Canning Jars ...?

[SpaceAge]

Wheres' / Hows/ the best place to get them ...?

Best Brand = ??? I've always bought any brand Ball / Kerr and that other one I can't remember right now

found Ball Quarts for $8.50 and Pints for $7.50 at a "More than a Dollar Store" today ...

am I better off at the WalMart ...?:eek:

[Quigs]

I say go for it. We get quarts around here for about $10 a case. We generally start picking up canning jars as soon as they become available but have been on a slow start this year.

Q

[Emerald]

There is a brand called Golden Harvest, but I think that the ball/kerr company own them too. I have gotten them from family members who have stopped canning (and weeded out quite a bunch of old mayo jars- I don't use them as they are prone to cracking) and at yard sales too if they looked good. One good test to see if the hand me down jars are ok is to bring a nice big pot of water to a boil and slowly dip each jar one at a time into the water for about 1 minute, and then just dry them out on the counter- if it is a bad jar with a crack too small to see it will probably break. This is how my Grandma would test the jars from yard sales.(not very scientific or even proven but has worked for me so far) Depending on the store the large wide mouth quarts are running about $10 to $12 per dozen. Wide mouth pints are around $8 to $9 with the smaller mouthed ones going for for about $2 less on average.
They are really a good investment as if you stop canning they are great for storing foods and dehydrated stuff like herbs and oat meal the big 1/2 gallon wide mouth jars ($12 for 6:eek:) work fantastic for oatmeal and sugar and the smaller types of flour I use and for making a 1/2 gallon of sun tea!

[laynes69]

We lucked out and bought between 15 and 20 dozen jars for 2.00 a dozen off my mother in laws boyfriend. Plus what my grandma had when she lived here. I buy the golden harvest when I can and sell stuff at work. The pricing is right, and they are just as good as any other jar. I believe they were around 6.00 a dozen last year, but of course things have to go up. When we see a sale we buy them up, but I feel we have too many. Of course when canning you find out quickly that not all are good. Yard sales, the local amish even sell them, and flea markets are a good place to look also.

[florin]

Another suggestion for getting jars is to check out your local thrift shops, Salvation Army and/or Goodwill Store. The only thing I have found is you have to know what the price is new so they don't try and over charge per jar. If you know the new price you can bargain with them. If you have a freecycle in your area you can ask on there. I have also found that Big Lots carries the Golden Harvest brand at the best price.

[mjc]

Altrista owns all three brands of canning jars sold in the US.

[ovenbird]

Mason and Atlas are also brands I have. I really think they are all good. If you find a Drey jar, don't use it. I think it is worth MONEY.

Best place to get canning jars? Freecycle.

We have a farm store called Theissens that sells a nice variety for a fair price. They even have 4 oz jars I plan to use to can hot peppers. So try Orscheln, Pamida, Blain's Farm and Fleet, TSC, or whoever you have in your area.

[gardencrazy]

I use Ball & Golden Harvest. You can find them at Big Lots, grocery stores (sometimes,) hardware stores (sometimes. I know Ace Hardware carries them,) Amish or Mennonite grocery stores, and Walmart. I would also check www.craigslist.com. I got a bunch for free that way.

[reavilh]

[FONT="Georgia"][SIZE="4"][COLOR="DarkGreen"]There i too. I have gotten them from family members who have stopped canning (and weeded out quite a bunch of old mayo jars- I don't use them as they are prone to cracking) and at yard sales too if they looked good. One good test to see if /FONT]

Emerald, I know they don't recommend it, But I save all the Mayo jars, and use them strictly for pickles and the boiling water bath.. In the 3 years I have used them, I lost one jar, and that was my fault.

[herb girl]

Buy at......... YARD SALES!!!!! Especially where amish and mennonite live! I buy huge boxes for 3.00.


Of course, I'm expecting more competition this year in light of the economy.........

[Colojd]

If you have thrift stores nearby, check them out. I have found brand new cases of Ball or Kerr canning jars there for very low prices. Have also found new, unopened packages of the lids and screw bands, too.

[nedwina]

Not many people can around here, so finding used or cheap jars is pretty tough. And the price per case varies alot, depending on whether they're at a supermarket or hardware store. Hardware stores are a better deal. And most of the supermarkets just have them as a "seasonable" item, and when they're gone, they're gone until next year. Either way, it's usually 9-10 bucks & up for a case 'round here.

