sink with hot soapy water and a scrub brush. I don’t hesitate to wash them twice if needed! A steel wool soap pad can help with any residue inside or out. Always rinse with vinegar water to put a sparkle on the glass! Vinegar also helps remove any oily residue and leaves a squeaky-clean feel.
Any time I bring jars out of storage, I feel the need to boil them to sterilize before using. Some folks feel sterilizing isn’t necessary, or they sterilize using a dishwasher. I don’t have a dishwasher, so you be your own judge as to the best way to clean jars for your kitchen. I don’t mind the extra step and I do it the old-fashioned way. When I help my mom with her canning, we use her dishwasher and they come out very clean and ready to go. Maybe one day I’ll have a dishwasher, who knows! Anyway, I just fill my enamel canner with jars then fill the pot with fresh water. Bring to a boil and let them simmer for about five to ten minutes. Carefully lift the jars with canning tons and drain the water back into the pot. Sit the jar upside down on a towel. Carefully and slowly, add the next set of jars to the pot and continue the process to clean as many jars as you need for your canning project that day.
My canning jar stash would be ridiculous to some folks. But homesteaders know that when the garden ‘comes in’, you need your jars ready to go! And when I have plenty of jars, I can share a jar of garden bounty without worrying about getting the jar back. I hope you find joy in growing your jar stash too!
Suzanne Shires is the author of Wild Herb Gardening and Beyond the Garden Gate, Wild Food Recipes. She is an herbal ‘granny-mentor’ and shares her herbal knowledge in blogs, articles, groups and posts. She grows herbs on her homestead, Birchwater Farms, and creates herbal concoctions, tea blends, and remedies in her shop. Watch for her granny mentorship program to open in 2023!