One thing I always make sure I have – plenty of Mason jars. There are several reasons but I know that in a worst case scenario, I might not have access to a freezer but I could always can food. It could be fruit from the orchard, veggies from the garden or meat from the woods.
Also, if a freezer should go out or the power be out for an extended period, I could can everything I wanted to keep from within the freezer . . except for the ice cream and I would eat that right off the bat!
I store leftovers in jars and we use jars for drinking glasses.
These are all quart jars. There are two cases of Aldi jars that I won’t use for canning but the rest I hope to have full some day in the not too distant future.
Recently, with the Aldi sale on chicken, I was down to the “I’m about to run out of jars panic” level. Vince found some on sale a few weeks ago from Fleet Farm. Those jars were so carefully packed! The cases were wrapped in bubble wrap and then each case was put in a bubble wrap bag and then the shipping boxes were lined with bubble wrap. I had used quite a few of those and Vince began looking for more jars and the lowest price he could find was at Target.
NOT carefully packed! Each case of jars was in a separate box and there was one piece of bubble wrap placed only over the tops of the jars, then the jars were slid sideways into the box . . one case per box!
The Fed Ex guy drove up and I was outside. I said “You have a package for me?” and he said “YES! About 18 packages!” I had him set them at the back of the truck and I would grab them and take them into the shop. Then Vince came out to help and by then, we had come across a couple of boxes that sounded like broken glass. Vince called Target and they were very nice and helpful. I think there were three cases that each had a couple of jars broken and a couple of jars that were scratched from the broken glass. Target is sending a full case to replace the broken jars so we’ll be more than compensated for the handful of broken jars.
Weighing it all out, you have to figure at some point, the cost of packaging the jars like Fleet Farm did outweighs the cost of having to replace one case of jars but it’s still frustrating to receive broken jars.
The Fed Ex guy was as nice as could be and he felt bad about the broken jars. Vince kept saying “We are blaming you! These things happen. It’s glass.” I felt bad for the guy . . he felt so responsible.
Nelle Coursey says
It could have been them sitting in the truck and it hitting a bump. And it could have been anywhere between here and there or they could have been broken before they were ever shipped. I think, like you said, the Fed Ex guy may be innocent in all this. I have never seen one of them treat packages in a way that would make them break. And as you said, the packing was not good either.
Susan Nixon says
I think the way you reasoned it is the way Target reasons it. The bottom line in money and materials is cheaper to just replace a case. On the other hand, if Fleet Farm has another sale, you won’t hesitate to buy from them! I just checked the price for the ones they’ll ship right now – $12.99 for 12. Plus shipping. But whoever imagined I would ever pay over $1 per jar for a wide-mouth canning jar! It’s important with chicken and other meats to have the wide mouth. You need to can another meat recipe so I can make Stacey do all the work again. LOL. I had to buy more jars because my wide mouth ones were all busy.
cassews says
Yep never can have enough mason jars, or the screw on lids either!!!