I've been saving all my Classico tomato sauce jars to use this season. The "regular" sized Ball lids & domes fit them just fine. Anyone else use them? I can never find any information about people using them for personal canning online. Since they're subject to high temperatures during the sauce processing, I expect that they're ok to use.

[Emerald]

Emerald, I know they don't recommend it, But I save all the Mayo jars, and use them strictly for pickles and the boiling water bath.. In the 3 years I have used them, I lost one jar, and that was my fault.

___Don't worry:) I never throw them out- I just don't use them at all in the canning arena! But they do come in handy out in the shed for the hubbies screws and washers and all of the those little bits and stuff. I hate to say this out loud but I have a hard time throwing out anything that might be remotely useful in the future!:eek::o
__Glass jars with lids come in so handy almost everywhere in the house- in the kitchen we are prone to getting those nasty little flour millers and they like to get into almost any of the foods stuffs, so all the sugar, rice, rye flours, beans - my whole wheat flour all get put into the glass jars with metal lids, usually right when I bring them into the house. I also have to go and cut the label out of the box/bag and tape it to the jar and then I date the jars too-- how OC is that?:D
__ I never can my pickles any longer- since I go to the trouble of Lacto-fermenting them canning them would lose all of that beneficial bacteria. But I do end up filling up the bottom shelf of my fridge and my mother's fridge and the fridge she has in the basement! From last year I only have one or two quarts of mixed veggie pickles and about 1/2 gal of the cucumber pickles--the cucumber pickles are a bit too sour for my taste right now but the boychild is still chowing them right down!:D

[lreef]

Classico jars are great for canning. I don't buy jar spaghetti sauce but I get them from people you can google it to find more info. on using them if you want I did that. Wal Mart is the cheapest as far as new jars I have looked everywhere. 7/dozen here for the pints.

[ovenbird]

Emerald, I know they don't recommend it, But I save all the Mayo jars, and use them strictly for pickles and the boiling water bath.. In the 3 years I have used them, I lost one jar, and that was my fault.

I want to know where you get glass mayo jars! Our mayo is all in plastic now and I am not sure that is safe. I repackage my mayo into my own glass jars. I suspect that fats interact with plastics.

[lorna-organic]

Yes, you are right, Cheryl. Carcinogens in plastic are leached by fats in foods. Since Bunkie pointed out (in another thread) that popular name brand mayonnaise is made with gm soy oil, I have gone back to making my own mayo and storing it in glass containers.

[mjc]

http://www.fillmorecontainer.com/

Lorna, I hope you are using olive oil for that mayo...most veggie oils are made from GM crops (something like 90+% of soybeans produced are GM, it is over 80% for crop corn and canola/rapeseed/sugar beets and cotton are also a fairly high percentages too).

[lreef]

Lorna how do you make your mayo?? I wanted to do that but there was something about the eggs in it. I don't remember the whole thing now but it had the warning about how it could make you sick so I didn't end up doing it. Now that I know better I would like to do that. How long do you store your mayo for? If any of you know good mayo recipes or storage I would love to know please PM me I'm not trying to take over the thread here :). Glass jars are a lot harder to find this year on the cheap side now that so many more people are getting into gardening and canning but I guess overall that is a good thing. Just not for us that have been doing it forever :(.

[lorna-organic]

Yes, MJC, I am using olive oil in my mayo, organic olive oil.

lreef, there are different ways to make mayo. Maybe you were thinking about the possibility of the egg shells being contaminated with salmonella. Commercial eggs are washed, so I am not worried about contamination. I use one large egg, two teaspoons of lemon juice or apple cider vinegar, salt, white pepper, a bit of dry mustard, and a cup of olive oil. For richer mayo, one could use two egg yolks instead of a whole egg.

I make mine in the blender. You start with your egg, lemon or vinegar, a tablespoon of oil, salt, white pepper and mustard, whirl it up really well. Then take the center piece out of the blender cap and drizzle the remainder of the oil in slowly, a few drips at a time and let it incorporate before adding more. If the oil is added too quickly the mayo won't emulsify. I don't know exactly how long homemade mayo can be stored. I make sure to use mine up within ten days. This recipe produces about a cup and a half of mayo.

You can flavor mayonnaise. If you add garlic, you have aioli. You could add a bit of cayenne to spice it up. You could add a bunch of chopped fresh parsley or spinach, which will produce green mayo.

[lreef]

Awesome!! We love mayo at my house and yes it was salmonella I was thinking it was in the eggs themselves. You always see that raw egg warning on everything. Maybe we should have the GMO warning and the plastic warning, etc. I will make some of this today and see how long it lasts thank you so much!!

