Glass jars - fess up!

[greygarious]

My name is Erica and I am a glass jar hoarder. Though I recycle committedly, I have a hard time parting with most glass jars, especially even, cylindrical ones without shoulders, and square-sided ones, which maximize storage space. Though I am the proud owner of a cheap plastic "mayoknife", I still hate jars which fight my attempts to get every last bit out without smearing my hands.

I live in fear that current glass jar items will be switched to plastic next time I buy them. Though I don't even keep berries in glass jars (I find paper towels and Rubbermaid preserve them for over a week), I transfer cereals, coffee, beans, flours, nuts, and dried fruit to glass jars as soon as I open them, and often freeze foods in glass. I still mourn the last of the straight-sided, metal-lidded large (2qt?) mayo jars, whose bottom cracked off after decades of use in the freezer.

I confess that when shopping in Costco, I will buy items I don't really need if they are in nice jars, as long as I can figure out some way to use the contents. Recently it was Costco's "canned" peaches, which came in a 4-pack of quart mason jars with measurement markings on the side.
I prefer my homemade bean salad, but have bought the huge glass jar on several occasions.

Anything you want to get off YOUR chest?

[LindaWhit]

I just bought a German honey at TJMaxx *specifically* for the jar. Well, I do like trying different honeys, but the jar will make a good nosegay vase. (I got the summer flowers honey):

http://eurozonefoods.com/upload/8d2cd...

[coll]

Oh no, I had a few of those jars but didn't like all the corners that had to be cleaned after using. I do throw out some jars, and these went out with the trash. Too bad I didn't know, I would have shipped them to you!

[LindaWhit]

I'll put this jar into the dishwasher for cleaning once I'm done with the honey, so won't have to worry about the corners. :-) I'll probably go back to TJMaxx and get another jar of the honey, if I like it, just for so I have a "matched pair". :-) But thanks anyway!

[coll]

It's really good honey, I think I stuck with the Forest variety though.

[LindaWhit]

Unfortunately, that wasn't available at that particular TJMaxx. I'll keep an eye out for the Forest type. Thanks!

[coll]

I like darker honey and it seemed the darkest I think. Or was it the Forest description that got me? Didn't know they had it at TJMaxx, interesting. I got it at Fairway in NY, think they had all the flavors to choose from.

[pdxgastro]

Latest jar use confession: I had to roll out refrigerator biscuits into rounds for mini calzones. I needed a small rolling pin. I don't own one! So I looked among my 'jar collection' and found an instant coffee jar that was cylindrical and perfect.

[LMAshton]

I use an empty vinegar jar. So it has a thin neck, but the base is cylindrical and serves me fine.

[iL Divo]

couldn't toss this the other day. finally finished the jam inside sparkle washed it, dried it then immediately after "powdering out" very dry dark brown sugar for Von's enigma oatmeal cookie recipe for today's cookie adventure, the newly powdered DBS found a new home in the jar :) big smile

[sedimental]

Perfect shape for sugar of any kind!

I have been buying these big jars of salsa at Safeway. They have straight sides, maybe slightly wider at the top. They make the best pantry jars for dried beans! The salsa is fine but the jars are da bomb....:)

[cayjohan]

I love those Polar jars! I can't help but think they look jaunty with the little epaulets on the shoulders! Plus, the Fuji apple preserves are pretty tasty.

I can't say the same for the contents of my latest jar, as I don't know who ate it. Probably Mr. Cay, over some cottage cheese. But the jar is destined for *Something* and now I think it will be for all the dribs and drabs of powdered sugar in bags I have littering the pantry after holidays and our family's birthday season.

Y'know, I really think this is my all-time-favorite Chowhound thread. A lot of folks groovin' on jars and bottles. Who'd a thunk?

[shallots]

I was in one of my local Middle Eastern Grocery stores last week and they are carrying a brand of jams that are in lovely almost round glass jars. A bit pricey but I expect I'll find a need for some of them.

Anyway, just a heads up for a newly imported product. If we've got it in Tennessee, it's probably coming through the store that she orders from in Michigan.

[iL Divo]

I used the last of the tomato paste yesterday for the 'all day long cooking' pasta sauce. I've been waiting for it to be all used up so I could score the jar. I've only had to take out of freezer about 3 times for a small amount. the jar is a perfect size for homemade mayo and what's not used for the purpose or reason I made the mayo, can get stored in this cute little jar until it's gone.
like others I've read on here, I use the jars for all sorts of things. when I make hubby lunch to go for his work day, I often use glass jars for use as storing things until he's ready to eat. ex: today, I took a salsa jar, may have been a Pace jar (label long gone) went jalepeno flavored cheese balls. they could easily get crushed in a sandwich sized zipper bag, but are safe in the glass jar. husband loves Pringles and I use (SO CUTE) jar from the mixed mushrooms I buy when they're on sale. it's just an odd shape with wide mouth so the Pringles fit perfectly.

[IndyGirl]

I found the most beautiful jar of local honey. It's an odd shape... kind of like the bottom of an hourglass but flatter, with a wide beehive-like design on the "shoulders" of the hourglass shape. It's a nice thick glass too.

I confess I bought it partly because of the jar!

[Michelly]

[Anything you want to get off YOUR chest?]

Yes...the glass jars for me...AND tin cans...the kind that high-quality tea and chocolate come in. I love them!

[Lillipop]

I collect clear wine bottles..save the corks and then when I home brew lemonade with lemons from my Meyer lemon tree or make fresh squeezed orange juice with oranges from my trees I put it in the bottles with a twist of citrus peel and pop the cork in for a nice presentation.I also have a set of Mason canning jars as drinking glasses that are fun and a set of small glass oval storage jars with sealed lids that I put yogurt and puddings in for serving sort of like French yogurt/puddings. I try to save glass jars too for storage...especially in the freezer for stock.....gravy base...etc.

[gothamette]

Hilarious, greygarious. I just bought a quart of Ronnybrook whole milk on its last day because it was in a pretty glass container. Indeed it was slightly sour. I made yoghurt out of it and I don't care if it kills me. That glass container is pretty enough for a vase. I also buy Bon Maman jams on sale because they are in glass jars.

[coll]

I also buy Ronnybrook for the containers. You can get $1 refund here in NY if you return it but I like them too much to take back.

[EM23]

Gothamette - is the lid on the Roonybrook bottle suitable for food storage? I've had my eye on those bottles for some time now. The Bonne Maman jars are my favorite. They line my freezer door filled with soup and bolognese.

[coll]

The lids work for me. They are thick plastic and pop on very tightly. And the milk is divine, cream on top and the whole nine yards. They also have heavy cream in a bottle half the size and that too is very handy.

[EM23]

Thanks Coll:)

[Scoutmaster]

OMG! This is the first I've seen this thread.

I am so glad to know that I am not alone in my glass jar hoarding.

[breadchick]

Me too. I don't normally read this category. I also have a hard time getting rid of glass vases. If they are odd shaped, colorful, and can only hold "one type of flower" doesn't matter...

Can I tell you how i'm thrilled with Penzey's option of buying glass jars (with black lids - yay) in all different sizes!

[Spice_zing]

I use miniature liquor bottles and dark beer bottles to store extracts. So nice.

[GreekChorus]

I am a jar superfreak! I save and use all sizes to store, freeze, can, etc etc etc. I threw away all my tupperware and other plastic storage containers and call my jar "Dutch Tupperware"

[jmcarthur8]

A friend gave me five cases of old quart canning jars a few months ago. While reorganizing the pantry this weekend, I made use of some of them to store oat bran, corn meal, raisins, etc. I just recently began to use jars instead of ziplock bags to store stuff. And I wonder why I hadn't done it sooner! I can lots of different foods every summer, but never thought to put the empty jars to any good use.
The jars my friend gave me were all marked '82, and in one of the boxes was an Atlanta newspaper from 1982. What fun that was to read!

