How to Give Your Mason Jars a Pourable Spout

You may not think about it all that often, but that cardboard salt container in your kitchen (the one with the handy metal spout) is pretty useful. Not only does it allow you to more easily pour out all that fine salt (without using a spoon, which can introduce unwanted moisture), it can also be put to use even after it is empty — by repurposing it into a Mason Jar lid. Not only does this give added life to something that would otherwise be thrown away, it’s also a way to enjoy the same ease of pouring for other ingredients, such as seasonings, spices, or cornmeal.

How to make a Mason jar dispenser

Making a Mason jar dispenser using an empty salt container is pretty easy. In addition to your empty salt container, you’ll need a Mason jar and either a pair of scissors or an X-Acto knife. To start, remove the top of the salt container, which you’ll cut to fit the Mason jar ring. I chose to use scissors, as I’ve seen way too many X-Acto knife injuries over the years. (This is what happens when you have an architect brother; all-nighters and cutting balsa wood with an X-Acto knife are NOT a good combination. But you do you.)

If you have the wide band lid, the salt container lid is almost an exact fit, and all you’ll need to do is trim the edges a little. If all you have are the small band lids, it helps to draw an outline of the lid so you can cut the salt lid to size. It’s important to make sure it’s a good fit, one that covers the entire ring — otherwise your ingredients will leak when you try to pour them out, thus defeating the purpose.

When I made my own Mason jar dispenser, I used it for the raw sugar I buy in bulk at Costco. Buying turbinado sugar in that quantity is significantly cheaper than buying the smaller box that has a metal spout, but not nearly as convenient. In the past, I’ve tried pouring the bulk sugar into one of the empty boxes, but there was never a good way to open and close the lid. Instead, I had to tape the lid down again, which was a pain, and also made it hard to re-use the box multiple times.

As it turns out, repurposing an old salt container was the perfect solution to my sugar woes — but you can use it for any spice or seasoning you’d like to pour in small quantities.