Jars

I love jars. I do store some things in plastic, but if it will fit in a jar, that is where it goes. This is my jar cupboard. Many of the jars in here are recycled jars, but there are also some Fowlers Vacola preserving jars, Italian Mason jars, old glass vinegar bottles, and some plastic soft drink bottles. Believe it or not, the plastic drink bottles are the ones I find hardest to get. I use them for my lemon cordial and ginger beer.

I went looking for a preserving jar yesterday afternoon to start off the ginger beer plant and was reminded again of the wonderful collection of jars in my cupboard. I've used a Fowlers jar for the ginger beer and placed an open weave milk jug cover over it. That is to allow the wild yeasts to enter the mix which will give me a good depth of flavour to the drink.

Below are the jars I like using when I'm preserving. Fowlers jars are nice to look at and evoke those days when grandma did her bottling, but I find them fiddly and expensive. If I'd know how great the Italian Mason jars were when I bought my jars, I would have only bought them. They're freely available in most department stores and the last time I shopped at Woolworths (three years ago), they were in the supermarket too. You can buy new lids for them here (Australia) and here (US). The French jars and rubber rings (at the front) are also freely available at department stores and are excellent for preserving.

The jars below are all recycled - the three at the back are jam jars, the other one is a Golden Circle baby food jar. Recycled jars are great to have in the home as you can use them for your homemade jams and relishes, and giving them away to family and friends isn't a problem. I still ask for the jar to be returned. : ) LOL Most of the time people are happy to do that.

The jar below is a French jam jar. They are my all time favourite jars as they have a wide mouth, they're really easy to fill, the glass is good quality and you can boil them to sterilise, and the lids last a few boilings. They also look good. I use them to store buttons and odd and ends in as well.

I'm sure many of you will already be recycling your jars and have a good collection of them. If you're not doing this, why not try a small collection and see how you go with them. Even if you're not preserving anything, they're useful for small amounts in your pantry cupboard - things like spices, seeds and nuts or in the fridge for the whey you pour off your yoghurt or cream. Don't ever throw out a fancy bottle as you can easily make up some flavoured spicy vinegar or cordial for gifts.

Most people like receiving homemade produce in recycled jars and bottles. It brings back memories or older days when everyone's mum or grandma made things to store in glass jars.