[Sal Vanilla]

I confess to glass hoarding too. About a year ago my friend bought a house. I was helping her clean it and LO... beneath the built in seating in the kitchen was a treasure trove of glass jars! Hundreds. My heart palpitated. So did hers. She: "What sort of freak would keep all these jars?"

If she only knew. I took the dreadful task of taking the jars to the recycling. They are beatiful foreign glass pickle jars that I now gleefully store flours, beans and other lovelies in. The small ones I store beads in. Oh the glory.

If she only knew... I am a fareeaak!

[iL Divo]

Sal, from one freak to another..........I love FAREEEAAKS.......
and all those glass jars, lucky you.

[Spice_zing]

Just discovered something to do with glass jars--make coffee! I broke the glass on my French press and had an idea. I heated the water and added to the coffee grounds in a glass jar. Gave it a quick stir, let sit for 4 min, then strained grounds to make a great cup of coffee.

[HappyHattiesburgr]

Me too!!! I'd hoard lots more of them if my husband didn't help keep an eye that I don't. It is true that every time you turn around or blink something that is safer to store in glass jars will only come in plastic.

[ElsieB]

I have many, if not all of the bottle habits mentioned. But also, in the basement is an embarrassingly large collection of liquor bottles. So many are really beautiful, even tho I have never repurposed even one....

[mudcat]

When preparing several different dishes over the holidays or other occasions I mince/chop/grate my onions, celery, bell pepper, garlic, etc ahead of time and keep it in glass jars in the frige until use, usually the next day. I have not noticed any difference in flavors doing this. I make vegetable stock with the stuff thats left over,

[Spice_zing]

Me, too, mudcat! Great timesaver, isn't it? Also since I use so much garlic and onions sometimes I do this for convenience. I usually add water to cover them. Stays fresh for a week or two altho the garlic turns green if you keep too long. (It's not harmful just unappealing) Next time I might try adding a bit of lemon or vinegar if not using right away.

[iL Divo]

went to a local farmers market today as I've passed it several times since it's been open. they were about to close today and I was on my way to the gym but still I stopped by to see what they had there. met a lady that was roasting Hatch chilies in the back of her truck and somehow she said she'd like to get into some Hatch chili powder and about how excited that'd make her is she could buy and then sell that too. I told her how I'd made her green Hatch chili powder but I hadn't brought cash so couldn't buy the chilies. my future thoughts were how could I find just the right little special jar to house it in....

[ChillyDog]

When I see a spice rack at a tag sale, I can't pass it up. You know the kind; they are often filled with ancient spices. But of course, it's not the rack I want. It's the dozen or more perfectly matched glass jars! One can never have too many, can one?

[greygarious]

The monkey was still on my back when I visited the Korean supermarket the other day. Just inside the entrance was a display of bottled mango juice on sale. The 10" high bottle is a little over 3" diameter at the base, tapering to 2" at the top. Not only attractively-proportioned, but the shape makes the quart bottle tip-resistant. The circumference at the middle is just right for my hand to get a comfortably secure grip. Since I do not typically eat tropical entrees, the appearance of mango in my meals is fairly rare. Two of the bottles leapt into my cart - I see a lot of homemade mango jello in my future. Finally, I feel that the gods of dependency had not only set me up but were mocking me: the brand of the juice is "Looza" !!!

[LindaWhit]

Gingered mango sauce for pork tenderloin or chicken will also be a good way to use up that mango to get to your prize. :-)

[buttertart]

You're no looza, gg, you're a winnah!

[cayjohan]

Those Looza bottles are excellent! We every once in a while go on a spree of mango-ritas and collect a few...we use them to contain ice tea and the like (for a dinner it's nice to not have a watering-down-with-ice pitcher, but rather a fresh cold bottle to bring out from the fridge) and as bud vases...they work great in a grouping. Love the shape!

[KitchenBarbarian]

Loozas are IT! I have DOZENS, with all sorts of stuff in them! Plus, I love the juice! Mango's my favorite.

A small sample of my lovely, lovely Loozas:

[LindaWhit]

Love it!

[KitchenBarbarian]

Note the peach baby food in the front there - just waiting for me to make cookies or something so I can have the jar. (My baby is 28 years old, LOL!)

[LindaWhit]

I did see that jar. I do hope the baby food isn't 28 years old as well. ;-)

[KitchenBarbarian]

*gasps at the though of leaving a baby food jar unused for that long*

[sr44]

Oh dear. I've been ignoring them.

[greygarious]

All I've noticed is the quart-sized mango nectar. Dare I ask.....what other flavors are there, and which of them do you like?

[KitchenBarbarian]

The brand (just as a reminder or note to others who haven't read the entire thread) is Looza.

I like the apricot and the banana nectar, in addition to the mango, but I've not seen the banana around here. WM here doesn't seem to carry it, though I'll check again next time I go there. I've seen the Looza brand in other groceries, but not, for some reason, the mango. I basically have to go to Whole Foods to get my mango juice fix.

Looza is carried at Whole Foods, which is sort of National-ish if not actually a national chain. Kroger carried it last I was in an area where there was a Kroger.

Sometimes you find it with the regular juices, sometimes you find it in the organic aisle (though I don't think, strictly speaking, it is actually organic). Rarely I've found it with Hispanic foods.

I've never seen it in an Asian grocery of any sort.

[iL Divo]

oh great now I'm on the prowl for a Korean store?
...fingers running quickly through the yellow pages...
ah huh!

[coll]

They have it in all the regular grocery stores here, in the juice aisle. My favorite is the banana.

[iL Divo]

tnx coll I will just look for the iconic bottle I my Von's then or Safeway up here as we're in Lake Tahoe a few more days.

[coll]

One thing I've found, the bottles break more easily than most, so handle carefully.

[KitchenBarbarian]

Really? The LOOZA bottles? I've been keeping them for over a decade and haven't lost one yet ...

[coll]

I've lost a few in the bag before I even get home, when they clunk together.

[KitchenBarbarian]

Wow! I buy 6 at a time and I've never had that happen!

Maybe you could try one of those reusable compartmentalized bags they give you for wine at Whole Foods and places like that.

[coll]

Now I just make sure there's only one Looza per bag. They've never broken at home.

[bday gal]

Glad I ran across this site , now I feel like I am in great company. I too, am a glass hoarder, love the shapes, sizes and versatility of uses that come with glass and ever so important that it repurposes an existing product.
check out the myriad of options for use of baby food jars below
http://pinterest.com/jennacrellin/baby-food-jars-upcycled/

Also check out uses of the myriad of glass jars, baby jars , just glass in general for how to make your own snow globes. We did this as our Christmas project for the kids in our family and it worked out beautifully, great winter project just remember to use WATERPROOF glue if making a traditional snow globe with water and a little glycerin goes a long way as does sparkeles....or you can do a dry snow globe just use epsom salts, potato flakes and the list of options goes on...see site below for how to's.
http://thecouponproject.com/2011/12/please-pass-the-fruitcake-vintage-snowglobes-post-9-of-12.html

For those of you that drink from mason/canning jars do you know about cupppow, the innovative spill free lid adaptor for use with regular and wide mouth mason jars. It is uber cool and ever so popular check out www.cuppow.com
I am in Canada but know most of the retailers who are selling in stores and online so get in touch as I have plenty also to sell...

[iL Divo]

about 3 weeks ago the fresh garlic looked icky so I opted for a looksie in the jarred section.
there I found 'it'.
a darling little jar that maybe holds 2 ozs of garlic paste.
how could I resist this tiny cute necessary item?

[iL Divo]

...and about garlic, I bought a head of garlic and pulled a long stock of ginger out of my freezer and Cuisinart'ed them to death with a little water and olive oil, so it's now a paste of two great flavors that I often use together. not sure if I made it so I could find another use for one of the darling jars I have though.....there could be some truth to that but I'm not sure............yeah right...

[KitchenBarbarian]

*clears throat self-consciously and steps up to podium*

Hi, I'm the Kitchen Barbarian, and I'm a Jar Junkie.

