If you have a lot of Mason jars, remember they are useful for much more than just canning food. You can use them to keep fruit fresh, store dry goods – and even water!
To keep soft fruit from the supermarket such as berries and grapes fresh for longer, soak the fruit in a bowl of water with 2-3 tablespoons of white vinegar for 10-15 minutes. This will kill any mold and bacteria. Rinse in a sieve, spread over a clean towel, and pack into your Mason jars when dry. Your call whether you put them in the fridge.
Dry goods like pasta, oats, beans, nuts and rice are perfect for the glass jar treatment. Cardboard gets damp, isn’t insect-proof, and allows the air to turn these items stale or musty. Glass will keep these items fresher for longer. Remember labels are your friend.
Short of glasses, need a cocktail shaker, makeshift coffee pot, making a blended drink? Use your Mason Jar. Want something more sustainable than plastic? Use a glass Ball jar. Fed up with the different size lids for containers? Use the standard wide-mouth canning jar.
Remember this for a disaster scenario – Water Storage
I saw this post on Facebook:
“I’ve seen many posts asking about storing empty jars. So I’m sharing the wisdom of my grandmother. She taught me this in the 1960s and I have been doing this ever since.
These jars are not sealed as this is water. It is clean water that can be used for washing or for consumption. If you are concerned about stored water, remember, IT’S WATER. You can boil it before consuming it. As long as your source is safe, the water should be safe.
These are my ‘empty’ canning jars. If you notice, they aren’t really empty. They are filled with water. My grandmother always said that an empty jar takes up just as much space as a full one. NEVER put an empty jar on the shelf. If you don’t have anything to can or store in it, fill it with clean water.
This has come in handy many times. In February 2021, here in Texas, we had a deep freeze. We were without power and water for about a week. We kept warm with a fireplace and blankets. For water, I had my canning jars. Even the small 4oz jelly jars had water in them.
The stores were out of bottled water, so no one could get any for over a week. I had some neighbors who knew I had jars full begging me for my water. I had shared this wisdom nugget and been ridiculed for it. I see posts in other groups and videos saying to stock up on bottled water. I’m doing what my grandmother said. I’ll keep my empty jars full of water.”