In the five and a half years that I’ve been writing this blog, I’ve been asked nearly every canning-related question in the book. One that comes my way a lot is people wondering if there are options beyond traditional Ball jars.
Sometimes they want a more affordable option. Other times they’re interested in jars that will give their preserves a different look from everything else out there. And once in a while, they just want a jar that will take a label nicely.
Happily, there’s a new player in the jar marketplace that can address these wants and needs. Called Orchard Road, they are selling lovely, simple mason jars in three sizes. The quarts and pints come in both regular and wide mouth versions, and the half pint jars come in just the regular mouth variety.
All the Orchard Road jars are sold in packs of six and come in sturdy boxes that fully contain the jars. For those of you who like to store your finished jars in a box that will keep the jars out of the light, these boxes will be a godsend for you.
One thing to note is that Orchard Road sells their jars without lids or rings. For those of us that have giant bags full of rings and a stash of lids, this is a great blessing. If you don’t have an equally hefty collection, you can buy the lids and rings together in boxes of six.
I’ve done a good bit of canning in Orchard Road’s jars now and really like them. The flexibility of the lids is slightly different from those made by Ball, so they don’t make the same satisfying ping noise as they seal. However, they make up for it by having a ton of open real estate so that you can scrawl the contents of the jar across the top with a Sharpie. As long as a jar has that, I’m happy.
Currently, Orchard Road jars have limited availability. I spotted them at the Goods Store out in Lancaster a couple weeks ago and I know that Fillmore Container has them in stock (and, they’ll be giving some away at my demo out there on Friday!).
Additionally, the nice folks at Orchard Road are sponsoring a giveaway. They’ve offered up three cases of jars and a set of matching lids. Winners get to choose the size jar. Many will enter, three will win.
- Leave a comment on this post and tell me about your most recent canning project.
- Comments will close at 11:59 pm eastern time on Sunday, August 10, 2014. Winners will be chosen at random and will be posted to the blog on Monday, August 11, 2014.
- Giveaway open to United States residents only.
- One comment per person, please. Entries must be left via the comment form on the blog at the bottom of this post.
Disclosure: Orchard Road sent me some jars and lids for testing and photography purposes for free. They are also are providing the jars for the giveaway winners at no cost to me. Still, all opinions expressed are mine alone.
Wow. It’s been a while since I last canned–it was strawberry vanilla jam back in June! TIme to get back into it.
I went nuts last weekend and bought 55# of tomatoes. So I made 6 batches of salsa, 2 batches of pastas sauce, and a large batch of sauce to freeze. Phew. That was a lot of work.
Boozy Peaches!
Ginger plum jam. Four times, looking for the perfect pectin/color/set. Pomona’s for the win! http://pdxknitterati.com/2014/08/01/adventures-in-jamming-fruit-pectin-music/
My latest project was peach and nectarine jams. Our local farmstand store had some fruit with a beautiful blush that turned the jam reddish-gold. Lovely!
today i canned tomatoes from my garden and made pickled hot peppers using your recipe on serious eats… the red wine vinegar in this recipe is awesome! 🙂
My much sought after apricot jam.The first thing I ever learned to can from my Grandma and the one thing everyone in my family always asks for again and again!
My latest project was peaches in orange juice.
My latest canning project will be apple jalapeño jam just as soon as I pick apples from our tree!
i came back from a beach vacation with 10lbs of red delicious apples that were a little to ripe for eating but perfect for applesauce!
My berry bushes are producing the second crop ( raspberries) and the local market had tons of blueberries, so I will be making jam this weekend. I sure could use those jars!
47 jars of blueberry, blueberry jalapeno, and triple berry jam! From blueberries I picked myself!
Yesterday I canned pickles with the boys.
After raspberry picking with my family, we came back and make Raspberry Jam and Chocolate Jaspberry jam. devine… I’m afraid to open the jars for fear of us devouring them all in one sitting.
In the last week, I’ve canned dilly beans, pickled beets, whole tomatoes, and, best of all, your recipe for peach sriracha jam!