[lorna-organic]

A raw egg could be contaminated by salmonella if it comes into contact with the contaminated exterior of the egg shell. For instance, if part of the shell drops into the egg when it is being cracked. I haven't heard of a case of commercial purchased eggs being contaminated by salmonella in decades. One of my aunts used to make a formula for an infant which contained eggs. The infant did contract salmonella, and had to go on antibiotics. My aunt said the contamination happened because she dropped the shell into the formula, retrieved the shell and fed the formula to the baby. That was in the 60s.

[Colojd]

Another tip is that you can use the whole pasturized eggs if you need to use it as the raw egg form. You can get this product in the egg section. They come in little cartons that look like mini milk cartons. My husband makes a great Caesar salad and it calls for raw or coddled eggs. We tried making it with the pasturized egg and it works great and then eliminates the worry just in case the eggs are not as clean as they should be.

On the plastics, you are all correct. I would bet that in the near future they will come out with an announcement that even the plastic they told us is stable and safe really was not and that they made a mistake. Doesn't that seem to be the case - just like with trans fats. They were in everything, the food industry thought that they were wonderful because they extended the shelf life of their products but it was so hazardous to humans.

There was a great article on the internet called "The Perils Of Plastics". If you can find that article, read it. Has a lot of good info.

We went back to using good old Pyrex and other glass containers to heat and store our food. We use very little plastic anything. If you watch Food Network, watch how many of the chefs say "now just wrap that in plastic wrap". I wonder if writing all of them would get them to change? We use basic foil and waxed paper instead of plastic wrap as much as possible. And tell your family never to heat anything in the microwave or oven in plastic containers. The product that really gets me is the "steam your vegetables" plastic bags. Here you think you are getting something healthy and you get a big dose of plastic molecules with your vegetables!

[Sprocket]

thanks for the recipe Lorna...
Just to let you know that here in Mich many are selling New style Ball/Kerr jars at yard sales and on Craig's list for a buck or more a Jar. Even my Salavation Army had one priced at 1.00 for a pint. These are not even antique/blue. Newer jars...mayo jars you name it.

[Emerald]

thanks for the recipe Lorna...
Just to let you know that here in Mich many are selling New style Ball/Kerr jars at yard sales and on Craig's list for a buck or more a Jar. Even my Salvation Army had one priced at 1.00 for a pint. These are not even antique/blue. Newer jars...mayo jars you name it.

___I went and double checked the walmart prices this weekend and the quarts with the wide mouth were $10 even for a dozen and the small mouth quarts were $8 and the wide mouth pints were $8 and the small mouth were $7 And silly me I didn't even look at the rings and lids:o I know that they are cheaper to buy if you hit the Save a lots for the lids, but I think I am good for at least this year for rings and lids.
___I have more pints and jelly jars than the quarts and 1/2 gallons but If I run out of the quarts for canning tomato sauce/stewed tomato then I go to the pints-- you can always open two. I do can just a bit of sauce/stews in the 8oz jelly jars too, sometimes I just feel like a nice dish of scrambled eggs with a small can of stewed maters on top! You add a bit of hot pepper or hot sauce and it is almost huevo rancheros.
__ While I like to use the wide mouth jars for everything, I don't have that many:( so I save most of them for pickles as it is so much easier to pack and eat from.
___In Grand Rapids there is a thrift store named "Nice Twice " and it is almost all the way to the West on 28th street, between Byron Center and Ivenrest, they sell their canning jars for .50 cents even the big 1/2 gallon ones. My mother volunteers there and will get them for me when I need them( she even gets a discount!)
___I wonder if the prices are up and down by how many folks can in the area-- I would think that the closer you get to the Michigan border and the strip of Amish folks you would have to really scramble and the prices would be higher. Or over near the lake shore in the fruit country- I would think that you would have to get a bit physical to get your share of jars!:D Since you live here in MI Sprocket- have you checked out any of the Menard's stores yet? I know that I got a lot of my small jars there and they had a rebate of almost 1/2 the cost- you could only buy two per person but my mom and mother in law went in for me so I ended up with 8 dozen for 1/2 the price(hubby got two also) but they do carry all the sizes and the rings and lids.

