The 10 Best Canning Jars
This wiki has been updated 20 times since it was first published in August of 2015. Ensure you have fresh fruits and vegetables on hand even when they are out of season with a set of these Mason jars. Perfect for canning preserves, jams, chutneys, pickles, and more, they give you a convenient way to store just about anything you can think of. We've added choices that are safe for pressure canning as well as those that are not, so pay attention to the intended use of each. When users buy our independently chosen editorial picks, we may earn commissions to help fund the Wiki.
1. Ball Golden Harvest
2. Kerr Pint
3. Weck Tulip
Editor's Notes
March 09, 2021:
We removed the Le Parfait Super due to a dangerous issue where the lid cracked too easily, adding glass shards to the contents of the jar. The Luigi Bormioli Lock Eat was also removed. Its high price point and the fact that it used an included glass lid rather than a metal one made it less practical than other options.
New to the list, the Anchor Hocking Home is a durable option that comes in three sizes. While the lid should be washed by hand, the jar itself is dishwasher-safe, which makes for easy cleanup.
We also added the Ball Vintage. Collectors, or those who are interested in history, will appreciate this piece. It was designed as an homage to the "Perfection" line of jars that were produced in the early 1900s. The green color may not be ideal for all situations, but it can also add a welcome splash of color to your kitchen.
While the Pakkon 1-Gallon shouldn't be used for traditional canning, we decided to keep them on the list, as their larger size makes them useful for other types of food preservation, like pickling and fermenting.
August 13, 2019:
Because canning jars are often employed for a huge range of purposes, from meal prep to making scented candles, we have decided to keep models that can be used in pressure canners as well as those that cannot. Jars and lids that are appropriate for safe canning vary according to the type of food being preserved, too, so users are encouraged to follow all manufacturer guidelines. With that said, we still like options from Ball, Weck, and Kerr as top choices. These are the canning jars that home cooks have relied on for years thanks to their reliability, ease of use, and relatively low price. But we added a few “luxury” choices, too, including the Luigi Bormioli Lock Eat and Le Parfait Super. These offer sophisticated styling that ensures they're just as good for decorative storage as for canning. As for simpler choices, we added the North Mountain Supply 16 Ounce and kept the Leifheit 3178. You can affix your own labels to these because they are not embossed, but that also means they’re very plain until you jazz them up.
4. Ball Quilted Crystal
5. North Mountain Supply 32 Ounce
6. Ball Vintage
7. Anchor Hocking Home
8. Bormioli Rocco Quattro Stagioni
9. Pakkon 1-Gallon
10. Leifheit Straight
Sheila is a writer and editor living in sunny Southern California. She studied writing and film at State University of New York at Purchase, where she earned her bachelor of arts degree. After graduating, she worked as an assistant video editor at a small film company, then spent a few years doing freelance work, both as a writer and a video editor. During that time, she wrote screenplays and articles, and edited everything from short films to infomercials. An ardent lover of the English language, she can often be found listening to podcasts about etymology and correcting her friends’ grammar.