Repurposing Glass Food Jars

tru

I've been using Yankee Candle jars for pickled beetroot and onions. I didn't expect them to last long because of the plastic on the lid, but I've uses the same ones for three years and they're still going strong.

VfM4meplse

I have thought of something else, reminded by MM's post...I use the individual sized jam jars for storing roasted spices that don't lose their potency - mainly cumin. Dry roast gently on a flat iron, when aromatic but not smoky, turn the heat off. Then transfer to a pestle and mortar and grind away the frustrations of the day.

I only do this in very small quantities, but even so I'm always surprised by the amount made once crushed into a powder, always more than is required. Throwing away my effort is not an option, and using the jars is so much more environmentally friendly than making tiny aluminium foil envelopes for them.

This won't work for a cardamom btw - it loses its potency fast once ground.

GreyQueen

I love glass jars for storage.

I have a standing order with my parents for those squared jam-jars from Aldee. Use them to store herbs and also in the fridge to store nuts and seeds. The square section means they can lie on their sides on the shelves which is great since the door of the fridge is full of other things. In the cupboard, their squared space maxes the best use of my limited storage space.

I'm a fan of the Douwe Egberts coffee jars and get them occasionally from my work when a colleague has finished with them. Some I use for storage but I usually have one on the go for odd buttons/ trimmings etc which I think I won't use but cannot bear to waste.

If I do a carboot sale, these sell easily.

[Deleted User]

I love those Aldi yogurts and my DD always gives me the pots and lids .great for storing small items in.I mix lemon curd with nat value yogurt in several seperate containers and stick in the fridge.I also use up the contents of those tiny jars of jam in natural flavoured yogurts with some smashed up bran flakes or granola ,no different than those 'Mueller corners you pay a lot more for.A large tub of plain yogurt costs less than 50p

Jam Jars my late OH used to screw the lids underneath a shelf and use to store nails ,screws etc.Took up less space and were easy to spot which jar you needed and the contents .Simply unscrew find the nail etc then screw back onto the lid again

Pollycat

VfM4meplse wrote: »

Sorry I can't help but you have got me drooling: I'm inspired to mix some lemon curd into natural yoghurt. I haven't had this for what feels like years

I buy plain porridge and stir various different jams & curds in.
Currently open is key lime curd, vanilla & sour cherry jam and ginger jam.

I don't see why it shouldn't work in yogurt either.

Prinzessilein

I have a slight weakness for flavoured coffee ...and discovered Beanies.

These come in small jars. If you are lucky enough to be gifted a 'stash' box of them you get nine little jars in a cardboard 'display' case.....

Mum has reused her jars for storing dried herbs.

I have used mine for storing my sewing paraphernalia...including the tiny beads I use when making cards.

PasturesNew

I don't have much glass - about 12 empty coffee jars/year and about 4 jars of chutney/jam/marmalade per year. I have reused some coffee jars for obscure/weird things, such as saving old toothbrushes in one for cleaning.... but I tend to find that using a glass jar for anything occupies more space than other options.

I do keep the empty glass jars for 1-2 years, hoping to find a genuine way to use them, but I can't. I picked up a Branston jar the other day and thought "what can I use this for?" and realised that anything I've got that could go into it would then be over-sized and it'd not have somewhere to be put.

I've previously picked up a jar and thought "stock cubes"? but the existing wrapping/packaging of those has the BBE date on them and as I don't use them very often I'd prefer to keep them in their wrappers and know they were BBE Dec 2014

So, for me, it's a nice idea... that doesn't have any actual practical use. I've currently got four sitting there mocking me... cluttering up the valuable kitchen space and making it look like I have a hoarding problem.

VfM4meplse

Prinzessilein wrote: »

I have a slight weakness for flavoured coffee ...and discovered Beanies.

I just couldn't get on with these, they just taste chemical and bitter. I have a leftover jar of DE hazelnut and am sure I will make much better use of the small jar itself than the contents!

greenbee

I have masses of the old square Kenco coffee jars - my mother saved them for me and my brother when we were students to use as storage jars and they're still going strong.

LameWolf

I don't get many glass jars; the only ones these days are honey jars from the farmers market, which I keep, and pickled onion jars, which I recycle as you can't effectively get rid of the vinegar smell.
But we have a stash in the loft of all sorts of shapes and sizes, which regularly get re-used for HM jam, marmalade, and lemon or orange curd.
Some years back we were desperate for jars for HM jam, and I ended up scrounging a load from a fellow-Mensan who was hoarding them even though she had no actual use for them. She did get a couple of them back, duly filled with jam.;)