Interesting article of British Food Preserving

[Robson Valley]

Toddy, you really are getting screwed over for those jars & lids. No wonder you want to do something else.

True enough. I repurpose the used lids, they don't seal twice.

Special jar for kraut? I was using a nested set of 3 sauerkraut crocks which had never been used for anything else.
After 2 failed batches, I learned that just one crock would be enough for my experiment = fail again. I quit.

OK, so maybe I have about 10 mm headspace in the jars. On go the boiled lids and the the rings but not very tight.
Process in boiling water for what the book says. Out of the pot, tighten the band a little more and wait for that musical "tink!"
when the lids seal. You should smell the kitchen when I'm making lime marmalade.

 

[santaman2000]

If I remember correctly Townsend’s did a video on 18th century taut making. I believe they used crockery.

 

[Toddy]

The bands are reusable. Only the lids are single use.

12 seals.....no bands, £5.75

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Kilner-J...355803&hash=item4da5b856c0:g:2PEAAOSwgPNdd36W

 

[santaman2000]

12 seals.....no bands, £5.75

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Kilner-J...355803&hash=item4da5b856c0:g:2PEAAOSwgPNdd36W

That sounds right. The bands and first set of lids should have come with the jars originally and the bands are reusable so you’d normally only buy lids after that. The price seems like highway robbery though. I found them on Amazon for $3.87 (or £2.90)

 

[Woody girl]

12 seals.....no bands, £5.75

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Kilner-J...355803&hash=item4da5b856c0:g:2PEAAOSwgPNdd36W

About what I paid special order from my local hardware shop. My friend works there so will order for me. They don't stock jars or lids.
I don't use eBay or amazon or on line ordering. Trying to keep my money local and keep my carbon footprint as tiny as possible.

 

[santaman2000]

About what I paid special order from my local hardware shop. My friend works there so will order for me. They don't stock jars or lids.
I don't use eBay or amazon or on line ordering. Trying to keep my money local and keep my carbon footprint as tiny as possible.

Ordering the way you do will keep the money local and that’s good. That said, Amazon is possibly shipping from the same supplier so the carbon footprint probably doesn’t change either way.

 

[Woody girl]

Well I'm trying hard! Least it keeps my local shop going and my friend in work!

 

[Robson Valley]

Political hay-making = you shop local and lots of local people see you do that. That kind of community support.
Not all our few stores have everything. You order and you wait maybe a week. "It'll be on next week's truck" they say.

I suppose I could buy most things in the city and save a dollar.
However, that's at least 5 hours of mountain, snow-covered highway for the round trip.
I'm in no mood to have to change my underwear.

 

[Woody girl]

Our small town... often called a village by visitors as it's so small is very limited and expensive. Most shops cater for the London crowd.. or the huntin shootin fishin people who come on holiday here. Loads of cash no idea! One shop was selling a tin of shortbread for £30 at Christmas! Hampers were going for £100+ ! A jar of chutney can be £8 if it's got a fancy country name and label!
Madness! That's why my stuff is homemade. I no longer have a car and during the winter the motorcycle is off the road, and the bus kills me after 20 twisty bumpy miles taking an hour or so to get to the next nearest town with a larger supermarket.

Oh the joys of country life

That's one of the reasons I took to foraging and growing what I can.
It's a bit of a pain though waiting for one or other of my friends to visit town and having to ask them to get me the odd item. It's not worth the bus fare to go in and get it myself.
I do have one pal who takes me for a top up shop every few months though.
The Internet has killed local shopping.
20 yrs ago I could get almost anything here. Now I can't.
Frustrating

 

[Janne]

The jars I buy here are the brand Ball.
The system is; glass jar, flat metal lid with a rubbery strip, metal ‘hollow’ screw in lid.

I reuse the flat and screw in lids several times, until rust appears. 4-5 times?

The semi vacuum is so strong that sometimes I bend the flat lid when I open the jar first time after preserving.

