Stupid Question? Cleaning Mason Jars Before Using?
 

Calll me wishful-lazy, and hoping I can save myself some effort! :biggrin:

Usually, when I buy a pot or pan or dinnerware-etc, I ALWAYS wash the item in hot water and soap before I actually use it... to eliminate residual machine oils... and stuff like that.

Here's my conundrum: I've got a BUNCH of BRAND NEW mason jars, and POUNDS of flour and sugar (still in their paper bags).

I'm wondering (hoping) I can just transfer my sugar and flour into the jars without the "preliminary" cleaning I usually do.

Anyone know if this is ok: or plain stupid?

I will REALLY APPRECIATE any knowledgeable feedback on this question.

THANKEE, THANKEE!!! :36_1_32v:

Re: Stupid Question? Cleaning Mason Jars Before Using?
 

Yup, wash them. You'll sleep better.

Re: Stupid Question? Cleaning Mason Jars Before Using?
 

You need stuff as clean as you need it. And you need to boil the lids so the sealing ring will be soft.

Re: Stupid Question? Cleaning Mason Jars Before Using?
 

We always run ours thru the dishwasher. In the absence of one, I'd use the bleach/soap method too.....

Re: Stupid Question? Cleaning Mason Jars Before Using?
 

We never used soap on any of our jars. Soap is tough to remove and a small film can make your stomach sicker than heck. A modern automatic dishwasher might be fine at removing soap.

We always sterilized our jars by boiling them at least ten minutes before we started the canning process.

Re: Stupid Question? Cleaning Mason Jars Before Using?
 

clean away my good man, clean away. little bacterial critters play havoc with your work and potentially provide you with toxins, neither of which you need.

Re: Stupid Question? Cleaning Mason Jars Before Using?
 

New in the box the jars seem pretty clean -- all I've ever found on them was an occasional tiny droplet of oil on the outside. There is no media in the jars in which bacteria could long survive, so I wouldn't be worried about sneezing workers. During the canning process bacteria, if present, would be killed by the heat anyway. If using the jar for sealing dry-goods, there shouldn't be enough water for bacteria to do anything. By and large, I doubt that there is much hazard in using the jars unwashed ... but I usually wash mine anyway.

Re: Stupid Question? Cleaning Mason Jars Before Using?
 

I always boil a large pot of water and use this to sterilize my jars prior to using. I also use this same pot of water for the lids. Sometimes I even use it for the hot water that covers the meat inside the jars. The large pot of boiling water is all 'round purposeful.

Re: Stupid Question? Cleaning Mason Jars Before Using?
 

I always wash in hot tap water with plenty of bleach and a smiggen of soap

Re: Stupid Question? Cleaning Mason Jars Before Using?
 

I clean my new ones also just as a precaution. But have you ever noticed that they have a little vacuum to the lid when you remove it? They probably are assembled while still warm from a sterilization process.

Re: Stupid Question? Cleaning Mason Jars Before Using?
 

OK! OK! I get the message! :yes: :Surrender:

Seems the BIG opinion is that it, at the least, NEVER hurts to make sure the jars are clean!

So... I'm gonna boil them, and after they're air-dryed, going to do a splash of vodka in each and let THAT air dry (from reading I've learned the alcohol kills the germies by bursting their cell walls AS the alcohol evaporates... drenching them in alcohol and then wiping it immediately off doesn't hurt them).

Thanks all for the input... guess I needed some "moral encouragement" to go to the trouble... especially as the sugar and flour will be for extended storage (up to a year... or more?).

BTW, a local supermarket was selling 8 0z blocks of cheese last week (mild, sharp and extra sharp cheddar, and monterey jack w/ and w/-out jalapeno peppers) for just 88 CENTS a block... that's only $1.76 a POUND!!! (And the expiration date, if that means anything, was Feb 2010... five months away).

Can you guess who bought a 5 month supply (based on 2 pounds a week)??? :565:

I suppose you can call me a cheesy kind of guy! :signs1:

Re: Stupid Question? Cleaning Mason Jars Before Using?
 

They have a fishy smell so i rinse them with hot water and dry.

Re: Stupid Question? Cleaning Mason Jars Before Using?
 

I used to work in the Ball glass plant in Mundeline Il back in 1974.

If you ever get the opportunity to visit a glass plant, do!

The glass starts out as raw materials at the 'hot' end.

The furnace is interesting.
There's a huge kiln (as big as a 3 story house) shaped like a bathtub.
The 'tub' isn't 3 stories...probably 2 or 3 feet deep?

At the square end there are two jet nozzels - one midway on each side -
where natural gas emits.

The gas is turned on in one nozzle and shoots a flame over the glass pool.
It goes down to the round-end of the tub and around to the other nozzle
side and out a vent located on each side.

To conserve energy, there is a matrix of bricks behind the square end
in two huge cells - one cell per side. They are constructed by masons who
specialize in ovens. The heat passes through the lattice of brick. The brick
absorbs the heat. Every 15 minutes or so the jets reverse as big fans on
the outside push the heated air in the matrix back into the furnace.

At the round end there is a aperture hole where the molten glass travels
through. Water is used as a lube to keep it from sticking to the shutes
(think cement truck).

White-hot glass is directed to the mold machines on these half-pipes.
A knife device cuts the glass in predetermined lengths as it continues
to it's destination mold. I forget, but I think the smallest machine had
16 molds? 8 per side. They could have each machine making a unique
product. The molten glass drops into the mold machine where compressed
air forms the jar.

...An aside, the guys working the hot end were a unique bunch. Rough
and tough image...sweaty and dirty...

At this stage glass is brittle hard. If you tossed one it would explode
when it hit.

The jar then comes down a conveyor to the heat treatment oven.

I forget the temperature, but the oven goes from very hot to hot
'tempering' the glass. You don't want to touch it yet.

Continuing down the conveyor it goes past auto inspection stations -
if it senses a defect it uses a solenoid to push the glass off for recycling.
Glass has a reddish glow here.

There are human inspectors as well. They work in 15 min shifts. They
wear cotton gloves. Glass is hot.

The bulk of the jars get hand boxed and paletted automatically - they are
still pretty hot (you could hold one...tentatively...) - fork-lifted to the
warehouse (the 'cold' end) and shipped.

During the process before the palletizer, certain jars are culled out for
water treatment and QC. They'd dump a rack of them into cool water to
see if any break. They also did color and thickness tests.
College degrees and ties here.

I worked in maintenance and had the run of the facility. When the presses
were stopped for maintenance, the glass still flowed. They'd shut down the
aperture and keep the glass flowing into the basement. Hoppers would fill
up with long spears of brittle glass. These were always fun to toss at a fellow
employee. They'd pop and explode into a zillion pieces.

Re: Stupid Question? Cleaning Mason Jars Before Using?
 

I rinse mine in hot water, always. If I'm doing it by hand, I'll fill them most of the way full, give them a good shake, dump and repeat twice more. No soap. Turn them upside down on a towel, then dry with some paper towels. Then get the blow dryer and blow the insides dry. Lots of work. If I use the dishwasher, (have to go next door to mom's, mine is broke), I just use the rinse cycle, then heat dry setting. Thats a whole lot easer and you can do three cases at a time.

Re: Stupid Question? Cleaning Mason Jars Before Using?
 

Am I the only one who:cry1: @ that?