What Are Canning Jars?
Canning jars are essentially food storage containers that are most frequently used in households and for commercial purposes to preserve food products. They are typically made of glass. In honor of the American tinsmith John Mason, they are also referred to as “mason jars.”
The word can is precisely derived from the word canister, and then comes canning. It is a great food preservation technique that can store food for longer without the refrigerator or freezer. Canning jars these days can also be found made of wood, plastic, and metal, other than glass.
Canning jars come in a variety of shapes and sizes, especially glass ones. There are many options available, so pick the one that best fits your needs. Also, while buying a glass canning jar, take note of the size of the mouth, whether it fits your needs or not. This is because along with a vast variety of designs, they also come in different mouth sizes.
You can use a canning jar for almost all types of food items. The finest foods to can are whole fruits, spicy foods, meat, and regular vegetables. Canning jars have an airtight closure and therefore can be sealed securely with proper canning jar lids. This is another reason that food preserves well while canning.
Canning Jar Types
The most widely used type of canning jar is the glass canning jars. However, the type can also be determined by the shapes and sizes of the canning jars. There are many different kinds of canning jars. Most glass canning vessels can be used again and are safe to use in pressure and boiling water canners. You can also use some canning jars made of glass for freezing.
Before discussing the types of canning jars, there is one important detail that you should not miss. You can always reuse the canning jars made of glass that are bought for use in homes. However, glass jars used for commercially manufactured products should not be used for home canning as they are designed for single use only.
Canning jars are classified into regular-mouth and wide-mouth glass canning vessels when we talk about their shapes. And they are classified into pint jars, quart jars, and half-gallon jars when we talk about their sizes. However, their better classification would be based on mason jar sizes and targeted use. Check out each of the types here.
Regular Mouth Canning Jars
Jars with a regular opening are tapered inwards at the top. These canning jars are more adaptable and are available in a range of sizes. They are most commonly used in households to store food items such as syrups, jams, jellies, sliced fruit, and sauces.
You can use different sizes of regular-mouth canning jars to store various quantities of food items. The smaller ones are ideal for storing smaller amounts of food at a time. This also reduces food wastage. If you want to store large quantities of food at a time, the larger ones are best suited.
Wide Mouth Canning Jars
Wide-mouth canning jars are predominantly used for canning larger food produce. Because of their wide-opening mouth, you get better accessibility to the contents after canning. These kinds of jars are frequently used for preserving salsa, fruit butter, relishes, and other such foods.
Jars with wide mouths are straighter and more uniform in shape than regular jars. These jars are used for foods that will stay in the container well until completely consumed. You can also preserve whole or half-cut fruits and vegetables in wide-mouth jars.
Pint Size Canning Jars
Pint canning jars are mostly found in two widely used sizes- 8oz and 16oz. The 8-ounce size is basically a half-size pint jar and is used for storing food items in smaller quantities. If you are making gifts or you want to store small batches of jams, jellies, and preserves, then the half-size pint jars are the best.
However, the 16-ounce pint jar is not very big in size. It is the ideal size for storing food items that can be served to a few people at a time. Pint-size canning jars are also best for storing corn kernels. This is because pint jars are the perfect size to fit corn kernels closer together. Other than these, finely cut vegetables and fruits can be stored perfectly in pint jars. There are also wide-mouth pint jars.
Quarter-Pint Mason Jars
Quart jars are comparatively larger in size than pint jars. They are usually found in 32 ounces. These jars are a fantastic option for canning practically any fruit or veggie due to their adaptability and larger size.
However, keep the mouth measurement in mind while choosing quart jars as they are available in both regular and wide-mouth options. This will also be decided by the intended use of the quart jar. For smaller vegetables like asparagus or carrots; you can use a regular mouth quart jar. And for larger fruits and veggies; choose a wide-mouth quart jar.
Half-Gallon Size Canning Jars
Half-gallon canning jar or half-gallon mason jar has a specific usage, unlike the other types of canning jars. Instead of canning food, they are most popularly used for storing fruit juices effectively. Grape juice and apple juice are most commonly stored in half-gallon jars.
Jars that are half-gallon sized are also available in two varieties- regular mouth jars and wide mouth jars. Both of these have specific usages. You should choose the type depending on the intended use.
Other Canning Jar Sizes
Apart from the most common types of canning jars, there are also several other canning jar sizes that are not very widely used. They are generally smaller in size than the regular sizes or larger. If you want to store very small quantities of foods, such as relishes, then choose the smaller canning jars. They can also be ideal for presenting as gifts.
On the other hand, the odd-shaped large canning jars are used for storing huge quantities of food or food items that can not be chopped finely. One of the best examples of this would be canning meat as they are simple to store in large canning jars.
Summing it up, that was all about the types of canning jars. Now you know what to do the next time you are unsure of which sort of canning jar to use for a given task.