

I use a lot of jars in my house. I’m not one for formal canning or anything like that, but a good jar can do so many things in the kitchen. I use jars for storing pantry ingredients, as a vessel for making homemade mayonnaise, for keeping leftovers in the fridge, and a million other little things.
For a long time I defaulted to the classic heavy hitter — mason jars. I probably would have happily continued to use them forever, except that one day I found myself at the back of a local shop where they had a table full of discounted glassware, including the jars that would ruin all other jars for me forever: Weck jars.
What Are Weck Jars?
Weck jars are wide-mouthed glass jars that come in all shapes and sizes (their tagline is “jars for everything”). Instead of screw tops, they have thick glass lids that sit on top of the jars and clip into place, with optional rubber gaskets (for use when canning or when you want to make a more robust seal). You can also purchase different styles of lids made from cork, wood, or BPA-free plastic.

What’s So Great About Weck Jars
Weck jars can do everything a mason jar can do, only with more style. First of all, they’re gorgeous. You could not ask for a smarter-looking utilitarian kitchen item. It’s just a jar, but it’s also the nicest jar you’ve ever seen.
Perhaps more importantly, they all have wide mouths, which makes everything easier. I use them to pickle things, steep things, store things (I love to put a homemade sauce in a shallow Weck jar), and as a vase for fresh flowers and herb bouquets. I also vastly prefer their style of lids to the classic metal lids of mason jars, which wind up rusting over time no matter how diligent I am about keeping them dry.
The sheer variety of shapes and sizes makes my head spin in the best way. There truly is a jar for every task. I own about a dozen, and am endlessly mad that I don’t have more. I should break all my mason jars so I can replace them with Wecks.
How to Use Weck Jars
As mentioned above, I use them for everything, but I get a ton of mileage out of these tasks and shapes.
- Cylindrical jars for quick pickles. The wide mouth makes getting vegetables in and out of the jar easy; the same goes for pouring in hot pickling liquid.
- Large tulip jars for infusing liquids. I use tulip jars any time I want to infuse a liquid with flavor, like adding spicy chiles to olive oil or making a batch of chamomile wine. Again, the helpfulness of the wide mouth for these tasks cannot be overstated. There’s nothing more annoying than trying to transfer liquid from one vessel to another and being hamstrung by a narrow opening. These jars also make great vases.
- Wee shallow jars for sauces. I love a homemade sauce, and this is the perfect size and shape for scraping the leftovers into (and out of).
- Juice jars for iced tea and coffee. I don’t make much juice, but they’d be great for that too.