Ball Canning Is Releasing New Green Heritage Collection Jars This Spring

With the drabby, cold, and gray winter we’ve been having in East Central Indiana, I’m sure many of you are ready for some sun, warmth, and a bit of fresh new color that spring can bring! If you follow Ball Canning & Recipes on Facebook or Twitter, you may have seen that they are getting ready for Spring with some new green jars and colorful lids and seals.

These colors are beautiful and make me lust for spring even more. With their popularity, however, I thought it may be a good idea to discuss some of the risk involved in using them for canning.

Potential Canning Risks

These colorful canning jars work just the same as clear glass jars. They seal the same and can be used safely. However, the risk is that you can’t see the color of the food that you’ve preserved very clearly. The color of preserved foods is one of the ways that you can tell if the food in the jar is still in good quality or not. If a food has become discolored in the jar, even if the seal is still good, then the food has probably been compromised.

I like to be able to tell if the food has been comprised when it is on the shelf, without having to open it. So, I choose to only can foods in clear glass jars, which are cheaper anyway. Also, I love to be able to look at my shelves of canned food and see the natural beauty of the colors in the foods that I’ve preserved. What is more beautiful than jars of pickles, tomatoes, and carrots sitting next to one another on a shelf? Nature’s colors are lovely enough.

The colorful jar lids are different things altogether! I’ve yet to use them—as they only came out recently)—but they are supposed to work just the same as the regular lids. I think having a different color on the lid is a great way to possibly jazz up your preserved foods.

Other Uses For Colored Jars

You may be asking: “Why did I start this blog by telling you how excited I was about the new colors if I won’t ever use them to can?” Well, just because I won’t use them for canning doesn’t mean that I don’t think they have a use. One of the great things about Ball jars has been the array of colors that have been available in the past. I love the old blues, greens, amethyst, and amber colored jars. As a matter of fact, my fiancé and I have started our own collection, a little bit at a time. So, I think coming out with new colors that mimic the old colors is super fun.

Even though I choose not to can in the jars, I still use them for many other things. I like to use the colorful jars for certain crafts—both at work and at home. The colorful jars make for beautiful vases to hold flowers as well. I’m using a bunch of the old blue jars as vases at my wedding reception! I’m really excited about that—something old and something blue anyone? I will be using these jars for multiple projects, I’m sure. I just won’t be using them for canning.

Let me know what your favorite projects have been for the lovely colored canning jars. Do you use them to can? Send me a message. I’d love to hear from you. And as always: Happy Canning!

Think before you can in color!

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