Glass Storage Jars

The long, long weeks of pandemic lockdown forced many of us to come up with more and more ways to keep ourselves occupied. We baked, we sewed, we gardened like there was no tomorrow, and some of us even tidied our homes! In a world filled with uncertainty and worry, it can be strangely reassuring to spring clean your home, and in today’s blog post, we thought we’d take a look at doing just that. So for all of you who managed to resist the urge to clear out the clutter during lockdown, now is the time to knuckle down and get started. We’re going to focus on organisation and storage, with a special lock at using glass jars.

Why use glass storage jars?

There are several benefits to using glass storage jars around the house, especially in the kitchen. First of all, they are airtight, which means that the contents stay perfectly fresh and dry, even in a moisture-heavy kitchen environment. Contents are also protected from germs, flies and dust, so you can be sure that everything stays perfectly safe to eat when stored in this way.

Another benefit to using glass jars for kitchen storage is that you can see exactly how much of each item you have left in store, so there’s no need to run out of anything. A quick glance through your store cupboard or pantry is all it takes before you head off to the supermarket or sit down to place your online grocery order, and you’ll be perfectly stocked at all times.

The final principal benefit of using glass storage jars is that it cuts down on food waste. How many times have you gone to the cupboard to get out an open pack of pasta or rice, for example, only to find that it has split or come open and spilt the contents of the pack all over the shelf? If you switch to using storage jars, all this will become a thing of the past. Instead, you’ll have a neat row of jars showing you safe, fresh produce ready for use.

What glass storage jars should I use?

While you can use pretty much any storage jars for this purpose, provided that they have a secure lid, you may find that the best jars to use are the clip top jars, in a range of sizes. Clip top lids are always attached to the jar, so there’s no chance of them being dropped on the floor, or splashed with juices from your casserole or similar. Just unclip, pour out the quantity you require, and clip back again. All very neat and tidy, no matter how busy your kitchen is.

You will probably find that you need a range of different sizes of jars to accommodate all of the different things you have in your kitchen. Spaghetti will need a tall, thin jar, of course, but pasta shapes would look silly in the same style of jar, so a gallon jar might be more suitable. Rice would also probably be best accommodated in a gallon jar, especially if your family gets through a lot of it. Dried fruits, on the other hand, are less frequently used and would be better stored in a smaller jar that’s just the right size for a 500gms pack. By working out the best jar size for things you want to store, you’ll ensure that every time you open a new pack of something, it all fits perfectly into its jar without any small leftovers having to be stored in their plastic packaging.

If you’re a keen cook and you use plenty of herbs and spices in your recipes, why not switch to buying in large packets, rather than the tiny jars they sell in supermarkets? You could store the contents in clip-top jam jars, all the same size, with labels on the front to tell you what’s inside - it’s not so easy to tell different herbs and spices apart as it is with rice and pasta. If you do store herbs and spices in this way, remember to add the best-before date to your label, in case you find you don’t use a particular item as frequently as you had planned.

You can buy larger packs of herbs and spices from ethnic supermarkets or online from specialist providers, and the difference in flavour is astonishing compared with the little jars from the supermarkets. After the initial investment in a full range of herbs and spices, you’ll soon see why we’re such fans of this approach!

Of course, glass storage jars aren’t just for the kitchen - they work just as well all around the home. Use them to store craft and sewing materials, for instance, or for storing cotton wool or bath bombs in the bathroom. If something is usually left lying around, the chances are it’ll look a million times better when stored in a jar!

Why not share your storage ideas with us via Twitter, Facebook or Instagram?