Used jars for canning? (and other questions!)

[Guest Guest]

Hi! DH's grandma does a lot of canning...but I question her methods. She uses commercial jars with their original lids. Can these seal properly? I think she also reuses the sealing part of actual canning jars (which I was taught was a no-no, since it won't seal properly).

 

Also, she made some applesauce a few years ago that tasted like pickles...and her pickles this year taste faintly like paint thinner! Why? (maybe I'm just imagining things?) I know she cleans the jars between uses. If a jar is used for pickles, can it be then used for other things, or will it always have the vinegar taste? Is it different for commercial jars and regular canning jars?

 

~Jo

[Freetobeme]

The only thing other than just storage I might use those jars for would be jelly or jam. They aren't reliable for anything pressure canned. NEVER reuse the commercial lids. They will not seal properly.

[Leia]

Your Dh's grandma sounds like my MIL She has shelves full of canned stuff that she used spaghetti jars, pickle jars, mayonnaise jars, etc, to can.

 

You shouldn't use those jars.... simply because there's no guarantee that they'll seal (not that a guarantee comes with new jars... LOL!). The only jars I have ever had the seal break free is re-used commercial jars (yes.... hanging my head in shame... I have done this )

 

The lids shouldn't be re-used on jars because usually you have to take a fork, knife, something to them to break the seal. Once that happens, you've messed up the shape of the lid and it more-than-likely won't seal if used again. The BANDS you can use over and over again, though.

 

As for the pickle smell.... I have never, ever gotten pickle smell out of jars. I have washed in every conceivable solution and cleaner known to man and those jars will STILL smell like pickles LOL!! So, I just use the same jars each year for my pickles.... I don't use them for anything else.

 

You'll find that many people use commercial jars to can their stuff. I have done it in the past as a last resort when I had stuff to can and no $$ to go out and buy jars. I have used the stuff, and am still here to talk about it LOL. But, like I said, of the few jars I have ever had lose their seal, those were it. Every canning book will explicitly tell you not to use those types of jars and not to re-use jar lids.

 

Have a great day!

Shawna

 

[Guest Guest]

Thanks for the responses!

 

Quote:

The BANDS you can use over and over again, though

 

Shawna, by "bands" do you mean the rubber rings that are used with glass lids? If that's the case, I think I might like to get those then.

 

~Jo

[Freetobeme]

The rings are the metal piece that is in a ring shaped and used to hold the flat lid on the jar. The flat piece has the rubber material that creates the seal. Don't reuse the part that seals. Once the seal has been used once, it must be thrown away.

[Guest Guest]

Jo, I wouldn't use those jars with glass lids for anything other than storage. I know they use them in commercial production of jams and such, but we can never match the amount of heat they use in commercial canning in a home kitchen. If you find some in a case made specifically for home caning use, then only use them for water bath canning.

 

Better safe than dead...

[Guest Guest]

I was thinking the ones that have a glass lid with the rubber seal, and then you screw on the metal ring over top, not the ones with the wire contraption to hold the lid down. I think they are old-fashioned. My mother only had one. Of course, the glass ones wouldn't "ping", so you couldn't be certain if it sealed.

 

It didn't even occur to me that Shawna was talking about the metal rings...I used to put a bunch on my arms when I was about 5 and pretend I was a robot!

 

Thanks again!

 

~Jo

[grace]

Quote:

I was thinking the ones that have a glass lid with the rubber seal, and then you screw on the metal ring over top, not the ones with the wire contraption to hold the lid down. I think they are old-fashioned. My mother only had one. Of course, the glass ones wouldn't "ping", so you couldn't be certain if it sealed.

I've used the old "crown" jars before. They are the ones with the glass top, metal band and you use the rubber rings with them. I just use them for pickles or real sweet stuff like canned peaches. The books I have say to test the seal after they have sat for 24 hours to turn them up side down. If you see any leakage or a air rushing in from the seal area then they didn't seal. I've only ever had a few that didn't. So either then put them in the fridge or recan them. I find they are harder to open some times though. They do seal really tight!
Oh if you have the old jars that are "Gem" crown jars they do make new snap type lids for them (two pice metal ones). They are hard to find around here, but out in western Canada are supost to be easer to find. They are just a smidge bigger then the standard canning lids and a little smaller then the wide mouth ones.
Kim