Jars

[pigletwillie]

Try Freeman and Harding the jar people, a tray of 32 1lb jars with lids was �9 plus �7.50 postage for up to 3 trays.

They also have an ebay shop. I have found them to be very efficient.

[Neek]

Check out boot sales - I got some proper kilner jars last year A one litre and two squatty ones for �1 all I had to get were new rubber seals which were dearer than the bottles

[xcaret04]

Jars

IKEA have some cheap kilner like jars and also some cheap, slighly fancier jars should you wish to use your preserves as presents.

[SarzWix]

Other places for jars

Hi all,
a few other places for jars, bottles, etc.;
http://www.lakelandlimited.co.uk Good for smaller quantities of jars, and tons of other handy bits and bobs

http://www.cookability.biz Good for all cooking equipment, have also found excellent bottles for sloe gin here, with 'grolsch style' lids

http://www.waresofknutsford.co.uk Do all preserving bits & bobs including jars.

Ascott's are great for large quantities though.

I would also recommend a book called 'Preserved' by Nick Sadler & Johnny Acton which I have found very useful.

[Shortie]

Hi SaraWix and welcome to the vine.

Thanks for the link, I was thinking of this thread the other day as I need more covers etc.... very useful!

[JazzDuke]

I've been looking into this recently with a view to buying about 30 or 40 of about three different types of jar/bottle to make produce for my local Country Market. It's difficult to find wholesale prices for smallish quantities.

Wares are a retailer and expensive, Ascott not too bad.

The best I have found so far is C Wynne Jones a little family firm who have just got a website, www.bottlesandjars.co.uk nothing flash about them but prices are very good and �13 delivery is acceptable if you're buying a hundred or so. e.g. 12oz jam jar, case of 96, �15.39 inc. VAT

Hope this helps.

[JazzDuke]

You can get good extra virgin olive oil for about �2 - it's a 750ml bottle as far as I can remember. We buy it in bulk as it's cheaper than tesco's, so I can't honestly remember as we bought it ages ago.

Is that price in Aldi still correct? Looking in the big ones I can't find olive oil for less than �4 a litre. I only want a nice neutral oil to add herbs or citrus to but I do want it to be olive. (NB I have read that olive pomace oil is really nasty stuff so I won't be using that, however cheap it is).

The only cheapie near me is a Lidl and they don't stock any olive oil. Discontinued I was told.

[tew38]

Hi there,

I'm new here so bear with me.

The Kilner jars they sell at Ikea start at 99p, I bought a couple of the 99p ones the other day for putting soem home made Blackberry & Apple Jam in & so far so good.
Hopefully below is a link that'll take you to the right page on the Ikea website, if not the jars are called "Slom"
http://www.ikea.com/webapp/wcs/store...103&langId=-20

Lidl do still sell some fantastic Olive Oil, (off the top of my head) it's �2.49 for 1 litre & it comes in a nice glass bottle. I use 2 different Lidl's, one near my house, the other near the boyf & both still stock Olive Oil. If they discontinue it I won't be a happy bunny

Earlier in the year Lidl were selling plant & veg seeds for 29p a pack, I think I nearly bought out all the stock my local Lidl had & now we're reaping the benefits. I think Lidl's great, especially as they charge you for plastic bags which encourages you to recycle all those carrier bags you've got filling up the cupboard!!

[Mrs Dobby]

We bought a load of dried herbs and incense a few years ago, liking to experiment and make our own, but when we got home realised we needed jars to keep them in, and 80 jars at that!

Travelled all over looking for some that weren't too expensive, and eventually found some reduced Pickled Beetroot in M&S, for 50p a jar!! Well, we did get a few odd looks when we bought every single jar in the shop (approx 90), but after emptying them and a good clean it meant we got 90 or so matching jars for �4.50!

The moral of this story is to keep your eyes open and look for reduced things everywhere you go, you never know when something can be recycled and reused!

[Earthbabe]

I find the neighbours are a good source of jars although I do tend to put the coffee jars in the recycling and have to do all the cleaning myself. Still it is a small price to pay. In return we give them our aluminium cans and the occasional jar of something. I have loads of kilner jars from my folks as my mum regularly picks them up at jumbles and boot sales. I think her best deal was two large boxes (about 15 in various sizes) for 20 french francs a few years ago.

If you freecycle that can also be a good way to pick some up.

[dexterdoglancashire]

Hi Sarzwix and tew38, welcome to the vine. everyone is really friendly and has a wealth of useful tips and hints about all things veg and fruit growing! hope you have as much fun as we do!
Mrs D - got visions of you and your OH in M&S - got to ask what did you do with all the beetroot? I'm a convert after growing my own this year, but only home grown will do, find the bottled, picked stuff far too acidic for my tastes!
thanks for the tips on buying jars - going to have a look at the sites now as just decided to go picking blackberries tomorrow as havent had chance yet! got a lovely recipe for "blackberry butter" which isnt actually butter but a type of jam! if anyone wants the recipe just let me know! dexterdog

[jerseybean]

I would like that recipe please , I need to do something else with my blackberries.

[dexterdoglancashire]

Blackberry Butter recipe

HI JB - here we are:

2lb blackberries
2lbs cooking abpples
grated zest and juice of 2 lemons
12oz sugar to every 1lb fruit pulp

Wash the fruit and chop the apples roughly, there is no need to core and peel them. Place in a pan with the lemon zest and juice and simmer gently for about 15 minutes until very soft. Rub through a sieve and weigh the pulp. Stir in the required amount of sugar and heat gently until the sugar has dissolved completely. Bring to the boil and cook gently until the mixture is thick and creamy, stirring all the time; about 20 minutes depending upon the ripeness of the fruit. Pour into warn, sterilised jars and cover with plastic or metal lids.

Good luck!
I went to pick some blackberries today but unfortunately they were all manky! may resort to buying some from the supermarket! dexterdog

[Earthbabe]

Thanks dexterdog. Will it work with frozen blackberries?

I will try and pick some more but I do have a fair few in the freezer to fall back on.

[Mrs Dobby]

Mrs D - got visions of you and your OH in M&S - got to ask what did you do with all the beetroot? I'm a convert after growing my own this year, but only home grown will do, find the bottled, picked stuff far too acidic for my tastes! dexterdog

Have to agree that pickled is too harsh for my tastes too!

As to what we did with all the beetroot? Mr D ate some, but the rest was binned, it was only 2 days away from its sell by date, which is why it was reduced, and although we did think of trying to make a large batch of Borscht it isnt really something you want to make with pickled Beets!