I’ve been home canning for the past 35+ years. Over the decades I’ve accumulated hundreds of glass mason canning jars. During the canning season I’ll use at least 500 jars preserving a wide variety of food. When the jars aren’t in use it’s important to clean and store them properly. Everyone has a different method, but here’s how I do it.
All empty jars need to be properly cleaned. I lay out old cotton towels on my kitchen counter-top. I fill the sink with hot soapy water. I like to use Dawn Liquid Dish Soap because it does a great job at removing grease, food debris, and grime. I use a bottle brush to get into all of the nooks and crannies. You want to scrub around the threads of the jar (around the opening) until they’re clean. Rinse them until all of the soapy reside is gone.
Always inspect them for damage. Any jars with cracks, chips, stains, fogginess, etc. should be discarded or used for non-food purposes.
I do a rotation system during the drying process. I first place all jars upside down onto the towels. They remain like that for 2 hours. I then go back and flip them right-side-up to finish the drying process. They need to be completely DRY before storing them away. Any moisture left inside them can cause mold and mildew to grow.
After drying I transport them into my canning pantry closet. Yes, I’m lucky enough to have my own walk-in pantry canning closet! I lined my shelves with a foam type of shelf liner to keep the jars a little bit more protected from chipping.
When storing the jars they shouldn’t be touching one another or stacked on top of each other. Don’t put the rings or seals back on them. Rings and seals should be stored in separate containers.
Before I use them again to process food they get another hand washing, rinse, and inspection. It’s important to ONLY use extremely clean jars that are in perfect condition, so that you have the best results when preserving food. If you properly clean and store your glass mason jars they will last you for decades!
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I did not realize that tings and seals should be stored separately. Although I bought jars several years ago I still have not started canning. Maybe this will be the hyear!
Lots of great information……………. I always enjoy reading about any thing in the canning area. Of course I DON’T can 🙂 Some of the stuff you can I sure would like to have a can or to.
Thanks to goodwill I have a lot of mason jars. I use to store flour/sugar etc in them. And I can write with a sharpie what it is and directions if needed. I also date the jars. And when empty the writing washes right off
I don’t home can, but I use mason jars to keep foods like dried beans and snack foods. This is helpful and I am going to take your suggestion to not put the lids back on when storing the jars.