Preserving jars come in various shapes and sizes, with glass being the most common material. Airtight seals are essential for safe food storage. Metal discs and plastic gaskets are popular pot seals. Jars for fruits and vegetables have wide mouths, while bottled foods are stored in narrow-necked jars. Appearance is important for gifting and sales.
Just as there are many different ways to preserve food, there are also many different types of preserving jars. Basic glass Mason jars are the staple of most home cannons, but they’re by no means the only option. Shaped and decorative vases are also popular. As long as a jar has a reliable airtight seal, it can probably be used for some type of storage.
Most preserving jars are made from glass, although some are also composed of various plastic or metal composite materials. A lot of this usually has to do with how food is stored. Food preservation through home canning, open kettle canning, and bottling usually requires glass due to the high temperatures involved. Frozen storage is more flexible and nearly any jar can be used for this purpose.
An airtight seal is a unifying feature of all preserving jars. One of the main goals of preservation is to store food safely for later consumption. Oftentimes, canned food will keep for months, if not years. It is able to stay fresh all this time because the preservation process removes the air and kills any latent bacteria.
Food preservation has been going on for centuries, long before the advent of modern canning technologies. Early preserving jars come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, and colors, but are almost always made from glass. Many of these vessels were sealed with corks, fitted stoppers, or even wax seals.
Today, the most common pot seals are the metal discs that sit atop the opening of a pot and are held secure with a matching metal ring. Some cooks prefer to use plastic gaskets, which are less sturdy but often reusable. Metal gaskets can usually only be used once.
Preserving jars used to store fruits and vegetables are typically rounded glass jars with wide mouths, capable of holding whole fruit or fruit slices. Jars of jam and jelly are generally similar in shape, but are often smaller and may feature decorative glasswork or other ornamentation. Bottled foods, including ketchups and sauces, are typically stored in narrow-necked jars with much smaller lids.
Jars in all categories come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Many people keep foods, especially jams and sauces, that they intend to give away or sell at farmers markets or local stores. Appearance is usually important for gifting and sales, and many of these storage jars are shaped, fluted, colored, or textured. The added expense of these design elements doesn’t always make sense to simply store them around the house.
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