It used to be that Weck jars were precious things, hard to come by outside of Germany. Then people started discovering how pretty and useful they are. Suddenly, stores from Crate & Barrel to Williams-Sonoma and beyond began stocking them.
No explanation is needed when it comes to storing dry goods in Weck jars, but when it comes to the actual act of canning in them, newcomers sometimes need a little help. A couple years ago, I wrote a step-by-step guide to using Weck jars, and while I have no intention of reinventing that particular wheel today, I do want to pluck out a few of the most commonly asked questions about canning in Weck jars and highlight them here so that they’re easy to access.
How do you tell if Weck jars are sealed? You can tell that Weck jars are sealed because the little tab on the rubber seal will point downwards. You can also test your seal in much the same way that you do with Ball jars. Once the jars are cool, remove the clips and grasp the lid of the jar. Lift off the counter an inch or two. If the seal holds fast, you’re golden. If it starts to lose its seal or breaks the suction entirely, that’s a jar that needs to be refrigerated.
Can you reuse the rubber seal? In all printed materials available in the US, they don’t recommend that you use the rubber seal for Weck jars more than once. However, I’ve been told the instructions printed in other countries tell you that it is reusable until it is stretched out or begins to lose its elasticity. Because I don’t like to take chances, I replace the rubber seal with each use.
Can you pressure can in Weck jars? I have not tried it personally, but I was told that it can be done, provided you add a third clip to the lid, in order to help prevent siphoning during processing.
Is it possible to buy replacement clips? It is! You can actually easily buy replacement clips, rubber rings and even lids for Weck jars. MightyNest, sponsor of today’s giveaway sells all the replacement parts in their canning section.
Because Weck jars are quite a bit more expensive than traditional mason jars, I tend to save them for my favorite preserves. These are the recipes that I like so much that I tend to either keep them all for myself or share them with only those people who are truly deserving.
Plum jam is one of my most beloved preserves, because its flavor reminds me of the rummy jam my mom used to make with the fruit from our backyard trees, in Southern California, when I was very young.
For this jam, I combined 5 cups of chopped plums (a mixture of yellow and red) with 2 1/2 cups of sugar. Once the juices started to run, I cooked the fruit and sugar over high heat until the fruit broke down and the syrup thickened enough to hang off the spatula in little pink windows. A squeeze of lemon juice went in at the end for balance. Processed for ten minutes in an array of Weck jars, this is one preserve I’ll be rationing this winter, to ensure it lasts until plum season returns.
If you’ve been contemplating adding some Weck jars to your kitchen, you’re going to love today’s giveaway. It’s provided by MightyNest, an online shop and community hub designed to help people find a world of products (everything from kitchenware to personal care) that are healthy and non-toxic. Here’s what MightyNest has put together for this giveaway:
20 quart canning pot with a rack designed to hold 7 quarts
6 1-liter asparagus jars
6 1/2 liter tulip jars
6 160ml mold jars
Weck jar lifter (these are great, because they don’t catch on the clips the same way that jar lifters designed for Ball jars can).
MightyNest is also hosting a giveaway of my book over on their blog this week. If you’ve not yet gotten your copy, make sure to click over to enter!
If you’re interested in entering this giveaway, here’s how to do it.
- Leave a comment on this post and tell me what one change you’d like to make to your kitchenware to make it healthier. If you’re stumped for ideas, head over to MightyNest and browse their many lovely kitchen items. You’ll be chomping at the bit for something new in no time (I want everything they sell).
- Comments will close at 11:59 pm east coast time on Friday, August 24. Winner will be chosen at random and will be posted to the blog on Saturday, August 25, 2012.
- Giveaway is open to US residents.
- One comment per person, please. Entries must be left via the comment form on the blog, I cannot accept submissions via email.
Disclosure: MightyNest provided the jars, canner and jar lifter for this giveaway at no cost to me. I have not been compensated for my time or this post. My opinions remain mine entirely.
Founded by two parents, MightyNest is an online store, resource center, and community dedicated to helping parents create healthy, safe homes. Our mission is to give families the ability to research, get advice, and buy natural, non-toxic products all in one place. From kitchenware to skin care, MightyNest’s safety experts have built the web’s broadest selection of products that are free from known toxic ingredients such as BPA, PVC, Phthalates, Lead, Melamine, Formaldehyde, Parabens, and more.
