A market mystery: Why do capers come in such tiny jars? | Hacker News Reader

A market mystery: Why do capers come in such tiny jars?

cnn.com

26 pointsthunderbong40 comments

It's not a mystery at all afaics. They do spoil over time if not used, and you don't need that many of them because of their intense flavour so it makes sense to only have a small jar open at any given time so they don't spoil.

As for getting them out of a jar I really don't know what to say. It's a small jar so use a small spoon? That's what I do, and I presumed everyone else also did.

Your life must be pretty good if getting capers out of a jar is something you have time to trouble yourself thinking of optimising.

Here's something which could be a genuine market mystery (which I know the reason for but it's kind of a fun one to ponder if you don't): Why is the label on angostura bitters always too big for the bottle?

The mystery is why the glass is long and thin, not why it is small, if I understood it correctly. You could have a glass with the same volume where you can use a normal spoon.

This would also make it spoil faster, more surface area exposed each time the glass is opened.

I doubt the surface area matters. The volume of air and therefore oxygen you introduce every time you open the jar is the important factor. I would have thought that oxygen will dissolve in the liquid over a day or so even with a small surface area between the air and the liquid.

This feels like one of those things where you're saying something that is maybe technically correct, so you can feel smart, but has no bearing on reality.

A store near me sells capers in a short-and-fat glass jar (which even a large spoon can fit in easily).

I've been able to leave those in the fridge just fine for 6 months with no noticeable change in quality... just like the tall-and-narrow glass jars.

Based on my personal experience of these two jar shapes, any difference in spoilage-rate is imperceptible.

What are you basing your "spoil faster" on?

Pretty sure that is most simply explained by prominence on a supermarket shelf. Something short and stubby is hard to see so people don't buy it, which is true in general, not just for capers. That's why you only really see that form factor on things like free sample jars and one shot jam jars that go into airplane meals, hotel buffet breakfasts etc- things where the manufacturer isn't fighting for prominence with other brands.

That theory is also supported by the fact that big caper jars typically have the same aspect ratio as jars of other things (ie they aren't just a scaled up version of a small caper jar). At that size they have enough prominence on the shelf.

Last time I bought capers, even my standard-issue Ikea teaspoons were too wide to fit in the jar.

Now, my fancy tiny espresso-stirring spoons that are small enough, but on the other hand; those are _too small_ to actually eat anything with them conveniently.

That spoon has a tighter other end haha

American spoons vs European spoons :D

I know it’s a joke but isn’t ikea a Swedish company?

Angostura bitters label explanation: https://vinepair.com/articles/angostura-bitters-oversized-la...

Is it not common in America to have teaspoons in your drawer? You'd be hard pressed to find a household in the UK without them

The caper jars in question are too small for a normal teaspoon to fit into.

Me, I use a tiny little dessert fork. Also means you get only the capers and not the juice, which you don't want anyway.

life hack : use the other end of the spoon (or any other utensil, ideally one that has a slightly concave handle).

>No standard spoon can fit inside the narrow openings of the typical glass caper jar.

Use a fork which strains away the brine too so you don’t get a wet situation happening

This amuses me because I tend to use a fork even though I have spoons that can fit in my jars specifically to strain off the brine. I usually use capers to make salmon and cream cheese bagels, and I don't like drippy bagels.

Teaspoons are narrower than forks -- if a fork fits in, then so would a normal teaspoon.

Cake fork

The article reads a bit parochial, with scarce mentions of market dynamics. Capers are definitely an uncommon sight in the US.

In Italy you will occasionally spot this bad boy: https://www.amazon.it/Capperi-Sotto-Sale-secchiello-1Kg/dp/B...

Also: preserve your capers in vinegar and say goodbye to their flavor. All you get is tiny vinegar capsules.

CNN Business demonstrating "Mah spoon is too big" levels of journalism.

Sometimes, journalists can write about something silly. They don’t have to sacrifice every ounce joy in their hearts.

Haha, fine, guilty as charged :)

I think I was in a mood at the time, then I wondered where it was published and particularly surprised to see "CNN Business".

> All you get is tiny vinegar capsules.

Or to put it another way: you get tiny vinegar capsules!

One manufacturer at least has it figured out. These are what I’ve been getting in the US for a while now from places like Sprouts (Fresh Thyme), and Whole Foods. Even using a fork like others mention, it’s still just easier with this jar.

https://jeffsgardenfoods.com/our-products/other-specialties/...

I always buy them salt-packed in large jars. That said, most people use them so infrequently that a small jar lasts a long time.

I've only bought capers at my local warehouse store and naturally it comes in a very big jar, about 4 inches in diameter.

I suspect that's for regular olive-sized capers with the stem attached? The article is about peppercorn-sized baby capers, where you could fit thousands into a jar that big.

No. These capers are the size of black peppercorns, though I never count them, it’s a very large number of them, though they have not been in stock since the end of the quarantines during pandemic.

> Reddit threads on the subject tend to upvote the theory [...]

This reminds me reporter in TV news asking random people on the street.

Disheartening to see CNN has joined the list of publications that turn Reddit threads into what passes for "articles".

Capers are very common in my family's refrigerators, but still mostly used for a single dish (Königsberger Klopse). And the jars have been tiny for as long as I can remember. So it seems to be a universal design decision.

In Greece and Cyprus, capers come in medium, big and gargantuan jars. Really, you can find jars with 3.9Kg of capers!

Greeks/Cypriots usually have them either as a side or in their salad.

I have just one recipe in my rotation that uses capers, and it requires exactly one such jar.

So I just drain the brine and dump the whole jar into the pot. Crises averted!

What on earth is the recipe?! I love capers but a whole jar seems a lot.

It's a chicken pasta picatta thing.

They come in normal aspect ratio jars in the UK. eg https://www.ocado.com/products/m-s-nonpareilles-capers-60903...

You can just use a fork to fish them out without losing the brine. I use a tiny fork, but I think normal size works too.

I bought an enormous jar in Napa not too long ago. And the capers are tiny, much smaller than the modern giant capers…

Come on, there must be good caper tongs or caper spoons, after all, there's obviously a dire need for them, right?

Because they taste icky and the narrow jar protects you from accidentally eating too many of them.

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