First try with a pressure canner... Question??

[Farmfresh]

The purpose of this thread is to help out a first time canner. Lets give 'em some information.

So ...

Where do you all find your canning jars?

What size /style would you recommend for a new canner to get and why?

What if you had it all to do again ... what would you do different?


I mostly buy my jars new, although I have gotten many from friends and elderly people who no longer can.

I recommend wide mouth jars - you can more easily clean them and they more easily hold a variety of things.

If I had it to do again, I would only buy wide mouth jars for everything ... that way I would only need to stockpile one size of lid and ring.

 

[TanksHill]

Most of my give away jars are purchased 1/2 pints.

Most of my pints are regular mouth garage sale finds. I only buy wide mouth now.

I have load of quarts from craigslist, I think the only thing I will ever use them for is tomato sauce.

I agree with the only one size lid and ring. I usually have a mess of stuff all mixed up.

 

[freemotion]

Yup, me, too.....but the opposite. I have both widemouth and regular mouth, and when things are tight and I am doing tons of canning, the extra price on the widemouth lids adds up. Plus I can't fit anywhere near as many jars in my canner. So although I do like the widemouth jars for the reasons mentioned, I use them only when I run out of regular mouth jars now. I can do 40 pints at once in my two canners with the smaller lids, and only 32 wides.

I got one of those plastic brushes on a handle for a buck or two, and we keep in with the dishwashing stuff for brushing out the jars. Works great.

Of course, I didn't know when I got my first few cases of widemouth jars that I would be so OCD.....Obsessive Canning Diva!

 

[Farmfresh]

OCD ... I love it!

 

[Firefyter-Emt]

Well, true... we did get off topic, but seeing as it was I that really turned it off topic and it was my post...

Anyway, I would suggest Craigslist, but first put out the "feelers". You may found that you have friends or relations that no longer use them and they are just taking up space in the cellar. I have to assume that this would be more regional as for your luck. For example, you may have better luck in New England than maybe Arizona.

The wide mouth jars are nice, but to keep in mind the lids are a bit more and if you want to find "free jars" you will find the standard jars more often.

 

[Farmfresh]

I wish I could stock completely with the older jars. They are SO much thicker and more durable. Plus they are pretty cool looking.

I scored a big find a few years back with one of those "taking up room in the cellar" finds. A friend of my mother in law gave me about 5 CASES of jars. Some were old mayo jars that I simply won't use (they got recycled) but many were those nice thick old jars! Probably 30 were very unusual reg mouth quart jars. I now use them almost exclusively to can my tomato juice each year. It is nice to chill the juice in the fridge and just set them on the table. If I serve for company they always comment on the beautiful jars.

I also recommend those BALL brand plastic screw on lids that fit canning jars. I got a few at a garage sale and got hooked! So handy to recap that tomato juice or a jelly jar. Plus now I use them when I store dry goods (like dehydrated onions) in a canning jar.

 

[Firefyter-Emt]

Yea, I am a "vintage nut"... I use fountain pens daily, and wear a mechanical watch. Heck, I even have a rotary phone on my desk that is used every day. I love the vintage jars and the cool logos that some have on them. I think one of my favorite style ones are the jars that have just a simple "Mason" printed on them.

Although I do have this one that is no where even close to being round, its lumpy and has big dips on the sides of the jars. All of the plain "mason" ones I have seem to be very lumpy when it comes to the "roundness" of the jar...

 

[Farmfresh]

Isn't it amazing that they are so "imperfect" and yet better made than any NEW jar on the market today.

 

[TanksHill]

A bunch of my jars I found used are older. I got some beautiful "strong shoulder" mason jars. I have thought about selling for a profit. But I think I will just use them. Makes me feel special.

 

[Ldychef2k]

Where do you all find your canning jars?

This is how I knew I was ready to start canning again, after 30 years. I went to a thrift store and they had four boxes of jars, half pints for 10 cents, pints 25, quarts 50. I bought all 160+ jars. Not one of them was chipped. I have been working on a long term storage food pantry and was wondering if I were nuts or something, so I think finding the jars was a Heavenly encouragement.