When the COVID-19 pandemic first began in the U.S., specific trends emerged in baking and cooking as people spent a lot more time at home. You might recall seeing lots of posts about sourdough bread, Dalgona coffee (or whipped coffee), and banana bread, but now there’s a new trend: canning.
CNN reports there’s already a shortage of mason jars, with the owner of Mason Jar Merchant reporting a spike in sales that began in August that hasn’t stopped. Canning is, of course, a way to keep food fresh long after preparing, and that’s precisely why canning is gaining popularity now.
Experts say all the gardening people could’ve spurred the surge in canning this spring and summer, which can lead to an influx of fresh foods, and then to canning. Right now, there’s a particular shortage of double-ring mason jar lids, and author of the blog Food in Jars Marisa McClellan cautions that you shouldn’t reuse the double lids to your mason jars to conserve them as that can put you at risk of botulism.