In this episode we are excited to share our experience with the fashionable and functional Weck jars. We both canned with them and in this episode you’ll get our best tips for canning for success with them, and why you’d choose to invest in these jars.
Weck jars are a German brand jar that has a two piece, reusable, glass and rubber lid. They are advantageous for several reasons because they are completely plastic free. The underside of a standard Ball-style canning lid has a white material that is marketed as BPA free but is not plain glass. The Weck jar lid is simply glass. For those who are especially interested in going plastic free, this makes the Weck an ideal canning jar. They use metal clips to secure the glass lid and separate flange to the jar. When water bath or steam canning, 2 clips is sufficient while pressure canning requires 3 clips arranged in a triangle around the lid.
Weck jars are a bit more expensive than standard Ball-style canning jars, and they come in a wide variety of sizes, styles, and jar openings. This can be an advantage but also could be overwhelming for a beginner, potentially. They are sized using the metric system which can be challenging for Americans but that’s an easy enough shift to get used to, I think.
Both of us loved using the Weck jars and plan to use them in the future. Not only are they beautiful, it wasn’t difficult to get used to the different lid system. When using a traditional water bath canning method, a silicone oven mitt (both protective and grippy) would be the best way to lift the hot, food-filled jar into the water. If you use a steam canner (check out this episode for more about super fast steam canning!) it is easy to lift the warm jars onto the steam canner rack and eliminates the need for a jar lifter.
Overall, our review is overwhelmingly favorable. We loved using the Weck jars and know you will too!
