DIY Plastic Freezer Jar Lid for Mason Jars

My refrigerator is a frost free freezer which are notorious for freezer burning the food inside them.

No matter how I package it, after a few weeks or a month if I'm lucky I end up with some kind of freezer burn on my frozen food. 

Except when I use a mason jar to freeze homemade crockpot stock. Since there is little to no extra air in the mason jar, it doesn't get freezer burn like it did when I froze stock in zipper bags.

My budget and the environment give me a nice little hat tip for replacing a disposable with a reusable too. High fives all around!

You can't reuse mason jar lids to can new food but you can reuse a mason jar lids in the freezer or for dry goods in the pantry.

Unfortunately, I don't have as many used lids as I do empty jars. One of my circle is very nice about returning my empty jelly mason jars and rings (my unofficial policy is I give refills) but tosses the lid no matter how many times I ask her to return the lid so I can use it in the freezer. I've given up asking.

 I was about to order BPA free plastic mason jar storage caps from Amazon when I realized I already had a homemade mason jar storage cap in my hand and on its way to the recycling bin.

   

Disclosure: Lacey earned a cheese treat for sitting politely while I tried 

to take this depth of field shot around her. 

In other words, her plan to scam treats from me worked!

 The lid of a 16 oz jar of peanut butter fits onto a regular mouth mason jar.

We go through TONS of natural peanut butter since I can't find it in a larger jar. Other brands of peanut butter work too. I tested it using the lid from an empty 16 oz jar of Lacey's peanut butter, which is the not so natural kind. Yep, my dog gets her own jar of peanut butter because she likes to double dip.

Well that and natural peanut butter but it too runny and drips out of her Kong toys.

Do you like my fancy freezer jar label?

 I cut it from the back of a junk mail envelope. Fancy!

Mason jelly jars hold a cup of stock and still leave plenty of room in the jar for the frozen liquid to expand in the jar without breaking.

I've used regular pint jars in the freezer and haven't had one break yet. I usually fill the jar to the B in Ball to give the liquid plenty of room to expend. I fill the extra head space with a wad of freezer paper after it freezes to reduce the chance of the extra head room creating freezer burn and ruining my stock.

I also use DIY mason jar lids on jars I use to store dry goods in my pantry. What do you use?

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