MightyNest is a place where people feel motivated and welcomed, not discouraged or judged; somewhere people are empowered to make changes in their lives, whether large or small. For the growing number of parents seeking high quality, healthy and safe alternatives to everyday products for their family, MightyNest is their most trusted resource.
I’d love to switch to all glass storage in my pantry. Love these jars!
well, I would get rid of any teflon skillets I had,for sure. And bake ALL of my bread..not just most of it. Mary in Cincinnati
About a decade ago a friend of mine told me how horrible plastic is for food. I sorta listened to her, but then realized about five years ago that perhaps she was on to something. As most of us know, plastic costs a lot less than other materials for food preparation and storage. That’s why we all have so much of it. A year ago I set my mind to replace any plastic in my home that I used for food prep or storage. I started with anything I used to store wet foods/liquids. That meant the my kids’ plastic sports bottle were gone and replaced with steel ones. I thought I was doing so great, but then I read some horrible news about those bottles produced in China containing lead. So I happened to have spied some beautiful water bottles on that site which are made of glass AND made in the USA! I’m so glad you introduced me to that site (though my bank account is going to curse you)!!
There are definitely some plastic water bottles and coffee travel mugs in my kitchen that need to go! I have a decent stainless steel coffee mug now, but I had no idea they made water bottles out of glass. Definitely bookmarking these: http://mightynest.com/shop/travel-beverage-bottles/water-bottles/glass-water-bottles-16oz for future puchase! 🙂
I know, I love those also! Payday can’t come quickly enough so I can purchase some!!
Get rid of plastic, am trying but it is so convenient!
No more plastic, and non-stick pans.
I would have only glass, iron and stainless steel in my kitchen if I could. Thanks for the giveaway!
I would replace our large teflon skillet with cast-iron!
I want to get rid of all the plastic storage containers in our kitchen. However, we have a lot of relatively new snapware that my husband bought, and my frugal side is reluctant to part with it… yet.
I am trying to get rid of all the plastic in my life/kitchen.
My goal is to rid the house of the remaining plastic storage containers and be a full glass-storage house. Fingers crossed this will happen by the end of 2012!
I’m slowly trying to move from plastic to glass storage containers. I also need to switch to more green cleaning products.
What a great giveaway! I’d like to eventually get rid of the #1 plastic tupperwares in my kitchen, but it’s more of an aspiration than something I’m actively doing.
Whoa… this is an awesome giveaway! I’ve tried to make my kitchen as healthy as possible but I do still use the BPA lids, I keep meaning to try one of the alternatives.
I’m slowly, but surely getting rid of my non-stick pans and replacing them with cast iron.
We’ve been slowly but surely replacing all our nonstick pots and pans with porcelain coated cast iron. It may be heavier but I love cooking with it!
Most realistically, I’d like to bring less processed foods into my house.
Rid my kitchen of plastic 🙂
I love the Weck jars because I can see through the lids. Something about that just makes me happy.
oh…plastic. Got to stop using so much plastic. I save every glass jar that I get from store-bought food, and slowly I am noticing that the rest of my family also is starting to use them for storage. If nothing else, I would love it if they would start listening to me about the evils of re-heating in the plastic!
Right now I only do water bath canning. I’d like to add a pressure canner to my kitchen so I can expand my pantry of healthy and home preserved foods.
I would love to have bamboo “silver”ware to use for all our family picnics. I hate tossing plastic in the trash.
I would love to get rid of my plastic bowls for storage and reheating. I’m slowly integrating more pyrex into my kitchen but so far just for my bulk cooking. I’m using my canning jars to store things in the fridge too, like homemade creamer, salad dressings, and sauces. I’d love to add this set not only to my glass collection but for my canning as well! Thanks!
the little ween storage containers! I have been oogling over them since I was pregnant, with dreams of making large batches of baby food for my son , and store them in single servings for easy, healthy baby meals! he’s almost 4 months old now, soon to start on food, and I haven’t bought them yet! I need to get a move on! 🙂
I am gradually eliminating all my rigid plastic storage containers. However, I still use freezer bags as freezing flat is such an efficient use of space
Can and freeze more of my favorite things so I can eat seasonally and locally without preservatives and reducing my urban footprint.
No more non stuck, using glass instead of plastic
I love using glass to store things, and I particularly like the Weck jars I’ve purchased. True, they’re a bit more expensive than other jars I’ve got, but they’re just so cool to look at!! I’m also working at getting rid of the plastic containers for storage. Nothing pretty about it like there is with sparkling glass.
