I was washing dishes the other day and this jar came to the top of the pile. It’s a jar I bought honey in when we lived in California — seven or eight years ago now. This is what I love about mason jars — that they last forever.
About a year ago I got rid of all the plastic containers in my house. I bought a bunch of old pyrex refrigerator storage containers on eBay, and I’ve been using canning jars for everything else. It works perfectly. For braised things like the pork with New Mexico chile (thanks Deb for the chile — it’s SO delicious) I use one of those flat yellow pyrex dishes with the lid. For soups and anything else semi-liquid, I use canning jars. I also have all my dry goods stored in canning jars in the pantry — beans, rices, dried mushrooms, salted black beans.
The thing about canning jars — they’re cheap. You can find them in secondhand stores for almost nothing, or you can buy a dozen brand new jars with lids and screw tops for 8-12 bucks. While you can only use a lid once for proper canning, for just everyday storage, you can use them over and over. Just wash them. And glass is inert. There’s no weird chemicals leaking into my food. And I think they’re very attractive — I love my pantry with all the jars lined up, where you can see all the different beans and peas and other stuff.
As anyone knows who has been reading my little site for any time now, I’m really interested in older technologies that still work well. I like new technologies too — don’t get me wrong, I’m having a ball with all the Web 2.0 stuff we’re doing at work, and if it wasn’t for new technology I wouldn’t be able to live here in Montana. But I’m also really interested in the older stuff that suddenly a lot of us seem to be rediscovering. Canning. Knitting. Growing veggies in your backyard. Maybe this financial crisis will inspire some more of this kind of rediscovery. Ways of living with less waste, more reuse — consuming less quantity but perhaps a little more quality? A tiny silver lining perhaps?
What a timely post. I’ve spent all day canning (and working from home via the internet). Talk about old meets new!
I wonder about those canning jar lids, though . . . they look to me like the metal is coated with a resin of some kind, and I’m assuming it’s plastic. Now, I’m not saying that they’re worse than ordinary plastic storage containers. Not at all. But I’m not sure they’re perfect. The glass is inert, but what about those pesky lids?
I have a bare handful of glass jars with glass lids and wire bails. Wish they were easier to find because I’d use more of those (for storage, not for canning).
p.s. I’ve been reading your blog for a couple months and really enjoy it. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with the wider world.
I’m with you. I love canning jars (I use them for everything, including the transportation of my morning coffee), as well as the confluence of old and new technologies.