I save any and every glass jar I can lay my hands on. I scour the thrift stores for cool looking jars. I curse the day they started putting peanut butter in plastic containers (I refuse to call those things "jars")

Have you seen this?

http://margaretgarrington.wordpress.c...

Well I thought of it first, but didn't do anything about it because my friends at the time laughed at me. I must have several dozen of the Looza jars in storage, and have managed to collect at least a dozen more here in my son's house.

I have bought wine for the bottle, though I did also drink the wine. I still resent my brother for pressuring me into giving him one of my precious wine bottles (a lovely deep blue and an interesting shape to boot) because he thought his wife would like it. That had white wine in it, too, and I HATE white wine!

Currently I have baby food jars (with the baby food still in 'em) in the pantry, waiting for me to turn the contents into some sort of muffin or quick bread, so I can have the jars for other things.

My son thinks I am crazy, but he has mostly given up on trying to get me to throw my jars away. Besides, I think he may be gradually coming to realize that every jar I save is a storage container he didn't have to pay for.

But I can stop any time I want! I can, really, I can! In fact just the other day I threw out a jar because I got a better one and needed some excuse to keep it as I currently had nothing waiting to be put away in a jar. Alas, culling the herd is sometimes necessary - when one shares living space with someone who is NOT a jar junkie.

This is great! That is such a load off my mind! We should get together like this more often, sit around the campfire toasting marshmallows and singing "Kumbaya"!

[greygarious]

Being nulliparous, my only baby food purchases have been all-meat jars, used to coax the occasional ailing cat or dog to eat. So for a split second, I cringed at the thought that you were going to make lamb muffins! Definitely okay to yuck THAT yum!!! I've now seen baby food in awful rectangular plastic cups with peel-off tops - so maintain your death-grip on those jars. I have not made their version, but CI/ATK's version of carrot cake calls for a jar of carrot baby food in addition to grated ones. So if you like carrot cake, there's justification for hoarding the orange stuff. ;-)

[sandylc]

How about this pulled pork cupcake?

http://www.seriouseats.com/2012/06/th...

[KitchenBarbarian]

Oh ... my ....

[greygarious]

They should change that to "youcantbeseriouseats.com".

[KitchenBarbarian]

ROFLMAO!

[rjf4ins]

Erica,

What company makes a lid that fits those jars from Costco's peaches?

[greygarious]

I use the ones they come with. I do not think the Costco jars are made of canning-safe jars but it looks like canning jar lids would fit them. You could always measure the diameters and compare.

[Disneyfreak]

I gather you folks have seen the Mason Jar Barware? http://www.hayseedhomemakin.com/2012/... -- not my site but I saw it once somewhere and thought it was really clever.

[pdxgastro]

I think it's tacky but live and let live.

[Disneyfreak]

I get what you are saying, but this is even more tacky: http://www.amazon.com/Red-Solo-Cup-Wi...

[Jackie007]

I reuse glass jars. I also can't recycle them here.

[shallots]

I threw out a glass jar yesterday. I reasoned that 1) it wasn't particularly re-useful and 2) the labels on the front and back were so thoroughly glued on that it would take acetone to remove the glue. (Even a single edged razor was a hard push to start cleaning.)

Having a cap that is hard to use is my other criteria for rapid recycling.

[LaLa]

a little goo gone takes off the worst offenders!

[sueatmo]

Yes to Goo Gone. There is another similar cleaner out there too. But I soak the labels off generally.

[shallots]

Thanks, I'll search for Goo Gone. (Although because I live in Tennessee, home state of Goo Goo Clusters, I may have some explaining to do.)

[greygarious]

I've never sweated over label removal, since the jars are not on display. If the labels soak off, fine. If not, so be it.

I live alone, so it took me a couple of years, but yesterday I finished off the 2-pound jar of sun-dried tomatoes from Costco. What a beauty! It is tall, with no shoulders and a really wide mouth that would easily accommodate a measuring cup. No odors retained by the lid lining. Ridiculously, I am mulling over the possible content options. The shape is so great that I don't want to risk breaking it by using it in the freezer. It will probably be refrigerated nuts, whole-grain flour, or coffee beans. I also have a new one from Trader Joe's morello cherries. These are tall and oval. Lining them up side by side, they seem to create less wasted space than round jars.

[iL Divo]

I'm with you. I don't care that much as I think over time surely they'll pull away from the glass. If I'm desperate I rub the label with butter and leave overnight.

[LindaWhit]

I grinned while reading this, greygarious. ;-)

[iL Divo]

so tiny glass jars filled with specialty jams arrived at work the other day and the leftovers got taken home by the manager who'd ordered them.
she either is a glass jar collector or wanted the jams for gifts.
either way, my eye caught the jars cause they were about 1/2 the size of pimiento jars which I loved.

[lovetocookPEI]

ah, so nice to see that I am not alone with my mason jar obsession!

[iL Divo]

bought some candles@tag sale. burned a couple of little ones. one came with screw on lid and when done burning it went into boiling water with lid. all wax out, dried in sun both pieces, now it's storing the steak sauce recipe I made from CI. love this little imprinted jar that is probably 1/2 cup size.

[greygarious]

For future reference - put the candleholder in the freezer. The wax constricts and pops out.
When putting a votive into a jar-type container, put a little water in it first. This keeps the meltex wax from adhering to the jar in the first place. Thank you Martha Stewart for both tips.

[iL Divo]

"thank you MS for both tips"

no....> thank you Greygarious

^^ those tips are great but one thing I did get...a **really** clean jar :)

[iL Divo]

am now using one more yankee candle jar with lid for whole wheat bread 'mom'. used a bit of 'her' last night to make bread for today.

[iL Divo]

she is brill.

[cookmyassoff]

they are even good to store leftover cheeses in, rather than using plastic wrap or a ziploc baggie.

[buttertart]

That's an excellent idea.

[sandylc]

+1.

[IndyGirl]

Second this! And I love glass jars!

[Querencia]

I am committed to glass jars for refrigerator and cupboard storage because they are vertical and save space and can be tightly closed. I have big 1.5 quart Mason ones for storing soup, 1 qts and 1 pts for cooked vegetables, sauces, coleslaw, jello, puddings, dry products in cupboard, everything. I have a lot of white plastic screw-on tops that I bought separately and am glad to keep jars that something came in, otherwise I pick up a few Mason jars at a yard sale or thrift shop as long as they aren't chipped and fit my white tops.

[cookmyassoff]

i love those glass jars that the bonne mamont jellies come in, with the red and white checkerboard lids. i store things like the leftover coconut milk for example. and i love the glass jars that POM juices come in (even though im not a big fan of the POM juice) they are my favorite drinking glasses. a neighbor gave me a couple boxes of mason jars recently, which was really cool. and i was told by a nutritionist that the better quality vitamins will come in glass jars instead of plastic ones, at least as a general rule.

[iL Divo]

oh CMAO, I love those jelly jars too

[shallots]

I stopped back here to re-enjoy this favorite thread.

AND !!!! there's a rather pretty jar that hasn't gotten mentioned here. It's from (real) oriental grocery stores and it's what Hoisin Sauce and some of the other rather pretty sauces come in. It seems to be just right for storing home made salad dressings and sauces of limited quantity. Easy to grip, it's cylindrical above a round, almost pumpkin like base.

At one time, Randalls in Houston had a huge line of imported mustards from France and I (blush) bought them for the stonewear containers and tossed most of the mustards as too sharp for my tastes back then. Are they anywhere, nowadays?

[iL Divo]

we needed a small amount of olive oil for a 3day trip so bought an 8oz'r. used all the olive oil. brought the bottle to the dishwasher with lid and it got cleaned inside and out. saved the vessel and used it most recently for a can of coconut milk that I didn't need in its entirety. filled it 1/2 way, such a good recycle.

[cookmyassoff]

yea, i know that jar with the hoisin, with that bubble base (totally looks like a pumpkin, good description) thats the hoisin i buy from my local viet market. koon chun brand, the best hoisin. i love that jar! that same brand also has one of my favorite asian products, "thick soy sauce".....awesome for basting/glazing asian style ribs or doing stir fry. i love to glaze long beans in brown sugar, chili oil and that thick soy. and keep the glass jar of course!