My latest canning project hasn’t started yet. I want to start soon, but with school starting up, spending on kitchen utensils seems unnecessary. Maybe if I win these jars, that will get that first canning party started!
Strawberry jam was my last canning project, but peaches are waiting for me as I type! Love the jars! Thank you for a chance at them.
It’s been too long since I’ve canned (last summer I was pregnant and not hungry for anything…canned things included, but now I regret that as a spring with no dilly beans was awful!). But, the summer before we made ketchup! SOOOOOOOO good – sweet, smoky and spicy.
My 2 year old peach tree gave its first harvest this year, with over 75 medium sized peaches! This week I made peach chutney, 6 jars in total. The garden is going crazy with cucumbers and tomatoes too, so tonight its canning cucumbers, and tomatoes tomorrow. In July I canned 4 jars of garlic scapes and 6 jars of pickled beets. Thanks for all the great advice!
Nectarine jam–half plain and half with Cardamon (Swedes in the house,)
my most recent canning project was cardamom plum jam. I just ordered tomatoes from my CSA to can/freeze this week! Love your site.
Last weekend, my son and I went raspberry-picking at a local farm. (We just moved to Ann Arbor, and finding a berry farm 20 minutes from us was amazing!) We “smashed” the raspberries as soon as we came home, then made three pints of jam. My husband made a raspberry tart with the “leftovers”!
latest canning projects: corn salsa and dilled relish. two of the jars of salsa have already been consumed. i suspect i’ll be making more of that, soon.
Tomato Heaven here…stewed tomatoes, homemade V-8, puree,plain topped off with bacon tomato sandwiches for dinner. August has arrived!!!
Apricot Habanero Jam is my latest batch. Love these jars!
My last two days have been spent canning tomatoes!
I’m getting ready to pressure can some tomatoes.
despite most of my canning dreams falling prey to summer time-sucks, i did manage to make some apricot syrup a month ago. it was A+ over vanilla ice cream or mixed into Greek yogurt. i’m hoping to get some pickled cherries made this weekend.
I made two kinds of mustard. My first time!
Green beans, a lot of green beans – waiting for the tomatoes to ripen. Excited to see these jars, I love jars!
Made a spinoff of your mint-lime syrup by replacing the mint with basil- a big hit with the family this weekend! Most recent in a jar is plum jam. These Orchard Road jars look perfect for making more!
recent canning was blueberry jam
I just did some raspberry jam
This is my first season for canning and in the past two days I’ve added to my pantry 4 pints of bread and butter pickles, 8 pints of chow chow, and 9 pints of pickled yellow squash that is absolutely beautiful in the jars with red and green bell pepper. I’ve been limited to canning in pint and half pint jars since I’m using my 11 quart stockpot for water bath canning. I’m looking forward to purchasing a pressure canner and adding some quart jars of summer fruit and vegetables to my pantry stock!
My most recent canning experience was making apple butter for family and friends. I had a surplus of apples from another friend and with that and a family recipe, I made many homemade gifts.
I love these jars! As a user and collector of jars of all shapes and sizes, I have many, many jars. I have never seen these and love how much space their is for labeling.
Thank you for your inspirational site!
I work nights and decided that I had time before work to can some peach slices in honey syrup. You name it, I spilled it that day! I made a huge mess before finally deciding to get ready for work. I know the peaches will be wonderful this fall/winter and that rewarding “ping” made the mess worth it!
My most recent canning project was this week in my garden! I picked the last of the tomatillos and made the simmer sauce in Preserving By The Pint, and picked a bunch of tomatoes and made basil balsamic sauce. Yum!
My most recent canning project was the blueberry jam from your book – yum! I’m going to try the yellow plum and vanilla jam from your book tomorrow.
We are just about to can the beets from our garden, they are the perfect size right now.
Blueberry vanilla jelly in the canner as I type!
Unfortunately, we haven’t gotten to can this year! A late frost took out our berries and our peaches. We may be canning apples and pears later in the season, though!!
