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A jar is a rigid, cylindrical or slightly conical container, typically made of glass, ceramic, or plastic, with a wide mouth or opening that can be closed with a lid, screw cap, lug cap, cork stopper, roll-on cap, crimp-on cap, press-on cap, plastic shrink, heat sealed lidding film, an inner seal, a Tamper-evident band, or other suitable means.
Etymology
The English word "jar" originates from the Arabic word jarra, which means an earthen pot or vessel.[1][2]
Creation
Jars are sterilised by putting them in a pressure cooker with boiling water or an oven for a number of minutes. Glass jars are considered microwavable.[3]
Utility
Jars can be used to hold solids too large to be removed from, or liquids too viscous to be poured through, a bottle's neck; these may be foods, cosmetics, medications, or chemicals.[4] Glass jars--among which the most popular is the mason jar--can be used for storing and preserving items as diverse as jam, pickled gherkin, other pickles, marmalade, sun-dried tomatoes, olives, jalapeño peppers, chutneys, pickled eggs, honey, and many others.
Types
- Bell jar - typically used in scientific laboratories to produce a vacuum; also used in Victorian times for display purposes
- Cookie jar - typically ceramic or glass, common in the United States, Canada, and United Kingdom
- Killing jar - used to kill captured insects
- Leyden jar - a historical electrical capacitor
- Specimen jar - an instrument used in anatomy to preserve specimens
- Apothecary jar - historically for storage of medicines; made of ceramics or more typically in modern centuries, clear glass. Typically cylindrical or with rotationally symmetric decorative curves, sometimes with a glass disc foot separated from the main body. Modern glass versions are also used for artistic display of the contents.
Modern glass food storage jars come in a variety of shapes, all of which have a circular opening on top for screwing on a lid:[5]
- Economy round or wide mouth jars - tall but rotund cylinder slightly rounded at the top and bottom, relatively wide with a wide mouth, commonly used for sauces like a mayonnaise
- Paragon jars - tall and narrow cylinder, commonly used for pickled foods like olives
- French square or Victorian jars - roughly a small cube
- Spice jars - small cylinder or rectangular cuboid
- Hexagon or hex jars - regular hexagonal prism
- Mason jars - moderately tall cylinder typically used in home canning, sealed with a metal lid
- Kilner jar - similar to a Mason jar but sealed with rubber
- Straight-sided jars - cylinders with no neck. Squat straight-sided jars are suitable for creams which can be scooped out.
Ancient ceramic types include:
- Amphora - large, but typically holding under 50 L
- Pithos - very large, typically the size of a person and holding hundreds of liters
Similar containers
Bottles are similar to jars, but are used for storing liquids, and thus have a water-tight seal; they are typically narrow-necked and portable.
Gallery
Preserved food in Mason jars
Reusable jam jar with flip-top or bail closure
Jar made of PLA-blend bio-flex, a bioplastic
Candy jar
Peanut butter
Six types of "earthenware jar" in Spain
Brown-glazed jar with design of three fish. Yuan Dynasty.
PP jar of skin cream with pump dispenser
Recycling
Some regions[In what country?] have a legally mandated deposit refundable upon return of the jar to its retailer, after which the jar is recycled according to the SPI recycling code for the material.[6]
See also
- Canning
- Child-resistant packaging
- Jar opener
- Tamper-evident
- Tamper resistant
- The asterism Water Jar in the constellation Aquarius
References
- ^ J. A. Abu-Haidar. Hispano-Arabic Literature and the Early Provencal Lyrics. Routledge. p. 228.
- ^ James E Glevin. The Modern Middle East: A History. Oxford University Press. p. 21.
- ^ Ahvenainen; Heiniö, R.-L. (1993). "Factors affecting the suitability of glass jars for heating in microwave ovens. Comparison with plastic jars and paper board tubs". Packaging Technology and Science. 6 (1): 43-52. doi:10.1002/pts.2770060108.
- ^ Yam, K. L., "Encyclopedia of Packaging Technology", John Wiley & Sons, 2009, ISBN 978-0-470-08704-6
- ^ Types of Packaging - Glass Bottles and Jars
- ^ Soroka, W, "Fundamentals of Packaging Technology", IoPP, 2002, ISBN 1-930268-25-4
External links
Media related to Jars at Wikimedia Commons- . Encyclopædia Britannica. 15 (11th ed.). 1911.
This article uses material from the Wikipedia page available here. It is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.