pammyT wrote:

[-]
I'd be interested to know why one should use 'proper' (and expensive) jars
instead of ordinary jars.
My whole life I have preserved fruit , made jam, marmalade, pickles,
chutneys etc etc and always recycled jam, coffee, sauce etc jars. I run them
through the dishwasher and store them ready for use. I even reuse the caps
and lids they came with. In the case of plastic ones, as the hot product
cools, is creates a vacuum , sealing the lid properly.
I have some 4 year old jars of 3 fruit marmalade in my cupboards and it is
as good as when it was first made. And since I notice the blackberries are
ripe already, I will be making some apple and blackberry jam in the next
week or so.And I will be using my stock of odd shaped, different sized, recy
cled jars.

I too have some ancient jars of marmalade and jam, not to mention
maturing fruit vinegars. Lovely. The short answer to your question is
that it depends entirely on what you're bottling, how you're doing it,
and whether you know what you're doing. If the fruit is acidic, or you
add acid (vinegar) or masses of sugar, (as you do when making real jam
or chutneys) jam jars are probably ok. For the long answer in exquisite
detail visit rec.food.preserving. Some of them do go over the top a bit,
though.

regards
sarah

--
Think of it as evolution in action.