Canning question, use mason jars or regular spaghetti jars?

Do I have to use mason jars to can or can I use regular spaggetti jars? I have never done any canning. thank you so much margie

moderator's note: added a more descriptive title to topic

 

Margie, please, please use regular canning jars! The commercial product jars (mayonnaise, spaghetti, whatever) often do not stand up to the hot water bath, and definitely not to a pressure canner. You can lose an entire canning with these jars--breakage or not sealed.
Canning jars are reusable, so an investment this year will be an investment in years of canning.

 

I use mayo jars, the jars of spaghetti sauce I use do not have the right threads for the lids and seals. I did have one break. I can pickles every year and have had only that one break. I do not use a pressure canner only the water bath method. So If you are not afraid of maybe something breaking and the canning lids and seals fit give it try.

 

With canning, I find for me the most important thing is the lids and threading.

If the jars come with plastic lids...then that is a no-no. I would recommend using metal ones.
I can a lot and so I order lids from a wholesale supplier ans well as jars when I am low.
The metal lids always seal properly, but the plastic ones become too soft and and deformed.

 

Although it is not recommended to re-use commercially canned jars, I have. I don't re-use mayo jars as they are too thin, and the treads (oops, threads) are not right for a canning ring,but the spaghetti jars I can get new lids for and I have not had any problems doing this, but these, I use as a last resort because I am out of regular canning jars. The lids are important that you use NEW ones though. Do NOT reuse your flats. Good luck Margie.

 

Some great advice from everyone here.

thought i would share my 2c, i split my canning into 2 groups, those that are preserved by either sugar or vinegar (jams,chutneys,pickles) and those preserved by the canning process i.e. heat. (tomato sauce,meats, veg).

the first group has a higher tolerance to air leaks into the can through poor seals from reused lids. and often don't need a sterile environment to have a long shelf life.

So if you were going to reuse jars, i would suggest doing it with jams and pickles. Anything else and anything you want to keep for a very long time I would use mason jars.

 

Like was said,, fruits and pickles you can use the other jars. Do not use anything but new seals and approved canning jars for tomatoes and anything that has to be pressure canned (non acid foods). And be sure to check each jar of tomatoes before opening for a popped up seal. If you find one,, do not use those tomatoes. They have a nasty habit of having botulism if not sealed properly !! Not trying to scare you but this is something that is easily prevented by just using new seals and proper processing time (35 min. for pints and half pints, 45 for quarts).

 

I am just finishing up my 56 pint of corn, of the cob...

Here are my rules.....Back in the early 70's mayo jars had little letters on the side edge at the bottom, BALL. I called them and they promised me that they were ball jars except a little thinner. I had everyone buy and save large mouth mayo and miracle whip jars for me. I learned that even though they were Ball they were thin and they could only take the temperature of water bath precess. I have some spaghetti sauce jars that look like real canning jar that I got from garage sales but have not used them yet.

Pressure canning is much to high for those jars although most may take it but it's not worth. You grow or buy the produce and if the jar breaks, it is all wasted.

So I split my jars in all kinds of ways but for this topic I save all my brand name canning jars for pressure canning.

So tomatoes are high acid and can be water bathed so you should be able to use mayo jars. Use new jar lids and don't forget to wipe the lip of the jar before you put the flat lid on. I use paper towel and dip it on the boiling water a little to wipe with.

Post pictures and let us know how you did.

Barb in Pa.

 

Use jars intended for canning (Mason or Kerr or Ball jars) for anything that's going to be pressure canned.

I use any old glass jars I have for making yogurt or storing leftovers or making refrigerator pickles. People today don't can like they used to. You can't count on re-cycled jars to hold up under high heat or high pressure.

If you are using canning guidelines from 40 years ago, you must disregard the information about mayo jars etc. They don't make them like they used to.

I lost a whole canner full of sweet potatoes learning that lesson the hard way.

 

Oh, PricklyPear, that's so sad! All that work and nothing but a mess to show for it. I do re-use glass jars for storage in the refrigerator and also for sending samples to friends of foods that are not canned, but require refrigeration. That way the friends don't have to worry about returning a canning jar (and I can get quite fierce if a Kerr or Ball jar goes missing! ).

 

Reviving old thread - anyone there?

Hello. Just sticking my head in to ask a question. I was googling how to use regular glass jars to can with and found this nice little thread...

So, I have somewhere between 5 and 10 million old glass jars that I save whenever I empty a jar of spaghetti sauce or other misc products (except I don't keep MAYO jars, because they are a bit greasy and hard to clean. Regretting that now.)

I will break down and buy actual masons jars if I HAVE to, but I like to fudge and play McGiver and am simply curious if I 'can' use my old jars to can, let's say, beans. That's what's coming in right now.

It seems clear that IF you break with 'best practices' as suggested by 'marlingardener', then don't use a pressure canner. Use a water bath.

I don't understand the effective difference between a pressure canner and a water bath (total newbie), but if the pressure canner method simply produces a better vacuum than the water bath method, could you use the canning accessory on a Food Saver to make up the difference? This accessory sucks all the air out of the jar and will seal it.

That's my main question.

If that is an option, is there anything other advantage of pressure canning over water bath canning I should know about?

 

wax sealing

Part II of my ponderings...

Is there any alternative to using canning lids and getting the desired seal? I mean, canning has been around longer than mason jars, yes?

I was wondering if you could use say, a spaghetti jar and its native lid, and finish off the water bath process by turning the jar upside down and immersing in hot wax.

Creative?
workable?
silly?
stupid?

:>

 

First, understand temperature is what is important, not to seal the jars but to kill the buggers that can do harm to you. They all will seal but if you don't get the temp up for non acid foods you will not kill the things that will spoil the foods in the jar. The pressure canning will bring the temp in the jars much higher than the water bath process.

Next, I have over 1500 jars. I store them by pints and quarts. Each are put on shelves by if they are mason jars or mayo jars. When I do jams, or do a water bath I go for mayo jars first. Everything only gets to 212 degrees.

I am sure it would be fine but when I am pressure canning I go to real mason jars for that. It gets very hot under pressure and I for one don't want to waste all my hard work and food. I did that one time about 40 years ago and won't do it again.

That's my 2 cents.....LOL

 

Thank you. That's helpful. But what about that subset of 1500 jars that don't take a mason lid? Or is your entire jar inventory mason lid capable. ;>

What do you think of my wax sealing idea for non-compliant jars? (assuming that I'm sterilized before sealing).

 

You must use new flats for canning. Wax was only for cooked jam. nothing else. We don't even use it anymore. (at least I don't and neither does anyone I know). Canning jars are much heavier than most recycled jars. There are a few I reuse such as the mason jars that the Five Brothers brand of spaghetti sauce comes in. Commercial jelly jars are heavy enough but finding new lids can be a problem. You do not want to use a water bath for green beans, NEVER NEVER NEVER. The beans will most likely spoil. You can't make it hot enough to kill off all the bacteria and mold spores that you have on the beans. Your best friend for canning is a canning instruction booklet. A new canner comes with one, but you can also order or buy them in stores that carry canning supplies. Get one and keep it with your canning equipment or in your cookbook collection.