On Sun, 7 Aug 2005 16:50:21 +0100, "pammyT" fenlandfowl
@talktalk.net wrote:



-- "Sally Thompson" wrote in message
.. .
On Sun, 07 Aug 2005 11:42:26 GMT, "H Ryder"
wrote:

snip
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,

I assume you are talking about actual preserving jars, rather than jam
jars. You can get them from Lakeland Limited:
www.lakelandlimited.co.uk
and this is the particular link (watch the word wrap):

http://www.lakelandlimited.com/is-bi...AADmiC a2gFhP

If the link doesn't work, search for items 3813 or 3814. They do mail
order, and the jars are 6 for £10.75 (half litre) or 6 for £11.95 (1
litre). For bottling fruit, I personally recommend you buy the proper
jars like this rather than use ordinary jam jars, but that's up to you
of course.

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.

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.


--
Sally in Shropshire, UK
bed and breakfast near Ludlow: http://www.stonybrook-ludlow.co.uk
Burne-Jones/William Morris window in Shropshire church: http://www.whitton-stmarys.org.uk