 

[Toddy]

You will be excoriated for saying that Janne but I have to confess that I re-use the supposedly disposable seals too.
I wash them, soak them in boiling water before use, and only use pristine looking sound ones.
So long as they do seal, and are still vacuum sealed when I open the jar, I cannot see why it's not fine.
We eat food from the Kilner jars daily; salad coleslaws and the like. I make the stuff in batches of five jars at a time.
Himself's latest requests have been for turmeric and black pepper rich ones, so that's what I've been making.

I have come to loathe unre-usable things. No wonder the world's in such a mess.

M

 

[Toddy]

Yes. But that said, they had weakened immune systems to start with (that gives credence to the bit in the article where he said eat what you like but be careful sharing it) Given personal experience I haven’t seen anywhere near the number Janne found but I have no reason to dispute them.

Well, I've been looking for accredited UK statistics.
No one, and I mean no one has died of botulism from jam in the UK in all recorded details, and we've been doing that for nearly 100 years.

https://academic.oup.com/jpubhealth/article/28/4/337/1622732

Since 1989 there have been three deaths out of 33 cases, and none of them from home preserving.
One from hazelnut yoghurt (27 folks infected, one death)
Two cases from mushrooms in oil brought home from Italy (one death)
A Polish man living here ate a home prepared meat product brought from Poland
One case of poisoning from incorrectly stored hummus. Not fatal.
One case of poisoning from food someone ingested in Georgia before coming back to the UK. Not fatal.
One case (of another Polish national) who consumed home preserved pork made in Poland

That's it.
Note, no jam, no jelly, no home made (UK) preserved fruits.

So where the hang is the author of the original article getting this mince about jam killing folks ?

 

[Janne]

Well, I am brought up by parents that went through 6.5 years of WW2 and 23 years of commie rule...
I am sure the manufacturer want us to buy new every time, but if it works well to reuse them.

I have a few repurposed glass jars ( used to contain luxury fruit and such) with the loose rubber seal and the metal thread ‘clip’.
I love them. You know what I have done? Bought a couple soft Silicone kitchen cutting mats and cut out the rounders.
This evening, son and me made some pickled baby octopus.
In a 2 liter repurposed jar. Not sterilized though.
1/3 Red wine vinegar, 2/3 water, herbs, spices, garlic, salt. Will keep well in fridge.

We love pickled octopuses!

Just remembered, cooking inside a sealed container is in fact how the majority of canned food is made today.

 

[Janne]

So where the hang is the author of the original article getting this mince about jam killing folks ?

CNN? Many North American’s, those who have not travelled much, have some weird ideas about the rest of the World. I have heard the craziest things from some. I kid you not!
The ‘travelled’ ones are just like us.

But to be frank, myths and outright fantasies and lies are quickly spread globally by the Internet.
For a good laugh, have a look on Ms Paltrow’s site.....
( please do not follow any of her advice. . )

 

[Robson Valley]

Same here. I've met Canucks who believe that everyone on earth speaks english.
OTOH, I can claim that I come from a town and my igloolik is the only home with a phone and central heating.
Nobody blinks. How polite?

Ha! Just a jar of pickled calamari rings.2 parts olive oil, 1 part each white wine and lemon juice.
S&P, Basil, oregano, crushed garlic and fine dice green onion.
I have a nice fat jar that was Greek Kalamata olives in a past life. I ate them all.
The rubbery seal in the jar lid looks OK but I'll keep the goods in the fridge.

 

[Toddy]

CNN? Many North American’s, those who have not travelled much, have some weird ideas about the rest of the World. I have heard the craziest things from some. I kid you not!
The ‘travelled’ ones are just like us.

But to be frank, myths and outright fantasies and lies are quickly spread globally by the Internet.
For a good laugh, have a look on Ms Paltrow’s site.....
( please do not follow any of her advice. . )

There's something wrong with that woman. It's all hype and no substance.....and rather a lot of money going her way by the looks of things.
Why are people so gullible ?

M

 

[Janne]

There's something wrong with that woman. It's all hype and no substance.....and

I think she is very smart. Making a fortune out of nothing.
For me, the sad/horrible part is that some of her ideas are dangerous for the lady customers.
Modern day quackery that should be stopped.

That ‘canning expert’ is wrong, but he does not promote dangerous ideas, just stupidity.