The best bricklayer jars

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  • When it comes to something equally timeless equally a Mason jar, you lot tin't vanquish a archetype.
  • The Ball make name yet represents everything you lot could want in a skilful Mason jar with sturdy glass, tight-sealing two-piece lids, and old-school American-fabricated quality.
  • Due to unusually loftier demand and supply shortage, many Stonemason jars are out of stock at major retailers. We keep to monitor inventory and update this guide accordingly.

Mason jars are ane of those elementary items that are wonderful to have only easy to take for granted. Named after American inventor John Landis Bricklayer, Mason jars are distinguished by their airtight screw-top lids (ordinarily with a two-slice blueprint), drinking glass construction, and onetime-fashioned American aesthetic that hasn't changed much since they were start patented in the 19th century.

Glass Bricklayer jars are typically used for preserving perishable food products, and they are handy for many other things also. Canning homemade goodies including jam, storing dry food items such every bit herbs and spices, and serving as airtight containers for keeping things like coffee or piping tobacco fresh (two of my personal favorite uses). They're also often used as decorative items, to hold candles, or fifty-fifty for drinking, as the popularity of Mason jar mugs has shown.

True Mason jars should e'er be made of drinking glass, not plastic, and take a lid that creates an airtight seal. 2-slice Stonemason jar closures typically feature a rubberized rim underneath the apartment part of the lid. This is securely pressed onto the jar'south opening past the ring part of the lid, or "band," which screws down, thus creating a tight seal. These lids also usually accept a "popper" in the center. After spending time in the refrigerator, after beingness boiled for canning, or if the jar contains something that consumes oxygen, a properly sealed lid will pop when opened due to the pressurized air inside.

Here are the best Mason jars:

  • All-time Mason jars overall: Ball Mason jars
  • Best with shine sides: Ballast Hocking Stonemason jars
  • Best with wide mouths: Kerr wide-mouth Mason jars
  • Best with bail tops: Bormioli Rocco bail acme Mason jars
  • All-time with handles: Libbey handled drinking Mason jars

Prices and links are current as of 8/27/xx. We updated the formatting of this post and added a production showcase so you can easily shop all our picks. Nosotros too added a option of related ownership guides.

The best overall

Ball

Ball is a 19th-century American icon in the world of home canning, and its Stonemason jars accept stood the exam of time owing to their corking US-fabricated quality, tightly sealing lids, and low price.

When shopping for Mason jars, Brawl is the proper name you're going to see the well-nigh. The Ball Corporation has been making jars and other home canning products since 1880 and continues to offer high-quality American-made Mason jars to this solar day. Your parents, grandparents, and bang-up-grandparents probably used Ball jars. You'll even hear many people refer to all Mason jars in general as "Ball jars."

I have a unproblematic dominion that I apply to many things around the home: If it's grandma- and granddad-approved, it's probably solid. I've personally used Ball Mason jars for years, although not for canning jams or other kitchen creations as I'k not much of a domicile chef. I utilise mine to store pipage tobacco and coffee beans. I accept most 18 of them (in various sizes) for these purposes and they're all well-made with airtight lids that have kept their seal after years of regular employ.

If there'south 1 flaw, it's that the rubberized rim of the lids tends to absorb and retain the aromas of the jar'south content. I use the term "flaw" loosely, every bit this is something that will bear upon all two-piece lid designs that feature this condom seal. It'south the rubber itself that likes to concord onto odors, and this tin can be a acquit to get out.

White vinegar soaks help but don't completely eliminate lingering smells. This may or may not exist a problem for y'all depending on what you're using your jars for, only yous tin easily purchase new lids separately if it is. On the brighter side, the lids practice exactly what they need to exercise and are coated on the underside to prevent certain foods (especially acidic ones) from reacting with and tainting the jar's contents.

Pros: Fabricated in America, durable glass bodies, two-piece hat design seals tightly, heat- and freezer-condom, raised measurement markings on the side, and they're super cheap by the dozen

Cons: The rubber seals on the lids absorb and retain odors

The best smooth-sided Stonemason jars

Anker Hocking

Whether it's for presenting gifts, attaching custom sticker labels, arts and crafts projects, or only showing off your creations on a shelf, these smooth-sided Mason Jars from Anchor Hocking offer American quality.

Well-nigh Mason jars you'll see, including pretty much all of our top picks except for this one, have raised markings on the side. These aren't necessarily unattractive; in fact, they do impart a bit of traditional charm.

But if y'all're presenting your bootleg canned treats as gifts, or just want a jar without markings for aesthetic reasons, then smooth-sided Bricklayer jars like these from Anchor Hocking might be a more than suitable alternative to standard Brawl and Kerr jars. Shine-sided jars are also nifty if you lot similar to attach your ain sticker labels, as raised markings tin can leave cruddy bumps and air pockets or can even brand the labels fall off.

Most of the Mason jars I employ at home have markings (some are too the quilted-manner jelly jars), and I find that the raised markings and bumps go far tricky for even masking tape to stay stuck to the sides of the jars. The Anchor Hocking Mason jars also feature gold-toned lids instead of the usual silver and are also free of markings and branding, which looks a chip nicer and more than gift-friendly.

Other than the smoothen-sided design and attractive gold lids, the Anchor Hocking Mason jars offer everything else you could want: They're fabricated in the U.S., the glass is thick and sturdy, and the lids seal down well, although some buyers report that the jars don't provide an closed seal equally reliably equally Ball jars.

