For a big weekend project, it can be a necessary evil to destroy the kitchen with splatters, spills, and a mountain of dirty dishes. But in my daily life, I’m rather mess-averse. I don’t have a dishwasher in my apartment, and if a recipe is going to fill my sink up with multiple pots and bowls, it definitely makes me think twice before committing to a late night of scrubbing. Any trick that leads to fewer dishes to clean? I’m all over it.
By now, the trick I’m sharing today has saved me hours in dish-washing grief. Even more than most dishes, I hate dealing with a dirty blender… the huge, clunky pitcher and all the moving parts – just for one measly smoothie!
So, did you know that all standard blender bases are the same size as the opening of a regular (not wide-mouth) mason jar? To create your own “Magic Bullet” single-serve blender, all you have to do is unscrew your blender’s base/blades/gasket and screw them onto a simple canning jar. You can make small batches of blended foods right in the jar, and then use the same vessel for storage or consumption! I find that a pint sized jar is the most useful; just the right size for a bowl of hummus or salsa, and for smoothies I can drink it straight from the jar, or put on a canning lid and take it on the go!
In an effort to fight the worldwide epidemic of unnecessary blender-scrubbing, I made an amateur-hour attempt at creating this post’s pinnable images to let us visualize the possibilities. So if you found this helpful, please share!
I’ll admit, when perusing the blogs and reading about the next “amazing trick” for whatever kitchen task, I usually go into it expecting to have heard it before. I take after my lovely mom, who made sure I knew how to remove stray eggshells/keep biscuit dough cold/identify properly risen bread/etc. from an early age.Β I strangely pride myself on borderline obsessive knowledge of kitchen techniques, and even I had never heard of this trick until maybe a year ago! So I feel it’s my duty as a blogger who strives to make cooking accessible, toΒ shout this one from the rooftops… this tip is a winner!
For full disclosure, it’s important to note that the glass in mason jars does not adhere to the same safety standards as the strongly tempered glass in blender pitchers. I have a hard time imagining the thing blowing apart, but I suppose it’s possible, so take that into consideration (no suing me, ok?). If you’re concerned about safety, throwing a towel over top of the jar while blending would presumably contain any breakage.
Have you heard this tip before? Do you screw a mason jar onto your blender? What other foods should I be blending??
Blenders were originally designed with the same diameter as mason jars exactly for this purpose. You’d select which style blade you needed – to mix, blend, chop, liquefy etc., and then fix up your ingredients right in the jar in the process of home canning or what some now call ‘prepping’, as well as to store in the freezer. It would save you steps when it came time to cook, long before all the convenience packaged foods were available. I guess when home cooking from scratch started to go out of style in the 70’s the blender companies stopped including this use in their manuals.
You’re right, I’ve heard the same thing from several people now! I believe the manufacturers don’t talk about this technique anymore because they could be liable for accidents.