A little over a year ago, when I was traveling up the west coast promoting Naturally Sweet, I stopped in at Down to Earth in Eugene for a demo and book signing. Before we got started, I took a moment to wander through their canning section. They had all the familiar jars and tools, but they also had a massive array of Le Parfait jars.
I wanted to fill the car with an array of those graceful, sturdy jars, but sadly, I was 3,000 miles from home and driving my parents’ station wagon. I was fairly certain that they would not appreciate it if I rolled up to their house with a wayback full of French preserves jars and asked them to keep them in the garage until I could find a way to get them back to Philadelphia.
Now, Le Parfait makes several lines of jars. Most of us are familiar with the Super Jars with their rubber gaskets and locking lids (I particularly love their Super Terrines for dry goods). And you may have used or spotted their Jam Jars (they have lug lids and look much like the jars you buy Bonne Maman jam in). But it was their Familia Wiss line that most captured my attention.
The reason that I was so charmed by Familia Wiss is that they are functional canning jars that are incredibly durable and beautiful. They have really wide mouths, making packing and filling a dream. They come in a wider array of sizes than regular mason jars (200, 350, 500, 750, 1000, and 1500 mL). And I found the sealing system so smart and reasonable.
Instead of using a lid and ring like our standard two-piece system, these jars use a flat lid and a fully encapsulating lid. The metal is heavier, they’re less prone to rusting, and seal that’s produced is incredibly strong. When you open up the jar to eat the contents, you can discard the flat lid and just use the cap for storage (they also sell bright orange plastic lids that fit these jars, which are a fun option for storing pantry items).
Once you understand how the basics of how the lids work, you can approach these Familia Wiss jars the same way that you do any other mason jar. You want to use new lids for each round of canning (and they can be ordered here). They should be clean but don’t need to be boiling prior to use. And like any other jar, once the jar has cooled and the seal is achieved, you can remove the outer lid and store the jars with just their sealed flat lid.
There is one downside to the Le Parfait Familia Wiss jars and that’s their cost. They come at a higher price than we’re typically accustomed to paying for canning jars. At first I bristled at the idea of paying more for jars, but I’m starting to think that they’re worth the price.
For one thing, they’re so much stronger than the grocery store jars. I hear from people on a near-daily basis about brand new Ball jars breaking in the canner. I can’t imagine that ever happening with a Le Parfait Familia Wiss jar. They are just so darn tough. And since I know that canning is something I’m going to continue to do across my lifetime, investing in gear that will pull its weight for the long haul doesn’t bother me.
The other thing is that I believe that working with higher quality jars leads to a more thoughtful approach to food preservation. Sometimes I preserve simply because I got a good deal or I start to feel that summertime panic that everything is currently in season and I MUST. PUT. UP. However, as I strive to be more conscious and preserving with an eye towards using up (rather than stockpiling), choosing the strong, beautiful jars that happen to be a little more expensive feels like a good choice.
This week, I’m partnering with the Le Parfait folks on a promotion and a giveaway. Two lucky people will each win a set of four 750 mL Le Parfait Familia Wiss jars (use the widget below to enter). These jars hold the same volume as the pint and a half jars that so many of us find particularly useful!
If you want to try some of the Le Parfait Familia Wiss jars and don’t want to take your chances on the giveaway, you can head over to Amazon, browse the size options, and use the code FOODNJAR for 5% off your order (the code is good through the end of July).
These would be great for my end of summer canning and would look so pretty in my cabinet.
Pint and a half? I’m in. Wonder if I can adapt my fermenting lids to fit these jars?
The jars are lovely and would be filled with jams made with love.
You can never have too many jars!
These look lovely, I would love to use them for gift giving
These look beautiful! I would use them for my favorite raspberry-orange jam that I make every summer! Fingers crossed. Thanks for sharing!
Qt & a half is my fave size of all time. I’d probably make some marinara sauce and lay down a few jars of peach halves. Thanks for the chance to try them. Love your review
These are so beautiful! I’d use the fresh peaches coming into peak season where I live and make a peach bourbon brown sugar jam.
I have a raspberry patch so plan on making raspberry jam for as long as I can. I would love to try these sturdy jars.
The pint & 1/2 jars are perfect size for a batch of turnip greens!
I still have some guava’s that are wanting to be jelly.
We have a wide variety of plants in our garden this year, and lots of berries, so I would use them any way I could! And maybe we would have more success than some of our conventional brand lids. Thank you!
I would use these jars for my most beautiful jam and jellies, salsa or relishies.
These are beautiful jars! They seem to just call out to be filled with beautiful jam!
Jam and fermentation!
These would be good for honeyed apricots, I think, or the cherry tomato conserve recipe my cousin shared with me. Thanks for the giveaway!
I would probably stare at them for a couple months because they’re just so pretty! And then maybe I’d make some marmalade in the fall!
I LOVE jars…I might need an intervention, but these are just so adorable and I love that lid system. So intrigued by these!
I have lots of figs that would look beautiful in these jars!
Love the jars, would make wild grape jam, small batch, of course!!!
Lucky us! Looks great for tomato sauce!
I would use them for my most special jams.
I would use them for bulk spice storage, and homemade salsa.
Lovely jars that may finally get me to cull my overgrown collection. And I, too, have had a rash of Ball casualties in the past couple months. Hmmmm.
I would use them for mulberry jam. These make great gifting jars.
Nice jars! I am still mourning the passing of the quilted crystal Ball 12 oz. jars.
With these I’d think I’d have to do something special….4 of them seems to lend itself to something like brandied cherries! A couple jars to gift and a couple jars to keep!
I would use these gorgeous jars for anything and everything! They would make elegant gifts filled with my Meyer Lemon marmalade, for starters…
I can always use canning jars to make Bread N Butter Jalapeno pickles or some jam and jellies
Thank You
Beautiful jars. I can think of a number of homemade goodies I could can in them.
I would use these beautiful jars for jam made with all the gorgeous summer fruit available at the Farmers Markets right now.
I would use these jars for my strawberry lemon marmalade!
What beautiful jars. I also enjoy my preserves a little more when they are in a nice jar. The lid system looks neat too.
These jars are made for bourbon vanilla peach jam
I’d use them for all the jams & pickles that will fill my basement!
I would use it to make th salsa from my garden. Beautiful jars!
I would use them for small batch preserving. They look great!
I would absolutely love to try these jars! Thanks for this opportunity!
I would make tons of mango chutney with all the Florida late blooming mangos
I am all about small batch canning-these would be a great addition to my pantry!
I’d love to give these a try! They look amazing
I agree about the prettiness of a jar leading to more thoughtful preservation. I have a few jars I set aside for special jams and preserves every year. In winter, when I give in to eating them, they are that much more enjoyable.
I use jars for everything stored…but mostly for food for,the (near) future. These jars are perfect!
There are some jalepeno and carrots that need a place to be pickled for tacos!
What an innovative top! Pickle-making season is starting. That’s what I would make. Nice wide tops would make it easy to pack.
These jars are bautiful. WOuld love to have them on my shelf and then to fill them with deliciousness
These would be great for pickles!
I’d probably do salsa or tomato sauce.
Given the size of these, I’d likely use them for canning fruit, or for blackberry liqueur, or shrub.
I would love to do a tomato sauce in these