The message
from "pammyT" fenlandfowl @talktalk.net contains these words:

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.

Jams have a high sugar content, the temperature reached by boiling
syrup/sugar is much higher than water, so any bacteria in the fruit
have been well sterilised by the jam-making process and
any-ole-sterilised jar is pretty safe.

Preserved fruits/veg don't have anything near the same proportion of
sugar added. There's a higher risk of botulism (death) by not preserving
fruit/veg in a preserving jar with a rubber seal to make a complete
vacuum.

Janet.

On Sun, 07 Aug 2005 11:42:26 GMT, "H Ryder"
wrote:

I have a garden full of fruit which I'd like to bottle. Someone has lent me
a "device" (urn-type-thing) to do this in but I'm struggling to source some
bottles or jars. Does anyone know where I can get hold of bottles or
preserving jars for this? TIA,

Try this company: http://www.bristolbottle.co.uk/index.php
They are very near me, and I know someone who gets jars from them,
(not cheap) but I'm not sure if they do Kilner jars. (try Jeremy
Clarkson; he's a descendant of the original Kilner family).
Another friend does a lot of bottling but she's on holiday or I'd ask
her. (she bottled lots of the free cherries I wrote about!) She
bought some device at Lidl last week, which was a big pan for bottling
and I think it contained jars. Some of the old-fashioned iron-mongers
who also do household stuff sell them.

Pam in Bristol

In article , Sally Thompson
writes
Pammy, I too use and re-use old jam jars (and lids) for my jams and
marmalades, but I have always used the "proper" preserving jars (also
re-using them) for picked onions and bottled fruit. The reason is
lost in the mists of time, but I suppose it's because the preserving
jars are thicker and tougher and perhaps better for the techniques of
bottling fruit, whereas jams etc are not cooked in the jar but merely
poured into hot jars. As I said to the OP, the choice is up to
her/him.

It could be that the much higher sugar content of jams and marmalades
means they are less likely to go off, therefore the quality of the seal
is not quite as important.

Leave jam open to the air, and it will still be several weeks before it
grows hairs.

Leave bottled fruit open and it will be mouldy within a few days.
--
Kay
"Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river"

On 8/8/05 18:07, in article , "Kay"
wrote:

In article , Sally Thompson
writes
Pammy, I too use and re-use old jam jars (and lids) for my jams and
marmalades, but I have always used the "proper" preserving jars (also
re-using them) for picked onions and bottled fruit. The reason is
lost in the mists of time, but I suppose it's because the preserving
jars are thicker and tougher and perhaps better for the techniques of
bottling fruit, whereas jams etc are not cooked in the jar but merely
poured into hot jars. As I said to the OP, the choice is up to
her/him.

It could be that the much higher sugar content of jams and marmalades
means they are less likely to go off, therefore the quality of the seal
is not quite as important.

Leave jam open to the air, and it will still be several weeks before it
grows hairs.

Leave bottled fruit open and it will be mouldy within a few days.

So perhaps the safest way to bottle it is to do the 'peaches in brandy'
thing?
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds to email me)

The message k
from Sacha contains these words:

Leave jam open to the air, and it will still be several weeks before it
grows hairs.

Leave bottled fruit open and it will be mouldy within a few days.

So perhaps the safest way to bottle it is to do the 'peaches in brandy'
thing?

Yesh.

--
Rusty
Emus to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co full-stop uk
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

On 9/8/05 11:00, in article ,
"martin" wrote:

On Mon, 08 Aug 2005 22:23:22 +0100, Sacha
wrote:


Leave bottled fruit open and it will be mouldy within a few days.

So perhaps the safest way to bottle it is to do the 'peaches in brandy'
thing?

Eat the peaches and drink the brandy?

I'm surprised you have to ask! Actually, pour some of the brandy over the
peaches and add a little double cream. Yum!
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds to email me)

On 9/8/05 16:19, in article ,
"martin" wrote:

On Tue, 09 Aug 2005 16:16:37 +0100, Sacha
wrote:

On 9/8/05 11:00, in article ,
"martin" wrote:

On Mon, 08 Aug 2005 22:23:22 +0100, Sacha
wrote:


Leave bottled fruit open and it will be mouldy within a few days.

So perhaps the safest way to bottle it is to do the 'peaches in brandy'
thing?

Eat the peaches and drink the brandy?

I'm surprised you have to ask! Actually, pour some of the brandy over the
peaches and add a little double cream. Yum!

:-)

and the bottle goes in the bank?

If you can still find your way there.........
And to go even further OT while thinking of fruit with booze - one of my
favourite stand-by puds is bananas baked in their skins until the skins go
black. Put the still hot bananas onto individual plates, let the lucky
guest slit them open on one side with the tines of a fork and into the
'purse' thus created, pour rum or brandy and a little cream.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove the weeds to email me)

--
"H Ryder" wrote in message
...
Sorry if this seems irrelevant to gardening but it is the garden producing
the problem :)
I have a garden full of fruit which I'd like to bottle. Someone has lent
me
a "device" (urn-type-thing) to do this in but I'm struggling to source
some
bottles or jars. Does anyone know where I can get hold of bottles or
preserving jars for this? TIA,
Hayley


http://search.ebay.co.uk/kilner_W0QQfromZR40