I moved out of state this summer, so I had vowed to not can anything else this year until after the move Moving full canning jars is not fun–we have about 2-3 boxes sitting in my parents’ basement waiting until we can pick them up. But then the cherries hit, and I was seduced by the thought of cherry jam. Oh well, my parent’s have lots of room in that basement!
It’s been many years since I’ve canned but I’ve got the itch to fill my pantry with my own canned goods this season. I’m brushing up on the basics again thru your site which is excellent – thanks for all the great info and a chance to win new jars.
I am making garlic dill pickles and pickled blackberries today. Can’t wait to get started!
I picked up a 1/2 bushel of peaches from my local orchard. Yesterday I made vanilla ginger peach preserves. Today I hope to make a spicy jalapeño peach jam and a peach jam with a little lemon zest.
Yesterday’s batch was canned in the orchard road jars. I was surprised by the solid clunk the lids made when sealed. I feel like those jars would be able to survive a tornado.
I’d love to add more jars to my stash!
I did 4 pints of dilly beans yesterday afternoon. They are so popular in my family that I need to do more – but it is a start.
My latest canning projects have been pickled yellow peppers, dilly beans and pickled green tomatoes……i simply cannot wait to start trying my new batches.
I haven’t canned in a couple months. My last canning project was to make strawberry jam, and we’re still enjoying that. I’m preparing for canning tomatoes in a week or two, and I’m canning your cantaloupe jam tomorrow with a friend. I’m really looking forward to that!
I have always been interested in canning, but have never tried to do it. I would love to give it a shot!
my most recent canning project has been apricot jam!!
thanks for sharing!
It was my favorite so far, roasted green chili jam…mmm…
I just made my first batch of freezer jam, spiced peach jam, on July 31. I had a slight mistake where I didn’t let it set up long enough and it’s a little thin, but good news it still tastes delicious! I’m ready to try again with a cherry jam recipe and hopes that I’ve learned from my mistake.
My last canning project was packing up all of my jars and putting them in storage at my parents’ house — I just moved cross-country and 12-15 dozen jars were just not going to fit in my subcompact car. So, I need to restart my jar collection, but I have started to stockpile frozen fruit (sour cherries and blueberries, so far) in my new home for the eventual canning days ahead.
Went peach picking so it was peach jam, peach butter, and raspberry peach jam all in one day!! Mmmmmmmm.
I just canned 16 half pints of albacore tuna and 14 half pints of strawberry jam. Mmmmmm! Tomatoes are coming fast!! Can’t wait!
I just made my first batch of bread and butter pickles this weekend! I can’t wait to keep going 🙂
Wow, people make some amazing stuff! I just took a trip down to Santa Cruz to go berry picking and came back with 10 pounds of strawberries. We also had some figs that were getting dried oit so i combined a couple recipes (i know this is frowned upon) and made strawberry-fig jam with balsamic vinegar and black pepper. Now i am looking for something to do with a pile of passionfruit from my mom’s farm that doesn’t involve obscene amounts of sugar!
Just canned my first batch of green beans with a friend. Loved it. I was told about your website and classes at another canning session this past week. Love your site!!
I would like to try this brand of jar. I have not seen them in my area yet. I have been canning for three years and I was given a pressure canner. I can hardly wait to use it.
I would love a jar with enough space so the labels aren’t bumpy over the embossing! My most recent canning session was Tomato Jabanero Salsa – with homegrown tomatoes, jalapenos and habaneros, and Strawberry Habanero Jam.
Most recently I canned my first batch of Dilly Beans (from the Food in Jars cookbook!). They have less than one week and we are dying to get into them. I also canned asparagus this year for the first time and we are loving it! I am looking at canning some peaches and heirloom tomatoes this week. This is a great time of year.
I don’t have a most recent canning project because I’m new to canning. That’s how I came to find your blog, wanting to learn more! I do use jars for all sorts of stuff besides canning… most recently used them for my recent batch of kombucha.
