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Stacking filled jars


Homemaker

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I'm planning to build a shelf to hold my canned goods. I would like to be able to stack several cases of jars together. Is there any danger to the seals from the weight? If I slid in cardboard between the stacks would that help?

Let me know what you do for stacking or if you think I shouldn't.

I would like to be able to stack them so I won't have to build as many shelves into this unit I'm making.That lumber is expensive!

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I'm all for keeping things singly stacked for the main reason that if a lid does head south you can 1. HEAR it, 2. SEE it and 3. CLEAN it easily.

 

If you stack jar upon jar, say three or even five or six pints deep, by two or three high, you can't really see what is going on. I just found a 'bad' jar this weekend that due to stacking had somehow spoiled.

 

What I've done to save shelf space is to use those heavy cardboard trays from Costco. I've noticed that anywhere from 18 - 24 pints fit nicely within the cardboard. I let the box take the pressure, no the jars. I will stack 2 of these on top of each other, again making sure the taller jars are in taller boxes.

 

This way, the seals are in NO WAY compromised. Believe me, cleaning up popped jars and spoiled rotted food is not only dangerous but also really really smelly and can make you terribly sick.

 

If you look on my shelves here, I do have some wide mouth pints stacked. They are VERY stable but DH wasn't thrilled about it. These are the ONLY jars I've stacked.

 

Hope this helps.

Canning Pantry 3.gif

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Those shelves packed full are a pretty sight. Wish I had that kind of room, with the protective strip in front of the jars.

 

The only jar I have found this year that failed in the seal was one that was not double stacked. I have had very few unseal over all these years. If you have the room to not stack that is best I feel sure.

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I have a lofty goal of building up a one year food supply. I want to have one quart jar filled with a high protein meal for each day of the week for my family to share. Each day of the week would have a different item... chili, stew, bean soup, etc.

That comes down to 52 quarts of chili, 52 quarts of stew, 52 quarts of bean soup....

That's a lot of jars!! How could I do it without stacking???

That's not even counting the canned vegies, applesauce, jams, stored beans and grains, sugar, seasonings...

What am I getting myself into?

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I looked for pictures of stacked jars to see if I just didn't remember them being stacked. I found very few. The only thing I can recall ever stacking is jam and jelly, and dehydrated foods stored in canning jars.

This page has pictures similar to those of my mother and grandmother's pantries.

http://www.livingoffgrid.org/an-ode-to-preserving/

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You could put them inside milk crates to hold the weight, or on top of your cases of evaporated milk. They fit very nicely on bookshelves or in closets. You can use shelves of open metal grid. (Narrow and very inexpensive at the hardware store.)

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Try putting 'pantry' in over at google images, there are tons of pages of pictures - tall and skinny, short and wide, oddly shaped to fit in an unused corner, free standing and built in...

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Leah, thanks for telling me about google images. I didn't know they had it. What awesome pantries.

You're right, none of the pictures showed cases of filled jars stacked up.

I tried calling the ball company but their help line was busy for 15 minutes and they kept hanging up on me.

If you can't ask the experts, who can you ask??

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Homemaker,

 

BECAUSE of not being able to talk to the 'experts' I ended up taking a canning class and hooking up here. smile Local resources are sometimes better than those across the nation.

 

I too had a huge issue (beans were spoiling left and right!) and when I called to speak to the Ball Ladies (Now Jarden Home Brands) I was never demeaned so much or made to feel so stupid. I vowed to never call them again and become my own best advocate.

 

Between the ladies I met in the canning group via the Extension Service and the experts on here (one of which was ironically involved in my Ex. Serv. group!) I really have brought up my skills and learning.

 

So, ask away. SOMEONE here is bound to know WHY or HOW or something to answer your question. Certainly beats waiting on hold during peak minutes and having a long distance bill.

 

 

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It's not really a safety issue as it is common sense and follows the same guidelines as stacking jars inside a canner. They feel that any weight/pressure applied directly to the individual flat could potentially cause the seal to release over time and that it is better to have some kind of platform between layers to distribute the weight.

 

It doesn't seem to be an issue that has occurred much and is just something everyone should be aware of and make their own decision.

 

 

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Homemaker,

 

Here are some photos of how I've stacked things in my basement pantry.

 

The wooden shelves holding the wide mouth pints can hold 4.5 dozen wide mouth pints EACH. I stack the dozens in their cases to prevent slipping. A few odd ones can fit in front.

 

These black trays were recycled from DH's deejay days. These trays USED to have balsa wood partitions in them which held - get this - 50 cassettes and their cases. He ripped the balsa inserts out and made me shelves. Wasn't that sweet?! dance

 

The other photo is what I was speaking of when I put the jars into the Costco boxes. At least this way they're stacked securely and not tipping over each time you sneeze. I need to add some sort of labels...

Canning Pantry 7.gif

Canning Pantry 4.gif

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Thanks for letting me peek into your pantry. Looks like you picked the right screen name.

I've decided to go ahead and build my shelf unit to hold cases of jars stacked two high. The ones I have sitting around haven't had any problems yet, though, they are only about four months old.

If I have a problem, I will have learned a very messy lesson and I will report back to everyone here to warn them.

Thanks everybody for your input.

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I agree with what's said here. I will stack two, or ocasaionlaly three high, WITH cardboard between them (gnerally just the boxes jars came in as I've only been doing this three months this time around and mostly use new jars). The only place I have jars stacked directly on top of each other is in a shelf i have in kitchen that just has a sampling of most of my jars for immediate consumption. Pantry is in basement, so not always convenient, so I keep 3(regular mouth) or 6 (wide mouth, stacked) jars of stuff I eat most up in kitchen. Obviously, shelf is about 3 jars deep. smile

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  • 2 weeks later...

darlene is of course lying! she has had her cases stacked a lot higher then 6 or 7!

 

opens closet.... stacked as high as the coat rack will allow!, goes outside to her pool area and finds cases stacked 8 deep, 12 wide and way taller then I am!

 

6-7 indeed!

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crazy4cannin...

 

if you notice her photo, she has a bar that goes across the shelf to keep them from falling off during an earthquake! shame on you double stacking without another bar across them! why if an earthquake hit, you would loose the jars not to mention the food wasted!f bad C4C!

 

ROFL!!!

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Westie, being near the New Madrid fault, earthquakes and my canning jars are a concern, and I don't even have 1 bar across.

 

I had the jars up high, then thought maybe they should be on the lower shelves with store cans above. Then realized the cans would fall on the jars and break them anyway. ???

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