Pros: Fabricated in America, durable glass bodies, smooth-sided jars with no raised markings or branding, bonny aureate-tone lids

Cons: The lids are non as reliably closed as those of Ball and Kerr Mason jars

The all-time wide-oral fissure Bricklayer jars

Kerr

For juices, soups, sauces, and other liquid contents, large wide-oral cavity jars like these Kerr Bricklayer jars are only the ticket for make clean and like shooting fish in a barrel pouring.

Every bit we've stated, Mason jars accept a ton of uses, from canning bootleg goods like jams and jellies to storing wet and dry cooking ingredients. Owing to their closed lid blueprint and heat-resistant glass construction, Stonemason jars are also keen for holding liquids similar homemade soups, sauces, and juices.

Standard Mason jars might be a chip modest for this endeavor, however. At the very least, the somewhat narrow mouths of most jars can make pouring liquids unnecessarily messy and difficult. In this case, what you demand are Mason jars with wide mouths similar these ones from Kerr, which feature a larger opening that makes it easier to add and remove wet or larger contents (while likewise making the jars easier to clean by hand).

If the Kerr jars and their packaging looks eerily similar to that of Ball jars, it's because they're basically the aforementioned: Both Ball and Kerr brands are at present endemic and manufactured by the parent company Jarden. That means that the Kerr Mason jars avowal all of the tough American-fabricated quality of their Brawl counterparts, so you tin can buy with confidence.

Like other Ball and Kerr jars, these are also condom for heating and freezing and are bachelor in various sizes to suit your need.

Pros: Fabricated in America, solid construction quality with tightly-sealing lids, wide mouths arrive easier to pour liquid contents cleanly, replacement lids are readily available, and they're heat- and freezer-safe

Cons: The larger ones are slightly more expensive than their normal-mouth counterparts

The best bond-top Mason jars

Bormioli

If you lot don't need jars specifically for canning and y'all'd rather not deal with two-piece lids that tin go lost or worn out, so the bail meridian design of the Italian-fabricated Bormioli Rocco Fido jars are a keen addition to any kitchen.

Traditional Mason jars with spiral-pinnacle lids are swell for canning and storage, but not so user-friendly for providing quick access to daily-use items that yous want to grab quickly. For that, you lot might want to consider something with a captive-lid "bond pinnacle" design like the European-made Fido jars from Italian maker Bormioli Rocco, which feature a handy closure that can exist opened and closed in seconds with one manus — while still offering an airtight seal that'll keep contents fresh.

Purists may assert that these technically aren't "Mason jars," equally they eschew the traditional two-piece lid for a captive hinged closure that seals with a rubber gasket. Admittedly, they're not wrong, simply we've decided to include these anyway as the Bormioli Rocco Fido jars serve much the aforementioned purpose as airtight containers for your goodies with a lid design that many will find more convenient.

The rubber gaskets seal very well, the lids are weighty and sturdy (as are the drinking glass bodies), and the metal bails are solid and easy to open and close. If there's ane drawback to the bond top hat design, though, it's that the jars tin't really be used for traditional canning that involves humid the jars with their contents inside. You'll need standard Stonemason jars for that.

For pretty much every other kitchen utilize, however, the Bormioli Rocco Fido jars are corking, and the flip-open lid makes these especially suitable for keeping things like candies, nuts, and other treats within piece of cake reach on a tabular array or counter.

They're available in a ton of different sizes, too (marked in metric since they're European), including ones considerably larger than virtually American Mason jars. They're a bit more expensive due to their blueprint, but not unreasonably then for Italian-made glass jars that can terminal a lifetime.

Pros: Made in Italia, robust glass structure, the bail superlative design is user-friendly and the rubber gaskets provide an airtight seal, bachelor in a ton of larger sizes, and they look great

Cons: They're not virtually as cheap as standard Stonemason jars, and the bail peak design prevents these from existence boiled for canning

The best with handles

Libbey

The Libbey County Off-white Mason jar mugs take all of the rustic charm of Stonemason jars along with a sturdy handle for safe and comfortable drinking.

The blueprint of Mason jars hasn't changed much (if at all) since the 19th century, but their continued popularity has led makers and users akin to adapt these handy containers for a myriad of different uses. Perhaps the most popular amidst these innovations are Mason jars that feature added handles, converting them into safe and convenient drinking glasses.

And why non? Mason jars are made of glass, accept wide openings and they simply wait great. The County Fair handled mugs from Libbey have all of the classic charm of Mason jars, just with a simple, sturdy glass handle attached to the side. On the front end, a raised pattern depicts a rooster motif forth with lettering that reads "Canton Fair Drinking Jar," a nice departure from the standard raised branding you unremarkably see.

Like near Libbey glassware, the County Fair Mason jar mugs are fabricated in the United states. They're very well made and, being glass, are safe to drinkable from (no BPAs or other chemical components that tin leech into your drinks like with plastic containers). They're as well generously sized at 16 ounces, although they don't come with whatever lids.

Thankfully, notwithstanding, standard Brawl or Kerr Bricklayer jar lids do work with these if y'all'd similar to steal your jar upwardly to take your drink with you or go on it fresh in the refrigerator.

Pros: Made in America of durable drinking glass, a thick and sturdy handle for safely and comfortably drinking from the jar, a nice country-style raised design that sets them apart from other Mason jars, and standard Mason jar lids can fit onto the threaded opening

Cons: They're more expensive than standard Mason jars, and lids must be purchased separately

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