Jam - waxed circles??

Debt_Free_Chick

clutterydrawer wrote: »

Excellent info, thanks all. I will be reusing old jam jars with screw thread lids so hopefully all will be well.

Use warm jars (put them in a low oven); fill with hot jam; use warm lids (put them in the oven with the jars); seal as soon as you can, using oven gloves to handle the warm jars (which will now be hot, as they're full of jam!) and the warm lids. Seal the jars immediately - and filling the jars to above the neck (the kink at the top) will help.

Remember, that the boiling point of jam is higher than water, so everything you handle can be very, very hot! Use oven gloves - or those "fireproof" gloves.

The mould-creating spores can not be and are not present in hot jam, put in to warm jars and sealed with warm lids. So fill the jars and put the lids on as soon as you can.

I find a jam funnel indispensable here as it's designed to sit on the top of jam jars and you can slop the jam in quickly

horsechestnut

You should use a waxed disc if you are using cellophane and a rubber band, but if you are using a top that seals (you hear it "pop") or a preseving jar, (they are the ones with a rubber seal and a metal lever, which you can also use for fruit) then you don't need a waxed disc.
Lakeland sell tops for jam jars as well as bags of cellophane circles and wax discs with rubber bands.

Butterfly_Brain

I always use the waxed bags from cereal packets (after washing in hot water first). I have done this for years and have had no probs.
Just made 6 jars of Plum Jam and 4 jars Cherry Jam they are in the larder.

kippers

torbrex wrote: »

I have been making jam for more years than I care to think about and never user waxed circles, my mother did but that was only in jars that had no lids.

I warm the jars in the oven before potting and the lids 'pop' down when the jam has cooled proving an airtight seal.

That's exactly what i do....wax discs just aren't needed when you use old jam jars

Happy jam making

Pink.

I have never used wax circles either, just old jam jars sterilised in the oven.

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Valli

well you can't argue with a board guide...

soappie

I use circles cut out from baking parchment and then coat it with a bit of brandy before popping on the jam and sealing with a lid.

It's a good excuse to have brandy in the house

Patchwork_Quilt

I have waxed circles in 2 sizes and never remember to use them. Except for the famous occasion when DH found one on the top of the jam and told me we would have to throw that jar away because there was something wrong with it.

Chell

I got them from Morrisons, they were hanging from the shelf where the jars of jam are sold. The pack contained the seals, the cellophane to go over the jar, labels and elastic bands.

Pink.

Valli wrote: »

well you can't argue with a board guide...

Why not? Lots of people do.

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