[shallots]

Do you blanch the beans first? That sounds like an excellent recipe (and I have all the ingredients- chortle- in glass jars.)

[cookmyassoff]

ya i sort blanch the beans until they are just before the tenderness u want, cuz the glazing will cook them a little more. blanch them in a little water, then pour off that water and add ur thick soy, a tblspoon or so of brown sugar and a little drizzle of sesame oil or chili oil if u want spicy. just glaze em up! i do it with hoisin too and omit the brn sugar cuz hoisin is sweet already. so good as a side dish for fish or chicken, especially if u have asian flavors goin. sometimes i will put a pinch of 5 spice to kick up the asian thang.

[shallots]

5 spice from Penzey's ? It's got so much more flavor that the 5 spice that I've gotten from my Oriental Grocery Store.

I like your suggestions, thanks.

[cookmyassoff]

actually i found out what the "5 spices" were and made my own, and put it in a glass jar of course. i dont know what penzeys is.

[shallots]

Penzey's sells herbs and spices. They are fresh and really have flavor.

I store mine in the glass jars that (kind of ) look like miniature versions of the glass jars that milk used to be home delivered in. The glass jars that are mass manufactured for Starbucks to sell a single serving of (?) Frappucino that is chilled at quick markets and that Sam's sells in flats. The lids do seal fairly well for a mass market disposable. I use a label making machine for the labels and my spice and herb shelf looks really sharp (totally with recycled glasswear.)

[cookmyassoff]

nice

[splatgirl]

you forgot the bacon! I stir fry the beans in some of the fat leftover from cooking the diced bacon and then as above, garnished with sesame seeds and scallion

[iL Divo]

boo hoo, my hoisin jar is a regular boring jar from my local supermarket Von's :(

[cookmyassoff]

gotta find urself an asian store

[Sue in Mt P]

Whew. I'm not alone!

Have y'all seen this?
http://apple-crate.blogspot.com/2011/...

[Rella]

I don't think I've mentioned this previously. Glass jars surely were considered a fine possession for my great-grandmother who died in 1947. In her last years of life she would stay with each of her children for several months. She had very few clothes to fill a drawer, but she did carry with her from home to home her glass jars. They were kept in a clothes-bureau drawer. We children would always rattle open the drawer to inspect the jars she brought. Perhaps 10 of them. She had been raised in a one-room log cabin, so these must have been of great value to her.

I love my jars, too - the genes got passed down.

[lilpixy]

Erica, I feel compelled to further explore the "freezing foods in glass jars" Forgive me for my ignorance but pretty much anytime I have put glass in the freezer, though admittedly my experience is limited to forgetting a few beers we were chilling for a bbq it resulted in shattered glass, after that I never allowed glass and a freezer to meet. Did I simply have a bad experience? Can I safely allow glass inside my freezer?

[greygarious]

A previously unopened container, no. Not any more than you would freeze an unopened can of Coke. Just allow plenty of headroom for expansion. If possible, place the lid atop it but do not screw it on until the food has frozen. Thaw in the refrigerator. You can't beat glass for preventing food picking up off tastes from fridge odors. You just have to remember to treat it, well, like glass!

[sandylc]

To freeze in glass jars, keep the food level at least one full inch below where the glass begins to narrow.

[cookmyassoff]

ya the contents of the jar will expand once frozen so just make sure u do that "one inch below" thing. i learned this the hard way. i made all my son's baby food and my friend would save her gerber glass jars for me to put my baby food in, and then i would freeze it. so i had a couple of exploded jars from filling them too full. once i started filling them about 3/4 of the way full it was not a problem.

[lilpixy]

I too will wash and rinse the glass jars from pickles, spaghetti sauces, jams etc....although I designate said jars specifically for draining fats and grease then throw them out when they are full. I will admit that I will save them even if there are already a dozen plus empty ones though.

[CindyJ]

I used to be the same way -- hoarding glass jars for fat and grease disposal -- until one day I looked at the shelf the jars were on and realized (1) I had more than a year's supply of grease jars, and (2) I could use the space for something else. Now I keep maybe a half-dozen glass jars on hand and the rest get happily tossed into the recycle bin.

[Spice_zing]

Ya mon. Luv dem glass jars for ever-y-ting!

Jars, bottles, containers, u name it.

The other day at a closeout store I bought the last 2 Ball jars that must’ve been about 2 ft tall! (Couldn’t believe it) Then visited other locations to see if I could find more. Didn’t find them but did find glass storage containers I’d been wanting. O, joy!

[Claudette]

I love this thread, and other such CH threads so that I can show my husband that no I am not the ONLY person in the world that collects glass jars (and cookie cutters and ...).

[hippioflov]

Yesssssssss! I'm not the only one. Because I can anyway, I have hundreds of Mason jars. I always use them to store dry goods like beans or leftovers. I even carry my coffee to work in a quart jar. Sometimes me lunch too. Since i'v done some reading on plastics, i am even more committed to glass jars. My mom bought some square glass containers with glass lids at a salvage store. I am so envious. They fit and stack perfectly in the fridge. But the most exciting jar news for me is the line of lids coming out, especially designed to fit Mason jars - multi use lids that let you pour and sip from the jar. Plus with care, glass lasts virtually forever. I have jars from a yard sale that must be 40 years old. Love my jars!

[iL Divo]

I hate to admit buying glass jars from charity shops just because I'm in a jam making mood.............
but truth is often cleansing............hahahah

[iL Divo]

"Anything you want to get off YOUR chest?" YES! Hysterically funny, just now, I looked up 'not about food' and put in the search bar, glass jars. I was sure I wasn't going to find anything but did. Seriously I was thinking that if I did a thread on just this subject.............well..........no one would ever love glass jars besides me.

greyg.......I am so glad others find them to be treasures as well. I thought it was mom's fault because she collected glass jars. She'd use them for tiny things like nuts and radishes-left over pickles etc. Now that I think about it, grandma, mom's mom, did the same thing. Being the premier baker of the universe, she always had nuts in jars in the fridge. She had other things in there too like hard boiled eggs waiting to be turned into egg salad, little cornichons, a lot of pecans & walnuts, olives black and green and kipper snacks that didn't get all eaten from the tin. Mom's sister teased her when she'd go visit mom and I would stick up for mom telling my aunt that those little jars or jars in general were ways of saving left over bits & bobs and to not tease my mother.

So I was in the store needing a small container of tomato paste as all the seal a meal ones in the freezer had been used. Do you know when I got to the store and went to the specialty section of International foods just to see what they had there [tomato paste] I found a small odd shaped 6 oz. jar. I got a little twinge :+/ then went to the canned tomato section and found them over there in cans, all kinds. Something about that dang little odd jar sent me back over there to grab it and I did. I buy jam like that too, especially in Canada where there are brands I've never heard of or 'seen'. My husband asks me to find berry jams over there so that's my excuse for buying them < he asked :-\ Also have no trouble buying pasta sauces in those large mason sized quart jars. True as I'm sitting here last week, I took a jar of instant rise bread machine yeast out of the freezer to make pie dough and knocked it with floor mop off the counter, it broke and I thought darn, "I wanted that jar when it'd be empty". Haven't read only posted just now...I must read on and see what others think of this subject.

..........oh it's the little things......

[Barbara76137]

Interesting how I ran across this thread tonight, right after I had grabbed some dried hot peppers out of a 1 gallon olive jar that I bought at Costco. I've probably had that jar for at least 10 years, it still has a cute little fabric cover that is now faded and the elastic gold tie has lost its elasticity. It has a good screw lid and keeps the chilis fresh and dry.

[Rella]

Replying to all -

Most everthing food-wise that comes into my house goes into a Ball jar. Generally it gets the air pumped out of it, or put into the freezer. I've only had one jar crack in years. If what I am thawing is heavy on liquid, I will often put it onto a plate to thaw to catch the condensation and/or breakage.