My most recent canning project was some lemon jelly, but I’m hoping to do something with tomatoes soon…if they ever ripen.
My latest canning project was 4 half pints of absolutely delicious vanilla-pear jam. Ohhhhhh, yum! Everyone to whom I’ve gifted a jar is head-over-heels in love with this jam!! And the project just before that was rosemary-apricot jam. Another YUM!!!!
I just made lovely blueberries in lavender vanilla syrup!
I had some peaches going overripe and had picked some wild raspberries, so I made a quick jar of raspberry peach jam.
Most recent project? It’s cooling right now…It’s the Tomato-Ginger Refrigerator jam from this site, slightly modified…I used a whole fruit method similar to the other tomato jams on this site, used lemongrass instead of lemon verbena, included the zest from the limes, and stirred in two tablespoons of aged soy sauce for a little extra punch. Plus I canned it, after verifying acidity. It’s got a distinctly Asian flair to it, I can’t wait to try it!
Super excited about these new jars. I just love the look of them.
I have never canned before – but plan on trying to with all the tomatoes that are growing in my garden!
First year of canning. Put up salsa and tomatoes today. Enjoying the rewards from the garden.
last week was jalapeno peppers but tonight I’m tackling some of the summer squash in my garden as pickles!
Just made pickles today! 🙂
My most recent canning project was a total farm jam! Everything in my blackberry honey sage jam was from one farm I went to – I picked the blackberries and the sage myself and I bought the honey from the farm! It came out tart and I loved that it was my locally made new york jam.
I just canned some pickled beets! They’re great in salads or with a sandwich. Next project: whole tomatoes!
I most recently made Rhubarb/Plum/Sour Cherry Preserves from the Blue Chair Jam cookbook – wonderful!
I actually just checked out your book preserving by the pint, yesterday, and made the salted brown sugar peach jam and the seedy spiced blackberry jam. I also used the base for the peach jam with sriracha to make regular peach jam. Your cookbook is wonderful, I love all the pictures and the small portions are perfect for just me and my boyfriend! Thank you!
Making berry jams all weekend. I live in the Willamette Valley and we have tons of things to can.
I have not done any canning yet this summer, but I’m getting ready to do pickles.
Ginger pickled carrots, just a few hours ago!
Looks like a great option for those of us with stacks of rings!
I have apple butter in the Crock-Pot right now and put up some blackberry jam yesterday.
I would love to try these jars for the sliced peaches my 2 year old son eats by the jarful. My last project was salsa in mild, medium and caution. 🙂
First time canning this year: dill pickles and San Marzano tomato sauce from my garden!
I just made my way through my second 25lb box of Georgia peaches. I made a lot of chutney, peach butter, and jalapeño peach jelly.
My most recent canning project involved 30+ lbs of mostly heirloom tomatoes from my parent’s garden. I made multiple batches of salsa and tomato jam.
I just canned some peach preserves!
cucumber pickles. my mother’s old recipe… that upon review, scared the pants off me. After she left, I added mustard seed and peppercorns, and then boiled those jars. Hope she doesn’t get food poisoning from the one she brought home…
I’m a canning virgin! *blush* I use mason jars for fermenting but haven’t made the leap to canning just yet. I’ve got the “obsessively collecting books on canning” part down, though.
I can always use more jars. I’ve got blueberries to make into jam
I recently canned batches of fig,cherry and watermelon rind preserves and I did a batch of homemade Chow Chow.
It was actually a version of your rhubarb/vanilla jam — just without the Earl Grey tea. So good…
I know I’m late, but I was so excited to see this. I hope I will be considered.
It’s been MANGO season in florida. I’ve just completed mango lime jam which has a texture more like apple butter. (I’m imagining this folded into a dessert….) I used the unripe mangos for a tart mango chutney that pairs great with avocado slices. And finally I picked the scotch bonnet peppers from the garden and made spicy little 4 oz jars of mango hot sauce. Beautiful yummy jars that captured buckets full of mangos.