[Patio Princess]

There is a brand called Golden Harvest, but I think that the ball/kerr company own them too. I have gotten them from family members who have stopped canning (and weeded out quite a bunch of old mayo jars- I don't use them as they are prone to cracking) and at yard sales too if they looked good. One good test to see if the hand me down jars are ok is to bring a nice big pot of water to a boil and slowly dip each jar one at a time into the water for about 1 minute, and then just dry them out on the counter- if it is a bad jar with a crack too small to see it will probably break. This is how my Grandma would test the jars from yard sales.(not very scientific or even proven but has worked for me so far) Depending on the store the large wide mouth quarts are running about $10 to $12 per dozen. Wide mouth pints are around $8 to $9 with the smaller mouthed ones going for for about $2 less on average.
They are really a good investment as if you stop canning they are great for storing foods and dehydrated stuff like herbs and oat meal the big 1/2 gallon wide mouth jars ($12 for 6:eek:) work fantastic for oatmeal and sugar and the smaller types of flour I use and for making a 1/2 gallon of sun tea!


I love the Golden Harvest jars, too. I buy mine at Wal-Mart. I like the lids, too: they are just plain, so my big handwriting fits on them! The jars are also uncluttered--I hate the "Ball" embossing on the jar. GH just has a cute little oval with a cornucopia/or/grapes on it, pretty much. I also seem to have a little easier time with their lids--they seem easier to have pop (to indicate they are sealed properly). Sometimes, I can't hear the ball lids pop from a distance.

[Emerald]

I love the Golden Harvest jars, too. I buy mine at Wal-Mart. I like the lids, too: they are just plain, so my big handwriting fits on them! The jars are also uncluttered--I hate the "Ball" embossing on the jar. GH just has a cute little oval with a cornucopia/or/grapes on it, pretty much. I also seem to have a little easier time with their lids--they seem easier to have pop (to indicate they are sealed properly). Sometimes, I can't hear the ball lids pop from a distance.

I like the GH lids too! I like that you hear the "ping" when they go= the only time I hear it with the ball lids is if they are the small mouth- I still will "thump" the tops to see if they are really sealed or not before I put them away in the upstairs spare room- I used to store them in the basement but there are spiders down there:eek: and I would have to wait until one of the kids or the hubby could fetch one for me.:o I have so many odd jars that have been passed down from family members and are so pretty looking that I tend to keep the odd shaped or nice embossed ones for storing the tea bags or the extra taco bell sauce packets (ya! I am still addicted to those TB tacos! even tho I can make better ones at home:o) or sugar or even my habit of buying the jumbo herbs and spices that I don't grow- all go in the mason/or other jars.

[Liberty7]

Can you use the canning jars that the Classico tomato sauce comes in?

[Sprocket]

yes on the classico jars...they are actually made by ball/kerr

Thanks Emerald for the heads up...didn't know about Menards...dang it I bet I missed the sale :(

[cyra]

There is a brand called Golden Harvest, but I think that the ball/kerr company own them too. I have gotten them from family members who have stopped canning (and weeded out quite a bunch of old mayo jars- I don't use them as they are prone to cracking) and at yard sales too if they looked good. One good test to see if the hand me down jars are ok is to bring a nice big pot of water to a boil and slowly dip each jar one at a time into the water for about 1 minute, and then just dry them out on the counter- if it is a bad jar with a crack too small to see it will probably break. This is how my Grandma would test the jars from yard sales.(not very scientific or even proven but has worked for me so far) Depending on the store the large wide mouth quarts are running about $10 to $12 per dozen. Wide mouth pints are around $8 to $9 with the smaller mouthed ones going for for about $2 less on average.
They are really a good investment as if you stop canning they are great for storing foods and dehydrated stuff like herbs and oat meal the big 1/2 gallon wide mouth jars ($12 for 6:eek:) work fantastic for oatmeal and sugar and the smaller types of flour I use and for making a 1/2 gallon of sun tea!

Thanks for the tip, Emerald. I use old fruit canning jars that wouldn't withstand your g-ma's test for storing herbs. I collect them from different places including Ebay, and the purpled SCA ones are my favorites. I don't really have time to can, and I work in a cannery, anyway, so I get our canned goods at our annual employee sale, where they offer us discounted fruit and tomato products and sauces, ketchup, etc.
I do like to put up a few batches of pomegranate jelly for our use, though, as well as to keep on hand for gift baskets, so I'll remember to test the pint size canning jars, (different from fruit jars) that I get at swap-meets & yard sales, by boiling them. Of course, I wash and boil them before use, anyway, but this way I don't store useless jars unnecessarily, first, before I get around to making jams n jellies.

[lorna-organic]

Update re the mayo recipe, I made a batch of mayo today. I used rice wine vinegar as the acid. The flavor came out pretty close to Best Foods/Hellmans!

