Mason jars

There are a lo of good uses in the kitchen for mason jars. The most obvious being the preservation of food by using either a vacuum seal or a hot water bath. Other uses include storing dry ingredients such as rice and beans. You can buy gaskets for your mason jar plastic lids on Amazon. They create a tight seal so that no weavels or silverfish will get in the jar. Your food will stay fresh indefinately if you use these gaskets. I also like to layer or mix the dry ingredients for my homemade breads into these jars and seal them or refrigerate them. That way, I can mix up some bread in no time, with no fuss. It's good to set aside some time every now and then to keep these jars filled, so you will have them when you want them.

 

I have a lot of mason jars laying around I could definitely try this. I was curious about canning food.. Like jellies, and salsa. Do you have any tips for that or any knowledge? I wish I had learned more from my grandmother.

 

Mason jars are very suited for food preservation. The USDA recommends using tempered-glass jars free of cracks, nicks, or other defects that have a two-piece vacuum cap consisting of a flat, rubber-lined metal lid and a metal screw band.

All equipment must be meticulously clean and free of defects. Set up the boiling-water canner well enough. Any preserve that processes in a boiling-water canner for less than 10 minutes will require that jars be sterilized--submerge them in boiling water for 10 minutes and keep in hot water until ready to fill. Lids should not be sterilized but hey must be hot: Submerge them in simmering water for 10 minutes. Reduce the risk of bacterial growth by inserting the long skewer into filled jars to remove air bubbles and wiping each rim dry. Firmly secure lids and process all jars in the canner for the time specified. Test to see if jars have sealed properly by pressing on the center of the lid, which should be slightly depressed. Any jar that isn't sealed should be stored in the refrigerator and contents should be eaten within 2 to 3 days.

 

In the canning section at Walmart, you will probably find a good book on the subject of preserving food. Mine was put out by Kerr. They also make jars. There is a wealth of good information in that book, it looks more like a magazine and is relatively inexpensive. If you don't find it there, you might try walmart.com or Amazon. You may even find something at the library. The book I am referring too goes through all the processes of just about any food that can be preserved, includes recipes, and explains, step by step, just what to do. Good luck, it's quite fun, actually!

 

Kerr, Mason, and Ball make the best jars and lids. There are tons of basic how-to guides written about canning, but on the internet there is a wealth of information, recipes, and how-to's as well that are naturally less expensive (free!). I used to can with my grandmother and still do with my father yearly. It is a fun hobby with very tasty rewards!

 

Thank you I will definitely try to check into getting me a book. I may even look for a video online. One thing I'm unclear on is..do you need any special equipment to can with? If you don't I'll buy the book and go from there. I was just always under the impression you needed something to seal it off so it makes that "pop" when you open it.

 

If you really want some quick information, I would recommend finding users on youtube that post videos about the things you want to search. Many of them will generally have a personal blog where you can connect with them even more. That is where I go to find information about stuff when I don't want to just go read long articles. They do provide a good service to the people by giving out a lot of useful information, tips and tricks as well since that's what you mentioned.

 

I've seen people layer cake, frosting, ect, whatever you wanted to do for a dessert and seal it in a mason jar then keep it in the fridge! I thought it was a pretty great idea and something that I hadn't seen before. I've also seen people put the dry ingredients for baking cakes, cookies, brownies, in a mason jar. Personally, I would love to do more with mason jars but we have a lot of trouble finding them around here.

 

You should be able to find all of your canning supplies easily this time of year and usually at a good price as well. Most of ours came from Walmart, but even the dollar stores have them this time of year.

 

Really? I don't recall ever seeing them at either place but I'll definitely look next time I'm there! I've actually been wanting to make some gifts and crafts out of mason jars too so it would be great to be able to stock up on a bunch of them.

 

Least thing we want is spoiled food. There lots of ways online that shows how we could prevent such from happening. Mason jars nowadays are used differently, be it for design and aesthetics, plants and stuff. Aside from these, we could also use it to prevent our food from spoiling. Here is a complete guide to canning. I've been doing this for quite some time now.

 

My sister loves using mason jars. She stores it with food or with her art crafts. Then, she does this DIY cabinet storage for her mason jars. And sometimes every time she goes camping she has this emergency mason jars full of her candies haha and some she fills it up with soup ingredients she will just add hot water. Anyways, just wanted to share that.

 

Store dry foods such as beans and rice, corn flakes, grits, cornmeal, rice, etc. in mason jars
then use your vacuum packer jar lid attachment to vacuum seal 'em.
Also treat candy the same way, sugar, & other dry foods.
You don't have a vacuum sealer/packer?
Well why not?
One can, in a pinch, use the glass jars & lids in the oven and they will seal when cooling.
Google it.

Here: I dun it fer ya but google fo' mo'.
How To Oven Can Dry Goods

• Preheat oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit
• Fill your clean canning jars with dried goods (leave 1/2″ head space)
• Do not put lids on yet
• Place in oven and set timer for 1 hour
• Use pot holders or towel to remove jars from oven
• Quickly wipe rim of jar with damp (not dripping wet) towel
• Place metal canning lid on jar
• Screw metal band on tightly
• Return jars to oven and set timer for 30 minutes
• Remove jars from oven and allow to cool
• Check lids for tight seal

I've done this in the past. It works and I'll do it again.

Then google on how to use the canned dry goods.
I ain't doin' it fer ya.
( I relapse into hill billy talk from time to time.)

Also have a pressure caner. Great tool. Get one.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Presto-23-Qt-Pressure-Canner/2625289

Anyone finding a better deal please post it.
I know ya'll think I'm a survival genius but I ain't.

(It's a JOKE.)