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I store most of my things in glass in the freezer/fridge during summer, and take what I need from there. If it's airtight, pasta keeps a long time, and so does grain, and flour. I swear by glass. Milkglass, and some lead free ceramics are fine, too. I prefer see through. I am more likely to use it up, and I love to look at the colored pasta twists.
For years we only used glass jars to store food in.
Gallon and half gallon glass jars were our cannisters for flour, rice, sugar, pasta, cereal, etc.
Various sized Mason jars were our refrigerator storage for leftovers.
But now that we are older, with arthritic hands, we have had to go to plastic because it's lighter to handle and safer when dropped.
To those of you who save and reuse old glass jars/containers - how do you clean the lids that come with them? I can't seem to get the smell of whatever was originally in the jar removed, no matter how I soak them or even if I put them in the dishwasher (ie, the lids smell like spaghetti sauce or pickles or mustard, etc).
As a supplier of Glass Jar I would not recommend reusing jar lids. This is as each jar has like a finger print on the top and when a lid is attached for the first time it creates a copy of this print. As a result the next time you use the lid it will not seal in the same way.
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When we used glass jars for storage, we never used recycled jars.
We bought wide mouth canning jars.
We did this because the uniformity was more aesthetic and space efficient, and because we could get reusable plastic or stainless steel one piece reusable screw lids for them.
The quart, pint, and half pint jars all took the same size lid.
I actually just read an article stating that we should never use tomato product from a can because the acid content can leech chemicals from the metal. Then person then went on to state that we should always get tomato product that has been stored in glass since it does not leech chemicals.
So my guess is that this person actually did a study (hopefully) and new what they were writing about. If I can find the article I will provide more info...
When we used glass jars for storage, we never used recycled jars.
We bought wide mouth canning jars.
We did this because the uniformity was more aesthetic and space efficient, and because we could get reusable plastic or stainless steel one piece reusable screw lids for them.
The quart, pint, and half pint jars all took the same size lid.
Freddy, you don't reuse your own jars? Wow! My wife has some she's been reusing for years! Just buys new lids. Washing the jars out is just like washing plates or glasses. Stick them in the dishwasher, then in the box for storage until she cans again! Then another spin in the dishwasher and put them to work. She used some tomatoes for chili the other night she and her mother canned the summer before she died, 4 years ago. Delicious!
I come from a family that has preserved food by canning for generations. Tomatoes, beans, corn. beets, pickled meat, jellies, jams, ramps, etc, just about anything you could think of that can be preserved in a glass jar by the canning process.
The jars have been used over and over for years. The rings (the part you tighten) is used over. The lids (the flat top part) is replaced everytime a new crop is canned.
You can tell if the jar seals by tapping on the lid and the sound it makes. Also if the lid is concave it means it sealed. This process happens by cooling and the vacuum it creates. (So I've been told) If it is convex it didn't seal and you use that jar first or throw the food away.
A good sealed glass container is imo the safest way to store food. We eat stuff that has been canned 2 and 3 years ago. It's just as good as the day we canned it. It isn't even refrigerated. It is on shelves in the basement.
But the commercial screw on lids that come with the jars from the grocery store are not reusable for long term storage. Once the jar is opened the seal is broken and can not be reused as a perfect seal.
Same thing with home canned stuff. Once it is open it has to be used. The glass itself can be used forever or untill you drop it and break it. The lids can only be used once for sealing from the beginning of the preservation process.
When you open a new jar of anything and hear that little (whoosh) sound the vacuum has been broken and anything in any jar can still be stored for short term if refrigerated but not for long term use.
Glass is best and food will last a long time in it. It is the sealing part that determines how long it can be kept.
Plastic is made from petroleum products. Do you want to eat something that comes out of a glass jar or something that was manufactured from the fluid of long dead dinosaur carcasses.
Most of my family has lived to be 85+ years old and ate from reused glass containers all their lives.
My great grandpa lived to be 102. He was shot by a jealous 50 yr old husband when gramps got caught messing around with the young wipper snappers wife. LOL
At least he died happy. It was from lead, not from eating food preserved in glass.
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