Mason Jar Love

On a recent post, a reader commented:

Do you think you could do a post detailing what you DO keep in Mason/Ball jars, so they still feel some love? I know most of us have huge collections of the things, and I’d like to hear some ideas for their continued use.

Sure thing.  I do have many mason jars in a variety of sizes and I use them constantly. I use them to store leftovers instead of putting the food into plastic.

I use it to hold my homemade condiments. I can jellies, jams, fruit and emergency meals.  I can tomatoes and some green beans. I make homemade extracts in mason jars.

I do all of my herbal tinctures, syrups and remedies in mason jars and I store all of my dry herbs in mason jars.

I make my own spice mixes and store them in mason jars.

When I make stock, I use the mason jar to chill them in the fridge to defat them.  I also use a mason jar to store the stock in the fridge if it’s going to be used within a few days.

My raw milk lives in mason jars.

I soak my crispy nuts in mason jars.

I have a shelf in my kitchen that holds about 200 mason jars and it acts as a pantry. I buy my spices by the pound and use mason jars to hold the excess.  I store my home-dehydrated foods in mason jars.

I use mason jars to make salad dressings, sauces and mayo. I make my yogurt in mason jars. I store my fat in mason jars between fryings.

My kids use mason jars as banks. I store many school supplies, sewing and crafting notions in mason jars. I use one to spool yarn while crocheting. I use mason jars and sand to hold encased candles during power outages- an extra layer of protection when kids are around. My husband has them in his garage to store screws, nuts, bolts and more.

We use mason jars to hold paint when doing detail work.

We use the pint jars as drinking glasses when we have too many people over and not enough cups.

I store my garden seeds in mason jars.

I bake single servings and little treats in small mason jars instead of using ramekins.  It has the added bonus that you can screw on a lid, stack them up to save space and pop them in the fridge.

I make tea in mason jars.

I’ve done more homeschool experiments in a mason jar than I care to count. I don’t know how many potato roots we’ve grown and how many bugs we’ve observed in  jar.

I’ve done home decor using mason jars.

I use a mason jar to make homemade fly traps.

I use a mason jar in place of a blender jar.  The blender base screws right onto the jar.  That allows me to make and store things in the same jar so we don’t have to wash as many dishes.

I use mason jars to sprout small amounts of seeds and beans.

I love my mason jars.  I just don’t ferment in them.

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