The big stuff like grains and flour go into buckets, and lots of times they are taken out of their bags and put into glass jars after they are opened, and still left into the buckets.

I don't buy any wet-prepared food that is not in glass. period.

I love glass. Something nice about using it.

[EWSflash]

It feels so good to not be alone!

[John E.]

When I was a kid everything that now comes in plastice jars came in glass jars. I remember my mother hiding the glass mayo, peanut butter, etc. glass jars in the trash can so my father would not see them and save them.

[EWSflash]

Absolutely with you on that. I'm not sure I ever bought anything for the jar- maybe subconsciously, though. If i'd seen the jarred peaches at Costco I'd have probably bought them, though!

[SeaSide Tomato]

Thanks for reviving this thread--I missed it the first time around.

My name is Seaside and I hoard jars, too. Many are put to good use--like for all my loose spices.

A simple but great jar is Trader Joe's Black Bean Dip. For 2:00 I get a tasty (and with decent tingredients), quick nibby to have on hand for unexpected guests. When it's done, it is wide mouthed with no shoulders and perfect for a bulk spices because I keep mine in two wide drawers-not shelves. Jar sits in drawer and I simply put a label on top that says "sumac" "tarragon' etc. Sigh. They are perfect. and pretty enough, if not outright lovely.

Some lovely jars from jellies, mustards, etc. Great wide, tall, shoulder-less jars fron certain tahini brands. And yes, I will buy a prduct that I feel I can put to good use just to get the jar itself.

One beautiful small jar--3.5 or 4" tall, 1.5" wide with concavely arched, fluted shoulders--Cap is no longer around. I use it for small bunces of flowers. That's what is was meant for, come to think of it.

Ok, done with my ode to jars. Didn't realize I had it in me until now.

Thanks Greygarious.

[sueatmo]

I save peanut butter jars, because they are straight sided. I have buttons sorted by color in my sewing room, and they are stored in glass jars--most of which are the peanut butter jars. I will also save small jars, straight sided or not. I find uses for the small jars as well. I'm quite fond of the jars pickled artichoke hearts come in. I've got several glass jars full of various colors glass marbles, which I use seasonally around the house. The pickle jars and other sorts I recycle. If Smuckers ever stops using glass jars for their all natural peanut butte, I'll be really disappointed.

For food storage in the fridge, I almost always use lidded plastic containers, which I sort through every so often to make sure I have lids for everything. What doesn't have lids, gets recycled.

Glass jars are good for storing things like nuts or seeds, or sugar, or other dry foodstuffs.

[cayjohan]

You make me smile with the buttons and marbles. Those are two dry goods in our house too. (We also display collections of rocks in glass jars.)

I'll agree with you on the Smucker's natural peanut butter jars. I like buying our co-op's bulk peanut butter, but we just as often, it seems, buy the Smucker's because we like the jars! Not bad peanut butter, either.

[sueatmo]

And the jars are so useful! I have to give mine up. We are moving. I have sent quite a few of my button jars to a charity shop. I am recycling my empty glass jars. I think i can collect them in my new location though. Not Smuckers, but Anne Adams. May Anne use glass jars please.

[iL Divo]

funny how we even have our favorites right?

[EWSflash]

Too true!

[rainey]

Amen, sist-ah!

When things get 3-4" down in a large jar, I move them into smaller jars so they take up less storage space and it's more convenient to get to the contents.

• I keep a couple humongous Costco jars/vats for soaking dry beans.
• Nothing is cuter than a couple tablespoons of capers in an itty bitty jar.
• I buy all my spices in bulk from Penzey's but they go in the Whole Foods square spice jars that store like a dream.
• And some of them, I keep just because the shape is sexy. I've bought wine from Trader Joe's and dumped it because it was the bottle I was after and the price of the whole thing was what I'd pay for a bottle if I could find one as graceful.
• I've got a homemade mustard recipe that works perfectly in a commercial 16 oz salsa jar. I soak the seeds, season them and whirl them up with a hand blender and then put the top on for storage in the fridge. Homemade mustard with only the hand blender to clean.

Oh, and I have used my conventional hoarded jars for canning -- I wouldn't give those jars; I keep them for our own use but they work just fine. I reuse flat Ball/Kerr/Bernardino lids too. If I can pick something up by the lid and the lid will support the weight of the jar and contents I've got a seal so why the paranoia about only using lids once?

[morwen]

Because the sealing compound on a canning lid is compromised after it's first use. When reused it may (or may not) lose its seal some weeks or months down the line. But of course you would throw out the contents if you found a jar with a broken seal.

[rainey]

Yes, if they didn't maintain their seal I'd dump them. But, guess what? They hold it and I haven't lost anything when I inspect the lids before I reuse them.

[djwmej]

Have a treasured Christmas decoration son made me with an old short 4 oz - 6oz baby food jar from the 70s or 80s. Lid is 2 3/16" in diameter & has been enameled & decorated, but jar it fits on broke. Old lids won't fit on new jars. Old lid is probably Beech Nut, but think Gerber jars where similar. Lids back then had an extra raised area on top just past the edge. Under side had four small bumps that were part of the edge. These bumps made the lid screw on to the jar. Does anyone have one of these vintage glass baby food jars (don't need the lid) that you are willing to part with?

[shallots]

If conventional sources fail, perhaps you know someone in a botany or zoology or geology department. Baby food bottles were the most readily available thing for storing samples, fossils, etc. back in that era. I'd expect them to have some empties on a musty shelf, gathering space and cobweb

[shaebones]

FYI all you jar lovers. Market Basket has jarred sliced peaches on sale this week , 2 for a buck in really pretty 10 oz jars.

[shallots]

"yes, I save jars, but worse, I will buy certain products, just so I can have the jar."

Yes, I save.

But I've found a 'certain product' that I don't think has been mentioned here, yet.

From Clearbrook Farms in Ohio come these flavored 'curds' that can be used as pie fillings, etc. Yes, they come in glass jars, but these are the haute-est glass jars, with the glass lids held in place by the heavy wires that will pull the glass top onto a rubber gasket. These are the real old timey jars. They hold a pound of rice, a pound of special sugar, they are very close to perfect.

Their key lime curd isn't bad. Their lemon curd is as good as mine.

Their glass jars are just plain fine.

Their line in their "Canning Jars" are the ones that I want. Here's a link to a page that shows them. http://clearbrookfarms.com/catalog/in...

[greygarious]

FYI - the wire closure thingy is called a bail. Gonna hit the clearbrook link now.....;-)

[iL Divo]

oh thanks a lot shallots! :}}}

[nojunk]

yup, I probably have a half dozen of these on my shelf & I love sending people home with leftovers in them. my market stocks the Clearbrook brand in delicious jams & preserves and they're a staple in my fridge. of course you pay for the darling jars, but they're totally recyclable.

[sunsuze]

I share in your love of glass. I love the tiny room service jars of preserves and mustards and ketchup. I use them for salad dressings, mayo, syrup for on-the-go meals and picnics. I love old milk bottles and use them for flowers. I buy milk in plastic and transfer it to a half gallon glass milk jug. Love coke and snapple in the bottle too! I have been buying glass storage containers at Ross and TJ Maxx.

[MinkeyMonkey]

Hooray, me too! What a nice topic.

I not only wash and keep all my glass jars, I get a little ticked off when my guy does the recycling and "cleans up" my stockpile. "NOoooo", I'll shout, "that was the octagonal jam jar from Fred in Capitola when he made that plum jam back in '03, I loved that jar." Really, best jam ever.

I also wash and remove the labels in the HOPES of recycling the simplest peanut butter jar only to find it months later stashed in the back of the cabinet. Did i put it there? I did.

I am sooo polite to my friends who make us jams, jellies and syrups. I wash their jars, thoroughly clean all the lid parts and then have the best intentions of returning them. I don't return them. Sorry, I meant to!

I've collected spent poppy stems/seed capsules and other dried flower pods from my garden Just so I can put them in a jar.

