Kitchen Garden Forum

Following on from Elaine's advice about buying marmalade from Lidl just for the jars, I've spent my last few expeditions to the shops searching for a small, straight sided jar. I do save and re-use all jars but I like the smaller size because the jam doesn't go off before we finish eating it and it looks better if you're giving some preserves as a gift if the jars match.

The cheapest I could find on the net were 42p each plus delivery. Sainsbury's are in the lead so far - their basic range mint sauce - 15p. I bought 2 dozen jars yesterday - told the checkout girl that I was addicted to it and for a moment, she believed me. The labels came off easily and the dishwasher got rid of the vinegar smell. I'd already bought a stash of new lids from Lakeland as they're on offer at the moment, so it's cherry jam and strawberry jam today!

I've got to wait until they re-stock tomorrow to get some more jars.

I applaud this way of getting small jars for storing preserves. You never seem to get enough of them in the normal way, and if there's only two in your household, the average size jar lasts just too long. Far more interesting to have smaller jars and vary the menu more regularly. Also, more convenient to be able to give some away if you've only made a small batch.

My wife finds you only have to seed the market with a few gifts of jam or pickle and the empty jars come flooding in. Had to have a sort out a few weeks ago to make space and pass the less desirable / no lid / non-reusable lid ones to recycle bin.

Same here, Geoff, I can pick and choose which jars to use at the moment! The jam cupboard is filling up nicely, and I'll have plenty to give away, which I like to do.

Ditto to both of the previous posts! My neighbours must think I'm up to surreptitious drinking when I come home with a bag which clinks at every movement. One kind soul gave me a huge carrier bag full of jars/lids but sadly only a few were usable, as they were mainly curry sauce jars! I could not get rid of the smell, especially from the lid. I plucked up courage in the end , to tell her I had enough jars for now and softened the blow with another jar of jam.
Cheers.

You can get new lids from kitchen shops, Lakeland or on the net. They're only a few pence each.

Hi Tigger. How can I be certain they will fit the jars I have? I know a few are odd shapes, narrow necks etc., but are most jars standard? Cheers.

i throw the lids away and use the old wax paper disk , plastic cover and elastic band. our local hardware shop still sells them.

They sell two sizes at Lakeland which fit most of the standard jars.

You could try looking at your local Freecycle website. There are often people eager to give away jars with lids.

Hi,
I use the Peanut butter jars which have plastic lids and are good for pickles etc since they don't rust with the vinegar. Bit of a pain to clean the jars but worth the effort since lids last for years.
Hilary

Hi everyone. I have just discovered today, that Morrisons also sell jars of marmalade for 28p! Very handy for me. Cheers.