[momol]

We don't have much canning glass variations here, the one I used is "weck", it is very easy to use but you will have to replace the ring frequently. It also published a canning book, very handy.

[Emerald]

We don't have much canning glass variations here, the one I used is "weck", it is very easy to use but you will have to replace the ring frequently. It also published a canning book, very handy.

Are those the ones that are very pretty shaped jars with metal clips and rubber rings and then a solid glass lid? I was looking into those for doing jelly and jam. I also loved the big juice carafes that you can seal-- they would be great for home made juices.

[MICoastieMom]

Had never heard of Weck jars so had to so a search. Here is what I found. I, too, was impressed with the juice carafes that could go directly to the table.

http://www.weckcanning.com/docs/canning_spotlight.htm

[MICoastieMom]

Just wanted to clarify a couple of things about samonella and eggs. While it is true that the shell can be contaiminated if it comes in contact with fecal matter, that was not the cause of of the big egg scare in the 80's. Those were eggs from commercial growers and the samonella was inside the egg. It was the result of what the hens were being feed. There was a parctice to grind up the discarded parts of the chicken after butchering and adding it to the feed. In essence, the hens were cannibals. This weakened their immune systems, allowing the bacteria to take up residence in their ovaries where it was transfered to the egg before the shell hardened. While it is true that commercial growers have cleaned up their act considerably, I would prefer a farm fresh egg, preferably range feed, to one raised commercially any day.

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/salment_g.htm

http://www.aeb.org/LearnMore/EggSafety.htm

[momol]

Sorry Emeral, I didn't recheck my post...

Yes, the Weck glass has pretty shape glass (tulip) and it comes with 2 metal clips, a rubber ring and a glass lid.
The clips are used for bigger glass (from 0.5 lt onwards),but then removed after the Weck glass cooled down. Here are pictures taken from 2 days ago and today. I managed to Weck 7 kg asparagus (in 1 lt tulip Weck glasses), cucumber soup (in 0.5 lt normal weck glass) and a small pot of strawberry jam (1/4 lt tulip Weck glass),this size don't need metal clips while in warm water bath.
I also recycle normal spinach pot/glass to be reuse for another 2 to 3 times before saying goodbye.

Are those the ones that are very pretty shaped jars with metal clips and rubber rings and then a solid glass lid? I was looking into those for doing jelly and jam. I also loved the big juice carafes that you can seal-- they would be great for home made juices.

[momol]

The glass with blue lid is sold at the Weck glass department too but not sure what the brand is.

[momol]

Cool, it is also sold in USA :). We can only find Weck glasses in certain specialized shops in NL, very easy to use ,but too bad it is loosing it's popularity in NL as the majority of Netherlander no longer care in growing nor preserving their food... really a sad draw back !

Had never heard of Weck jars so had to so a search. Here is what I found. I, too, was impressed with the juice carafes that could go directly to the table.

http://www.weckcanning.com/docs/canning_spotlight.htm

[ovenbird]

These Weck jars are very beautiful and I love that the lids are glass with no BPH. Thanks for sharing this Momol.

They are a pretty old school company. You have to download and print off an order form and snail mail it in to them.

[Susie]

I use the ordinary supermarket jars and buy new lids for them.

[cyra]

Sorry Emeral, I didn't recheck my post...

Yes, the Weck glass has pretty shape glass (tulip) and it comes with 2 metal clips, a rubber ring and a glass lid.
The clips are used for bigger glass (from 0.5 lt onwards),but then removed after the Weck glass cooled down. Here are pictures taken from 2 days ago and today. I managed to Weck 7 kg asparagus (in 1 lt tulip Weck glasses), cucumber soup (in 0.5 lt normal weck glass) and a small pot of strawberry jam (1/4 lt tulip Weck glass),this size don't need metal clips while in warm water bath.
I also recycle normal spinach pot/glass to be reuse for another 2 to 3 times before saying goodbye.

Gorgeous, Momol!!!!

[cyra]

Just wanted to clarify....(snip, for brevity only, not content).....I would prefer a farm fresh egg, preferably range feed, to one raised commercially any day.

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dbmd/diseaseinfo/salment_g.htm

http://www.aeb.org/LearnMore/EggSafety.htm

I agree with you 100%, MICM. Real eggs, like real milk, look and taste different. While the shell color may vary from white to brown, to speckled and even green, real range chickens eggs have firm, dark yellow, almost orange yolks, not the watery pale yellow yolks of the storebought eggs...I miss them too.