A seasoned cast iron skillet. I still don’t have one of those and I’d love to get rid of my awful non-stick skillet.
I’d get some more food storage containers and a fabulous lunch box (it is weird that I’m in love with the ones with the cute animals on them?) to pack a healthy dinner from home to take when I have classes late into the evening!
I’d like to replace all the plastic in my kitchen with natural materials, for health and aesthetic reasons. I particularly can’t wait to buy some lovely wooden utensils to replace my plastic stirring spoons and ladles.
We have an organic garden and long to can the way both our grandmothers did: pret serving every bit of fruir from their labor. With five children, our food just goes! It will be nice to share out-of-season goodness with our family. Oh: we have nearly completely removed plastic from our kitchen! Finding some foods like tomatoes, ketchup, mayonaise, fruit canned in a container other than plastic is nearly impossible! Glass is back : )
Thanks for these reminders…donna haragan
I’ve become parnoid by all the mysterious chemicals and stuff in plastic. I am replacing everything with glass and metal. I even use my canning jars to store food in. This is such an amazing giveaway! My husband is from Germany, and remembers his grandmother canning with these jars!
The thing(s) I would do to make my kitchenware healthier would be to get rid of all plastic storage containers and move away from aluminum and towards more stainless steel items!
Well, the main thing I would like to do is to start using Weck jars for their reusable lids, actually! But other than that, I really want to eliminate the last vestiges of plastic storage containers, as well as get rid of our last nonstick skillet and replace it with a cast-iron skillet.
I would like to replace all my plastic containers with glass ones 🙂
I really want to get rid of my non-stick cookware and use something less toxic.
Quite frankly, the one thing that I can do to my kitchenware to make it healthier is to use it! I love my vintage copper bottom pots and pans and I need to fix more dinners…but somehow making jams, roasted tomatoes, jellies, and pickles is so much sexier- and my friends are much more impressed!
I would love to get the last of my storage containers switched over from plastic to glass! I’ve been using Ball jars for a lot of things, but the BPA in the lids doesn’t thrill me. This is a perfect solution!
These look fantastic! I’m sitting here listening to the tops of jars pop as they seal.
I was just looking at/ogling these at Williams and Sonoma. Aside from these beautiful canning jars (!), the one change I’d make to my kitchen is to get tupperware that is both matching and seals well. I currently operate on a mixture of old chinese food containers and various parts and pieces from sets bought over the years. In a dream world, I wouldn’t lose lids and bottoms so much either.
I’d love to get some glass storage containers! I want to get away from plastic.
The one major change to make my kitchen healthier would be to have more storage! I have jars of things tucked away all over the house which makes it difficult to keep a proper inventory and I sometimes have to throw things out because of they are out of date.
I still use a bunch of plastic containers and ziplocks for storage. I would really like to move away from that. In fact if I can find a way to avoid buying products that come in plastic tubs that would be even better.
Wow – that is a generous giveaway. Thank you for the chance!
No nonstick!
I’d like to get rid of the little black ants without resorting to Raid! I clean thoroughly but they still roam my countertops. Terro kind of works, but I don’t want them in my kitchen at all!
keapdx- to get rid of those ants in a day, try this- mix 1 Tbs Borax with 1/4 tsp sugar. spread it on a flat surface (like a piece of cardboard) and sprinkle it with water until just damp and pastey. put this near where the ants are coming in, but not where any animals or kids can reach it. within moments, the ants will be all over that sucker, but by the next day only one or two will return. by the next day- gone!
Baking soda also works. Sprinkle baking soda in ant vicinity and wait a couple of days. When the ants walk through the baking soda they will track it back into their colony, the colony’s pH will turn basic. Without enough acid in the colony the eggs won’t be able to develop properly. Bye bye ants.
Definitely trying to transition over to using just my cast-iron skillet. Gotta keep on seasoning it! 🙂
Awesome giveaway!
I’m trying to get rid of all my Teflon. Also, I don’t buy anything with high fructose corn syrup or hydrogenized oils. If I had the willpower, I’d ditch carbs altogether, too!
Like almost everyone else we’re slowly but surely replacing all of the plastic in our kitchen. From freezer bags to plastic storage containers we’re getting rid of it all and replacing with metal, glass and silicone.