I've dug in empty dirt lots in San Francisco Just to find old jars and have found some pretty lavender ones. I've bought them, even an old soda bottle from a junk shop. I think I paid too much.

They are great for storing things, perfect for sesame seeds, nuts and pennies. The less fancy jars hold all my spare coins.

the bait jars I find along the reservoir are filled with rusty fishing hooks, bits of tangled fishing line and old lures and weights. We pick them up because we like things that glimmer in the sun and we don't want our dogs to step on the hooks. And, really, it is a public service to pick up trash, right...right?

I have little McCoy planters filled with old, broken glass jars. Every now and then, I'll rummage through them and then put them back on the window sill.

Our neighbors a block away leave out a "free" pile and I've picked up about four very large glass vessels from there. One was a giant old...I dunno, and old laboratory vessel? The glass is so thick it could be anything. I even brought home their old pickle jar.

Thanks, greygarious and the other posters, I didn't want to be the only one!

[greygarious]

I don't feel so bad now. I was going to recycle the vinegar bottle but it would be good to keep it filled with water in the fridge over the summer, wouldn't it? There's usually too much dtuff in the freezer for an ice cube tray.

[iL Divo]

"Hooray, me too! What a nice topic."

Yes, just don't get me started on another topic, that being vintage Tupperware, now that's a 'real' problem for me................ :}

[CapreseStacy]

I love glass, too. When we build our "dream home," *someday* I already have a solarium type room planned with all sorts of glass objects and glass art hung in the windows and decorating the table/countertops. (Earthquakes be damned).

I have purchased the Classico pasta sauces just because they come in a cool jar that has measurement markers in the glass. The jars also say "Atlas Mason"... morwen, would those be the ones you warn about? I haven't tried canning in them because I only have two or three, but wouldn't want to lose a batch of something due to glass that wouldn't withstand the process.

I love the tiny glass jars that jams sometimes come in from hotels. I am not sure I've ever even repurposed one, but I save them! I also have tiny Tabasco and ketchup bottles saved!

Another thing I save are cool wine or liquor bottles. A few of them I've actually repurposed as vases or bottles for homemade dressing. I even had friends save/collect wine bottles in blue or purple glass before my wedding at a winery, and we turned the bottles into oil lamps for the tables!

My broken diswhasher has become jar storage central. My sister is an herbalist, and she asked me to save jars and containers she could use for her teas, tinctures, balms, etc. She can't use a lot of the ones I've saved for her, for various reasons, but it feels like a little treasure when I find one that I know is going into the dishwasher to wait for my sister's perusal.

I must admit, though, that most of the jars and bottles I save sit around cluttering up my cupboards and garage until I finally, grudgingly put them in the recycle bin. This thread has inspired me to try and find new uses for some of that glass I couldn't part with. Thanks, greygarious!

[morwen]

Yep, those are the jars. I've seen some other products in those look-alike jars too but can't remember the brands right now. Some of them are impressed with "Golden Harvest" and a sheaf of wheat.

[iL Divo]

"I love glass, too. When we build our "dream home," *someday* I already have a solarium type room"

have you ever seen a outside wall that reflects inside that is totally made of soda or beer bottle bottoms? the light that comes in from all the colors of glass, so beautiful, I could stare forever.

[buzzardbreath]

I too have several of those miniscule Tabasco bottles. Too cute to use! And wouldn't you know, I actually needed one not long ago. A young relative was setting up a miniature place setting for a 4-H project and it was just the right size. If we save something long enough, someone will need it. LOL

[Kelli2006]

Im looking for a source of tabasco-like bottles. I make hot sauce and I want to share my sauce with friends,but it is almost impossible to find the proper bottles.

[Spice_zing]

Kelli, this link might help with hot sauce bottles.

http://www.leeners.com/peppersauce/st...

[LindaWhit]

"Clear Woozy Bottles" - yup, if you filled it with liquor, you would be woozy!

[splatgirl]

google "glass bottle supply". here is just one of many likely sources
http://www.specialtybottle.com/sauceb...

[Kelli2006]

I bought a dozen of the 5oz woozy bottlers, plus dribbler inserts, and plastic sleeves to seal them.

Thanks for the link.

[CindyJ]

My brother makes hot sauce and bottles it in those tabasco-like bottles. He also seals the lids with a plastic material like the bottles you buy in the store. The plastic seals with the help of a hand-held blow dryer.

[chef chicklet]

Thank you for starting this, the therapy so needed by none other than ME.

yes, I save jars, but worse, I will buy certain products, just so I can have the jar.
I love small little jars, you know the onces for pimentos? I have quite a collection. I find them just the perfect size for lunches or a picnic. They hold mustards, mayonnaise etc. Anything I only need a little amount of.
I also love some of the tall slender dressing bottles, like my champagne vinegar. I will never part with that frosted slender bottle. Perfect place for left over dipping sauces.
I have a shelf in my pantry in the garage devoted to my larger jars. In a previous life they held pickles, and sauces.
I reuse them for quick pickles, or jams. Jams that can be made and eaten in 2 weeks. Or for left over marinara and bbq sauce. Sometimes I like to make my bbq sauce, and then we use it within a month. It holds nicely. The larger ones, kim chee. Oh yes, and they do a great job. I have mason jars too, all sizes from 1/2 pint on up.

They're clean and organized, and sometimes I find them on my husbands work bench which brings this addiction full circle. Back in the day my Dad had my sister save her little baby jars when my nephews were little. Then he nailed the lid onto a board under his workbench cabinet, then the jars all filled with nuts, screws or tiny nails were screwed back onto the lid and there they hung tiny glistening jars holding this and that.
Aha, I can blame this one on my Dad for sure!
Recycle your glass!

[MinkeyMonkey]

oh, chef chicklet, would you mind sharing some of your quick pickle or quick jam recipes? I'd love to know! Or, if you already have, I'd love a link to where they are posted. thank you!!!

Jennifer

[iL Divo]

"I love small little jars, you know the ones for pimentos?" I love those too.

So too bad that my adorable Tupperware Mini's are stored in a large 2 gallon plastic container with a lid and don't get used but are so cute in their many pastel colors, while the pimento jars are constantly being recycled.

[Rella]

Those little gerber jars I loved for mixing up a small bit of watercolor wash.

[Dax]

I save jars too, but generally the same styles. Some of the smaller ones get saved for 1-2 more uses then hopefully recycled but sometimes tossed. I am a bad person.

Love mason jars but find I have to buy those. They operate as my "magic bullet" because they fit standard blender attachments. Thanks for that tip chowhound!

[buttertart]

What size Mason jar for the blender use?

[greygarious]

As long as it's the same lip diameter as the typical quart jar, which is about 3", the volume /shape doesn't matter. My old Oster Kitchen Center came with pint-sized plastic jars in addition to the regular blender jar.

[buttertart]

Thanks, fellow jar lover.
I still rue getting rid of my 1970's Braun Kitchenmachine that had a blender and meat grinder attachment - with a small jar for the blender...and an actual small bowl as well as the big one. Beautiful, too (same model is in MOMA). It needed fixing and I didn't get it done. What the hell was I thinking? I'd kill to have another one.

[Sparklebright]

Depends on the blender.
My first blender fit mason jars perfectly.
Second one--not.

[silence9]

Hi... As a mason (freemason), I am absurdly fond of mason jars. I think iced tea and lemonade taste better in them. I am silly that way...

[cayjohan]

My husband swears summer just isn't summer without a G&T in - yep - a glass jar. Last summer he "graduated" from his favorite old jelly jar to a jar with a handle, as on a mug (I think it contained one of our many mustard flirtations). It's good to be silly that way!

[dump123456789]

Jar with a handle ? I would totally save that.

[iL Divo]

In many stores {Orowheat bakery for one} I've seen apple jelly in mason jars with lids and handles.

Maybe they are made that way from copying back in the day when empty jars turned in to drinking glasse. Wonder if anything like that came filled with jam or whatever and was a free [tucked in] giveaway gift from a box of cereal or powdered laundry soap

[John E.]

