Cheap jars

janetmw

lynzpower wrote: »

is a jam pan something special or just a big pan?

i was going to use the breadmaker

Lakeland sell them here.

They hold a much larger quantity of jam. I make approximately 10lbs at a time.

I am busy collecting jars from friends and family as my damson tree is laden down with friut this year; not to mention the crab apple tree and blackberries growing in the field next door............

Janet

Actiongirl_2

janetmw wrote: »

Lakeland sell them here.

They hold a much larger quantity of jam. I make approximately 10lbs at a time.

I am busy collecting jars from friends and family as my damson tree is laden down with friut this year; not to mention the crab apple tree and blackberries growing in the field next door............

Janet

I am so jealous! That sounds tasty. My dad makes gooseberry jam too. Its delicious. Wow, cant believe it is nearly that time of year again. I LOVE the autumn!

DawnW

Tracey04 wrote: »

if I use an empty jar with a metal lid ie mayo. Do I need a waxed circle over the top of the jam. How long does hm jam last?

Dear Tracey,
If you use thoroughly cleaned jars, ie jars and lids washed in a dishwasher or else washed thoroughly with detergent and water, rinsed, and heated through in a low oven before filling with jam, just use the lid by itself. The jam will keep for ages. 'Bad' jam in any case is quite obvious, either mouldy (though ok just to scrape off) or smelling really odd and 'winey', in which case you would not want to eat it. As it is just fruit and sugar, and has been boiled for a considerable period, it will not make you ill unless you did something really silly like letting raw meat drip directly on to the uncovered jam!

What I have found is that the waxed circles encourage mould, the whole thing goes mouldy - I have experimented by adding waxed circles to some jars in a batch, not to others, and storing them side by side. The waxed circles jars tend to go mouldy and the others do not. So don't use them. They are meant to be used with the cellophane covers and elastic bands in any case. Jam stored in jars using this closure method do not keep nearly so well in my (long) experience.
Regards,
D.

vfairbrass

I use recipes in 'Low sugar microwave bottling' by Isabel Webb.

If you don't have a dishwasher to sterilise she suggests half filling jars with cold water and cooking on HIGH until the water boils as a way of sterilising. Fill the lids of the jars with the hot water to sterilise them.

As to jars she suggests any that have been used for jam or marmalade in the past. Their metal lids are treated with a special food lacquer to protect from corrosive acids. So long as the film is not damaged, the built in rubber sealing ring is intact and the jars are not chipped or cracked then you should be OK.

To check for a good seal after jam making or bottling allow the jars to cool, stand upside down for at least an hour and if leakage occurs then the jars have not sealed.
Valerie

scuzz

Our local pick your own place has a load of jars and bottles available for you to take. you just have to leave a donation for charity of whatever you feel like. Might be worth looking at

daisyroots_2

Here in Islington we put out our green recycling boxes on Monday mornings. Some of us do it on Sunday nights. Before the recycling men come round at mid day, anyone can come by and help themselves to the (nicely washed, we is middle class, innit?) glass jars. Perhaps you could do something similar where you live, but I agree with the others, freecycle is your best bet.

Squiggly_Diddly

Scuzz, just spotted you are in Eastbourne!! (like me...!) Which pick-your-own? Is that Sharnfold?? I wanna go blackberry picking somewhere...

scuzz

Squiggly Diddly yes I go to Sharnfold. They're normally very good for blackberries. Have quite a range.

They've not got many strawberries at the moment though, think they've been hit by the weather.

powershopper

This is really a double subject thread..... I just found out how to bottle fruits OS in the microwave! and make jam....and marmalade! I use two books for starting, 'Luxurious Jam' by Sonia Allison(she includes chutneys and pickles) and 'Microwave Bottling' by Isabel Webb.
The great thing is that you don't have to have buckets full of spare produce, so when you find the last two baskets of plums(or anything else you fancy) going for Really Cheap Prices on the supermarket shelves, you can whisk them home and have them nicely stashed away in the storecupboard/pantry/garage/spare room for winter when you are desperate for something other than apple pie! ---nothing wrong with apple pie, but you get the drift--
The other subject is the availability of jam jars----yes I know about Freecycle etc etc, but yesterday I saw in our local Nice Kitchen Shop, new jam jars with lids for 99p, and I thought I could buy a product in a jar for a lot less, eat, or not, the product and re-cycle the jars. Nothing new there you say, so lets see where you can buy the cheapest stuff in jars............
I know I have missed the 4p mint sauce, but today I found in :-
Asda - sliced beetroot at 20p
sweet pickle at 26p

OK then all of us Old Stylers, any more?.........

Pink.

Hi powershopper,

Tesco value mint sauce is still available online for 3p. Their value mayonaise is only 35p and tastes better than helmans according to my daughter.

Pink