Can I freeze soup in mason jars?

[miss_thenorth]

Well maybe that explains it. I've lost several jars of chicken stock. It could be my fault but they seem to tend most to break when I'm thawing them (and I just let them sit on the counter to thaw, or once I poured some warm -- not hot -- water over a partially-thawed jar sitting in the sink and it blew. These were all regular canning jars, not wide-mouth. But it's a big disappointment to lose your food AND your jar. It's all precious to me!

I don't like using plastic either, but I switched back to Ziplocs after having several break so far. Usually it's ok, but not always.

Same. I don't like the plastic aspect, but I figure if I am just freezing already cooled food, and then reheat it in a pot, I should be ok. I don't put hot stuff in plastic, and I don't have a microwave.

 

[Up-the-Creek]

I freeze stuff in mason jars all the time and never had one blow or crack. Just don't fill them up all the way,..only fill about 2/3rds full. The problem is when the soup freezes it expands,..you have to give it room to expand or it will blow. I don't do plastic either in the freezer,...actually I just did put three quarts of black walnut kernels in my freezer in mason jars,.. I did fill them all the way up,..no expansion. I always use my mason jars that are no longer fit for canning,..the ones with chips in the rim.

 

[miss_thenorth]

Are you just freezing dry goods? When I froze in mason jars, I always left headspace--stil cracked. Expensive lesson. Plastic may be evil, but it is all i use in the freezer now.

 

[TanksHill]

Im my down stairs freezer I have bean soup, beef stew and something else in jars. In the up stairs freezer I store my nuts, bread crumbs and parmesan cheese. I even have a couple with mushed cushaw squash and one with bananas.

I do use the white plastic lids on everything. When I need bread crumbs or nuts I take the jar out and let it sit a bit before opening.

no problems yet. Knock on wood!!!

 

[Up-the-Creek]

Are you just freezing dry goods? When I froze in mason jars, I always left headspace--stil cracked. Expensive lesson. Plastic may be evil, but it is all i use in the freezer now.

Not only dry goods,..soup, spaghettie sauce, hotdog chili,..whatever,..anything liquid has to have room for expansion when freezing. Also you thaw slowly,...like in the fridge.

 

[Shiloh Acres]

I always left plenty of headspace too. Let it cool before I froze it. I don't have any plastic lids though ... Always use metal.

Maybe from not thawing in the fridge, but I NEVER heated a frozen jar. The closest I came was letting warmish water briefly run over a half-thawed jar.

The ones that thawed on the counter in winter are sometimes at near-fridge temps, LOL.

Except the one that had warm water touch it and instantly cracked, I don't really know why any of them cracked. I've had it happen probably 4 or 5 times. Once or twice in the freezer, the rest of the time while thawing (or else I didn't notice until then). That has been just in the past 6 or 8 months, since I started freezing stock and sauce in jars.

Now I have frozen chopped peppers, etc. In jars for a couple of years. Same regular canning jars, thawed (slightly) repeatedly to chop out bits of pepper. Heated more rapidly a few times. Treated pretty roughly in fact. I have never had one of those jars crack.

So maybe it has more to do with liquids?

I dunno, but I no longer freeze broth, stock, soup, or sauce in jars.

I hope I can afford a pressure canner this year.

 

[miss_thenorth]

mine never made it to the fridge. I always found them broken in the freezer.

 

[Calliopia]

I have frozen in regular mouth jars before. Some cracked until I learned to leave headspace not below the actual lip of the jar but starting at the neck. You need to be below the neck by an inch or so or it will crack. That's what I've found to be the pressure point. Still won't help with them smacking into each other but it should help with exploding. And let them defrost in the fridge or a cooler. Glass needs to change temp slowly.

 

[Up-the-Creek]

Are you using any old glass jar or regular canning jars??? I only use canning jars,..I would never use a regular glass jar,..like a pickle jar from store bought pickles. Canning jars are made to take extreme temps,...I have never had one to break and I have been doing it for over 15 years,..my mother also has always used canning jars to freeze things in,..again, none broke.

 

[TanksHill]

Miss?_theNorth is in Canada maybe her jars get extra cold. ehh???