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Last Updated on January 18, 2021 by cmoarz
The question pops up once and a while, Can you you put mason jars in the freezer? Well I’m here to tell you yes! Yes you can! But you have to do it properly or else you will end up with a freezer full of sharp glass shards and your hard earned food ruined.
So it’s finally harvest season, or if you an advent gardener, It’s been harvest season for many months.. over and over again depending on what you are growing! But whats this? You have an over abundance of stock pile that’s going to go bad soon if you don’t use it? Fear not, That’s what canning is for. But what if you want to make something that can’t store at room temperature, and needs to be frozen?
Well, that happens a lot actually. Mostly with soups, stock and various types of meat sauces. While it is possible to get most of these things shelf stable, It’s not always something you are going to want to put in the effort to do. So the next best thing, seal it up in mason jars and shove it in the freezer, right?
*Boom*
know what that is? that’s the sound of a mason jar exploding in your fridge, destroying it’s valuable content’s with tiny shards of glass. (Or maybe not so tiny if your lucky enough to have it just crack!), but I digress.
Well shit that sucks
Don’t worry! If you’re reading this article, than the next time you try to freeze a mason jar it won’t end in such a terrible and catastrophic manner.
Click here to skip down to the instructions, Or else feel free to continue reading.
Alright, Why jar’s tho? What about baggies? Surly a vacuum pumped bag should be just fine right? Sure. If you’ve spent the hundreds and hundreads of dollaroonies on a chambered vacuum pump which you will need to seal liquids. Most have not though.
Of course their’s always the poor mans sandwich baggy method, where you fill it up as much as you can, and try to manually squeeze out as much air as possible and lay it flat. This method works in a pinch but, Does it really? Long term it’s a terrible method. The baggy will get ripped and torn. It may develop holes from other foods and boxed goodies in the freezer smacking on top of it. Once that happens it’s freezer burn hell.
But for long term storage, A mason jar is definitely the way to go, but as you’ve found out, they can explode if you aren’t careful with your packaging and prep. It’s actually really easy to prevent, So finally let’s get into that.
How do you keep Mason jars from breaking in the freezer?
First thing’s first, make sure the mason jars you’re actually using are the correct versions to go into the freezer. They should have straight sides and not curved at the top or bottom.
What’s wrong with other types of jars? Simply put their’s not enough room for expansion. When liquid freezes it expands, everyone knows that right? Well, if it has no where to go, *boom*, but you know that already. Why are you here again
Anyway – theirs a little fill to line on mason jars, That’s where you want to keep your liquids at. If your using a none straight mason jar you will need to fill it a solid inch lower than that line, Which as you can imagine is a terrible waste of space. May as well go back to the bag method!
That’s really all their is too it for freeze Mason Jars honestly, Have the right jars and don’t overfill past the line. Bonus, Many jars will tell you if they freeze well or not on the box.
Packing mason jars safely so they don’t break in the freezer
Mason jars are glass. Glass go boom for all sorts of various classically funny reasons, Including this crazy fun to play with thing called thermal shock!
Yes, That’s why we boil glass slowly, why measuring cups have blown up on the counter after being microwaved and glass pans need to cool down on their own not in the sink.
When glass has a rapid temperature swing only parts of the glass cool down before others, which causes stretching which causes boom boom. Fun to play with, terrifying when you aren’t expecting it. So uhm, expect it, i guess?
Or you could just thaw your jars in the fridge slowly, never run them under water or sit in water, at least not until they are not so cold.
But that’s not all..
If you don’t have a special spot in your freezer so jars wont get banged around and shit you should pack them in bubble wrap or a jar storage box witch is already pre-subdivided with dividers to keep jars steady.
What’s the point of going threw all this crap and your jar breaks anyway because last years spaghetti sauce decided to dance around a bit. Boo
What about ball mason jars specifically?
Same rules as Masons’ jars. Don’t overfill, try to get as straight as possible.
This is stupid, why is this so stupid?
You’re a plastic jar man aint yeah’? Luckily for you plastic jars freeze just as well if not slightly better because no boom. Unless you overfill it. Than b00m.
How long does glass last in freezer?
Forever dummy. Glass takes 1 million years to break down, even longer in cold temperatures. The real question is how long can i leave a mason jar in the freezer before i foolishly break it or just throw out the rancid old food that was once a tomato paste I think.
Just kidding of course, I know what you meant. Soups, sauces etc go bad after about 3 months of being frozen. And i use bad lightly as it never really “goes bad”, it just degrades in texture and flavor. Especially if your jar was sealed correctly.
Do you recommend any jars specifically?
I mean, Like I said most jars will do. If you really want a recommendation I suggest Verones from amazon. Low price, durable as hell and straight-sided. They are also advertised as freezer safe so you got some buyers protection if you screw up!
Can’t read? Blind? Lazy? Watch a video on the subject made by FillmoreContainer on youtube instead!
All credit for video goes to FillmoreContainer
Check out our other articles:
How to can fish and store fresh fish
Can you reprocess jars that don’t seal?
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