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One thing I've never understood: why don't, say, jam manufacturers use standard-size mason jars so that they can be easily re-used when empty? They can just as
by bariumbitmap 6y ago
One thing I've never understood: why don't, say, jam manufacturers use standard-size mason jars so that they can be easily re-used when empty? They can just as easily attach branded labels to standard jars, right?
Or even just standard mason-jar size threads and diameters so at least the lids and bands are interchangeable. Washing and re-using jars is so much easier when the lid doesn't have to be paired with the exact jar it came with. (I know that proper mason jars use tempered glass, but I'm just talking about containers to hold leftovers in the fridge or dry goods on the shelf.)
My best guess is that they're worried about liability and so intentionally make the threads incompatible so people can't use them for canning, but I have no evidence this is actually true.
- MeinBlutIstBlau 6y agoNothing says you can't reuse their stuff. If you only buy the jars from a single company, you're essentially buying their can as well. What factories do and what you can do with that same jar makes no difference. The sealing process may be a tad different but at the end of the day, you're still sucking out all the air creating a vacuum.
- bostonvaulter2 6y agoI wonder if you incentivize this type of behavior by allowing use of standard sized jars (such as mason jars) for free. But then require a small (per-jar) fee to manufacturers that want to use a custom jar. Standardization is good because it promotes re-use, for example I can buy many different types of lids for my mason jars, but not so for some random jam jar, so if the jam jar lid breaks it is effectively unusable.
- emmanuel_1234 6y agoMy family (and everyone I know who remotely does any sort of home canning in France) always re-used store bought jam jars. I don't ever recall buying a jar for the sake of a jar. The only things we ever purchased are canning kits (some wrap, rubber bands, some kind of wax).
- Symbiote 6y agoThe same in my experience in the UK. If the jar was for curry sauce or something like that, it can be difficult (not worthwhile) cleaning the lid/seal sufficiently to get rid of the smell.
- jelliclesfarm 6y agoBonne Maman confiture jars from France but now available everywhere ..have wide mouths and are shorter. The labels come off easily and it has multiple uses. They are great for making layered pudding or parfaits ..and it’s sized for single serving. unlike most jam jars in America, they lend themselves easily to other reuses without pretension/artifice. Maille mustard/moutard is also French and very reusable jars. Afterall, canning was discovered in France(1785..as the article states) As usual in America, they are used as water glasses and that’s just bizarre to most French people..but that’s what we do here...mason jars with handles is the most bizarre thing ever. It’s peak hipster.
- rekabis 6y agoLast Mountain (based out of Saskatchewan, Canada) does exactly this - all of their jams come in 1L mason jars. Downside is that the label on the jar is hella frustrating to remove. The glue isn’t exactly water soluble.
- copperx 6y agoI'm only half-joking, but I'm sure some people would feel they're in a communist country if all the jars had the exact same dimensions.