I too have seen lots of jams and jellys in Mason jars with handles. In fact, my father used to send out those jars with his company's logo on it filled with wild rice at Christmas time. (Minnesota's official state grain).

[iL Divo]

Ah JohnE, you gotta love Minnesota. Most all my relatives are there strewn across the whole state. So you Minnesotans have terrific wild rice... bet it's delicious.

[KSlink]

Just this morning I bought some preserves that I don't really need because the jar had a handle!

[chef chicklet]

So does coke or diet coke. We have a deli that makes the most wonderful sandwiches and they've always served their drinks in a mason jar. They're perfect, the ice doesn't melt as quick.

[Angela Roberta]

I keep any jar that has a pretty raised motif--leaves, berries, grapes.

[morwen]

I pick up decorative jars with airtight lids or rubber rings and wire bales for storing dehydrated fruits and veg, dry ingredients, and cereals at thrift shops and yard sales. I get gallon and half-gallon glass jars from restaurants for small fermenting jobs and vinegar making. I admit to scavenging the recycle bin for the squat square 6 oz jars that marinated mushrooms and roasted peppers come in because they're perfect for pestos, nut butters, marinated feta cubes, and other small batch goodies that get refrigerated or frozen, and empty spice jars for the dried herbs from my garden. And even though I appreciate the fact that the lids are on them, I whinge to myself at people for being too lazy to remove the metal and plastic lids when they recycle the glass.

A word of warning about those Mason jar looking pasta sauce jars (and baby food and other grocery store jars). They are NOT truly mason tempered glass made for multiple re-use as home canning jars. The process for making tempered glass for home canning was developed by a man named Mason and became the sort of generic name for home canning jars using this process. The pasta sauce jars that look like mason jars are a single use only jar not tempered to withstand the stress of repeated sharp temperature changes or bumping in the water bath or pressure in the pressure canner. It's a marketing ploy to give their product that home-made appeal. I use to use them a long time ago for home canning but when I started losing several jars per batch due to the jars cracking I asked an extension agent what I was doing wrong. When she discovered I was reusing the pasta sauce jars she explained to me about the mason process and how the sauce jars were merely look-alikes. I've since been using strictly Ball & Kerr jars made specifically for home canning and rarely ever lose a jar to cracking in the water bath or pressure canner. YMMV.

[suzysue2]

Thanks for all of the great tips, one of my favorite jars to hoard are the single serving Bonne Maman jam jars that my hotel serves, perfect to put inside the container that you pack a salad in filled with dressing or put spices in, I also save them to store paint in my art room.

[morwen]

I LOVE those jars! Unfortunately I can rarely get my hands on them.

[buttertart]

I have some of those from a 2002 trip to Lyon, ain't nobody gonna take them away from me.

[iL Divo]

oh Suzysue, don't get me started on the little mayo/ketchup/mustard/jam/peanut butter jars that are used by nice hotels for Room Service. I have soooooooo many of those.
Also when we get gifts of baskets from Hickory Farm or whatever for the holiday, the sample sized jars of jam and syrup in there are great too.

[lagatta]

I've bought those with the Mason name right on them. Really deceitful. Lots a whole jar of stock that way, in the wintertime, many years ago. Now I just recycle those.

[GH1618]

There is nothing deceitful about marking jars "Mason" if a canning jar lid fits and seals. Mason's invention (in 1858) concerned only the design of the threaded top and the sealing surface. If the lid fits and seals, it is Mason jar.

The Mason patent: http://todayinsci.com/Events/Patent/M...

Tempered glass wasn't invented until the 20th century. There have been many improvements in glassmaking, and many makers of Mason jars, in a century and a half. One should not expect all Mason jars to be of equal quality. The best canning jars will naturally come from a company which is selling them for that purpose, not as a container for their spaghetti sauce.

[boogiebaby]

Not glass, but I buy Utz Pub Mix at Costco specifically for the large square sided, screw top jar it comes in! they are perfect in the pantry for lentils, dried beans, flour, etc. They line up nicely, side by side, with no wasted space.

I try not to do glass jars in the pantry as I have young kids, and they often drop items while looking through the pantry. I learned that the hard way, after they dropped a glass jar on our ceramic tile kitchen floor. I was finding glass shards weeks later several feet from where the jar fell!

[pinkprimp]

Wow, it's so great to know that others also purchase items just for the jar/packaging, because my family and friends do not seem to understand this concept and think I'm "quirky"... :-3

I use the jars for so many things around the house! For stashing pens and markers (I like how it looks all lined up on my desk),, catching loose change, as a way to display pretty candies, as a giant water glass, holding cocktails for picnics, to hold left over contents from canned goods, etc. As bayoucook says, "i just love me a jar!"

[chef chicklet]

Safety pins and coins. I have a couple in the laundry room that hold runaway buttons, and one for change. Also one for little boys and big boys pocket items. Missing something? Check the jar in the laundry room.

[hamboney]

Yes, I need to get these off my chest:
My mom (in her 80's) uses Gerber baby food glass jars for jellies and jams. Everyone in the family knows to return the empties for refills. I found a box of Skippy peanut butter glass jars in her basement and she let me have them. They work fine as measuring cups and drink glasses. I have a glass Heinz ketchup bottle that I decant Simply Heinz ketchup into; I know you can buy them online, but those are their HFCS ketchup. I really don't understand why I still have an empty olive jar w/ an upside-down label in my cupboard....hmmmm. Sometimes I wonder about me.
Hammy

[im_nomad]

My Grandfather used to use those baby food jars to keep nails and screws and other small items in his shed. I think he used to nail the lid to a shelf and the glass jar would hang from it.

[bagelman01]

that's what my basement work area looks like, the hanging garden of Beech Nut

[greygarious]

Or the Hanging Garden of Beech-Nuts-and-Bolts! ;-D

[Will Owen]

My dad was a sign painter, and found the Gerber jars exactly the right size to hold a useful amount of paint after he'd mixed a color, small enough to be picked up easily but large enough to hold an adequate supply for a typical sign. The lids also sealed well enough to save any leftovers. He still had an extensive stock of them long after we stopped buying baby food.

I have a nice lot of jars from 1-qt. Masons through the small Classico pasta-sauce ones, but limited storage space. My late pa-in-law, however, was a serious jar hoarder, with a special fondness for the big High Point instant-coffee jars. We're cleaning out the house to sell it, and the recycling bin is now stuffed with glass. Sorry if this horrifies anyone …

[Will Owen]

Follow-up one year later: though I had no room for the giant High Point jars, I did save a bunch of the cylindrical quart jars. These are proper canning jars, with measures up the sides and two-piece lids, and as we've gotten into the habit of gathering at some friends' house for almost-weekly potluck dinner parties these come in really handy for pasta sauce or whatever. Yes, I would love to have a great array of jars with rice and beans and pasta on the glass shelves of my big popout kitchen window, but there are too many kitchen collectibles there already, along with useful items there's no place else for. And NO, I am NOT going to move. Ever again!

[EWSflash]

No kidding- people need to either move every five years or not at all.

[LindaWhit]

I moved a year ago, but had a box full of glass jars that were packed and came with me (although none quart sized). They now occupy half a shelf in my kitchen and are used for salad dressing, dried herbs, and the like.

ETA this Note: I mostly keep ONLY the ones that have an interesting shape to the glass. Love the short, squat, fat Inglehoffer mustard jars; Olde Cape Cod 6-sided jars; jars from the Aloha of Oregon tangerine marmalade I always have on hand. I do have several straight-sided jars to use for flour-water slurries for gravy and dressings. But mostly "interesting" jars.

[suzysue2]

Yeah, so I have one of my larger cabinets devoted to glass jars of all shapes and sizes. As a glassblower I love glass and I totally agree that things taste better in glass. I want to know more about freezing in glass. I always assumed that the expansion of liquids when frozen would crack the glass, so I never bothered, but would certainly like to start. Could you offer any tips for successful freezing in glass?

[smartie]

I used to make and freeze all my baby food in baby food glass jars. I only ever bought the pure fruit then used to re-use the jars with my own home made baby food, I didn't over fill them, twisted the lids back on and froze them. Never had one break or crack and didn't poison the babies - they are all now in their 20's!!

[sedimental]

I freeze in glass jars all the time, it is important to leave "head room" in the jar- for expansion. 2 inches is typically plenty of room. Too much room and the top of the contents get freezer burned.

[im_nomad]

Ditto for freezing in jars, and I likely leave less than two inches. The only thing I might look out for are the more brittle type plastic lids, but even then, not a big deal. I have several servings of soup in my freezer in peanut butter and pickle jars.

[morwen]

I've learned to tuck a flat piece of plastic wrap directly on top of the food to help guard against freezer burn in the head room. The food can still expand all it wants but there's a little bit of protection from the air.

[corneygirl]

So I love to use glass jars as well, and I have frozen homemade broth and stuff in them. I like how easy it is to see inside as I either forget to label or label illegibly. But, it takes FOREVER to dethaw things. It seems to insulate much better than plastic and even after 3 days in the fridge I can't get the stuff out! Even submerging in cool water has led to breakage. Any advice?

[sedimental]

I leave them on the counter to thaw much of the time. I don't freeze things in them that I would worry about. Or, if I am worried -once the outside edges of the contents (inside of the jar) gets "loose" and liquid by thawing, the inner "ice clump" comes out. Hope that made sense.

[corneygirl]

Thanks for the response, I tried that but the glass (mason) jar cracked! Maybe my kitchen's too warm.

[greygarious]

Put a cloth potholder or a towel between the jar and the counter, to prevent thermal shock from cracking the glass. Glass needs gentle, slow thawing.

[corneygirl]

I never would have thought of that. Thank you!

[gryphonskeeper]

I save all of my mason jars from spaghetti sauce, and just buy the new plastic lids and do my canning and preserving with them. I make lots of sauces, soups and relishes and always use mason jars to preserve them. They are beautiful, clean nicely and when you give away a soup or relish in them it gives me a sense of pride in the eco-friendly way I package it. I also use them for mixed cocktails (makes a great shaker) and for storage of leftovers. I do not have a lot of them because I rarely buy sauces, I mostly make them myself... but when I am low in jars I will buy the pasta sauces in mason jars on sale because it costs almost as much for the jars themselves!

[smartie]

another glass jar junkie here. I make jam so I have to collect them but I only give the jam away in nice jars if I positively know I'll get the jar back.

[iL Divo]

our friends in Seattle climb the highest hills/mountains to capture their treasured huckleberries or is it huckleberry's? anyway, she gives me the jam which is redunculous by the way, but ALWAYS asks for jars back. she collects them too and she's not even on CH

[bagelman01]

From one Greyhound lover to another.................................

I have a huge stash of glass jars in the basement and a cupoboard full in the house,

In my case it goes back to keeping a kosher kitchen. Glass is neutral and can be used for either meat or dairy product. I always had a problem keeping plasticware separate. My ex loved tupperware and suggested buying two different colors for maet and dairy, but the lids were all the same color in those years.

Most importanly, Many things I put in glass jars and store, such as sauce, soup, stew, have a tomato base and the plastic stains and looks dirty.

I feel that food store in plastic tastes better, just as soda or milk in Glass tastes better than fro plastoc. i sure miss Tropicana in glass bottles............

[cayjohan]

Jar Junkie here too. (I *blame* my mother and her home canning proclivities; I just got too inured to a life with glass jars at my beck and call.) I repurpose jars continually, and like greygarious have a serious affection for those shoulderless wide mouths! Well, and all the cute little jars that make it into the spice cupboard because I'm a giant sucker for a cute little jar.

The problem I have (and that if any of you glass jar hoarders could solve would merit a big virtual forehead-kiss of utter gratitude!) is pickle jars. They work so well for so many of my needs, but I have had abysmal luck in once-and-for-all removing the lingering odor of pickliness from them. (It was pointed out by DD that pickle-scented raisins are definitely NOT welcomed in her morning oatmeal.) I have finally started picking up wide mouth quart canning jars when I find them at a thrift store or yard sale, and I know I can always get new rings and lids and sidestep the pickle-odor problem...but I still feel a little bad chucking another great and useful-sized jar into the recycling because it had the misfortune of holding pickles in its first career outing.

So is it possible to give a pickle jar a second career?

(Don't even get me started on glass mayo jars. I miss 'em.)

[Deborah]

Sorry Cayjohan, I don't understand. I rinse out my pickle jars (and I pickle at the very least a hundred jars each fall) and once rinsed and washed in my dishwasher there is no lingering odour of pickles. I do throw out the lids but save the the rings.

[cayjohan]

Ah,yes...sorry about the incomplete information! I'm referring to the jars from commercially produced pickles and relishes; the pickle odor has proved, at least to me, impossible to eradicate. From what you've noted, I am guessing the problem is indeed the lids - boiling, soaking in baking soda, nothing has worked (I'm guessing it's the coating that's holding the odor). It's a shame, as we seem to go through a lot of pickles, and the jars are the perfect size/shape for many things I wish to store. I guess I am going to have to give up on them sooner or later and just go with canning jars with replaceable lids. It's Just So Hard to break the jar-saving habit, no?

[buttertart]

Have you tried stuffing a sheet of newsprint or paper towel in them and letting them sit a day or two? This works for me.

[cayjohan]

Now I'm certainly going to! Thanks for the tip!

[buttertart]

My dear old mom taught me that.

[ScottnZelda]

You might want to try Polident. I use it for vases.

[The 1st and only KSyrahSyrah]

The Ball Company makes plastic replacement lids and they fit nearly all other (than canning) jars.

I am also a glass jar hoarder. Lots and lots of glass jars.......lots.

[iL Divo]

Our Amish friends in PA sell their raw honey in old old mayonnaise jars, the quart size ones are what I buy. When I'm finished with my honey I know I 'should' give them the jars back but alas, I haven't relinguished them so far.......

[ConOrama]

My dream is to have everything in my kitchen stored in glass jars. I get all fluttery thinking about it.

[iL Divo]

My dream is to have everything in my kitchen stored in glass jars. I get all fluttery thinking about it.............................*)))

here's where to find more......

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=baby+food+jars&_sacat=0&_odkw=baby+food+glass+jars&_osacat=0&_from=R40

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_sacat...

oh my...........

[EWSflash]

"My dream is to have everything in my kitchen stored in glass jars. I get all fluttery thinking about it.............................*)))"

Me too- especially after throwing away half of what was in the biggest storage cupboard i have due to flour moths, or whatever they're called. I suspect the buggers are still living inside the wood shelving.

[iL Divo]

OML ewsflash, that's awful

[EWSflash]

Yes it is- but at least the food is protected.

[dump123456789]

Somewhat ditto. I save glass jars if they are functional (eg. mason style with rubber seal, or square) or "cute", and I have at least 3 of the exact same shape and color (including cap color). Singles and duos only get saved if they are especially "cute".

[im_nomad]

After seeing how much plastic I was tossing out on a regular basis, I go for glass every time I can find it, and I save and re-use unless it's really not a useful size, then I recycle. I much prefer anything in glass anyway, and I hate it when I see old favorites show up more and more in plastic packaging.

[coney with everything]

+1, nomad

[nkeane]

snifter glasses from beer festivals and spirit tastings. I quite literally have boxes and boxes of them. I honestly have a use for a couple dozen of them(I regularly have tastings for new products, comparisons, etc....), but why I can't seem to through out the other 100 or so, I will never know.

feel a little better now. thanks.

[bayoucook]

Same thing. Husband used to question the jars in the dishwasher - he's used to it now. And I will buy something I may not need if the jar and the packaging is 'cute" enough (just bought a lovely jar of vanilla extract with vanilla bean in Mexico). I use the jars, too, like you do and for my own mixtures of seasonings and pickled peppers and etc. I just love me a jar!