Under water or not?

[bussinspain]

I plan to use the kilner type jars this year for my preserves (rubber seals and wire collars) as I cannot undo normal jars due to arthritis. When the jars are filled and lids shut, do I then put them in water and boil? Covered with water or just up to the necks? And for how long please?

[Snoop Puss]

Out of interest, have you thought about using Weck jars? They're very easy to open, not as expensive as Kilner jars and can be purchased in Spain or delivered from abroad.

[bussinspain]

Out of interest, have you thought about using Weck jars? They're very easy to open, not as expensive as Kilner jars and can be purchased in Spain or delivered from abroad.

I can puchase 1/2 ltr jars for €2 so they are relatively easy and cheap.

[Snoop Puss]

That is extremely cheap. Congratulations!

You might find this website useful for general instructions and recipes:

Water Bath Canning | Preserving Food - High Acid - Ball® Canning

As I understand it, Kilner jars are not suitable for pressure canning in American-style pressure canners. Le Parfait jars are apparently suitable for ordinary pressure cookers (at least the French think so!). Here's a link to the French Le Parfait website with some inspiring recipes. There's a button towards the bottom of the page to their English version of the site, but there are more recipes in the French version.

http://www.leparfait.fr/recettes

[roitelet]

If you use Le Parfait jars don't forget to keep a pair of pliers in the kitchen. It is the easiest way to open them once sealed. Grab the tongue and pull and this will break the seal. I always submerge my jars in the water with about 2 inch head space.

[More basil]

This may be common knowledge but... Many years back I was in France and had bought a kilner jar of pate for a picnic. I couldn't open it and went for assistance in a kiosk where a strong looking young man was working. He gave me a real 'foreigners-honestly' look and used the bit that holds the lid down as a lever to open the lid. So you simply undo the clasp, put the bit that holds down the lid it under the bit that's attached to the lid and push the bit you normally use to fasten the lid with upwards. The lever action pops open even the most stubborn jar. This is a lot simpler than it sounds...

[Alison]

I plan to use the kilner type jars this year for my preserves (rubber seals and wire collars) as I cannot undo normal jars due to arthritis. When the jars are filled and lids shut, do I then put them in water and boil? Covered with water or just up to the necks? And for how long please?

What are you intending to preserve? If it's just normal jams and chutneys then you don't need to do anything other than sterilise, fill and close as you would with a normal jam jar. If you're planning on bottling / canning stuff using a water bath method then you need to make sure you're getting the right temps / durations as there won't be sufficient preservative to keep it fresh. Also I would only preserve high acid products this way (basically fruits) and certainly not anything containing animal products. If your pressure bottling you have more scope. Need more info to properly advise. One final point, it's imperative that your bars have a perfect seal, I've found that many Kilner type jars that seem good value don't seal well and therefore will become contaminated during storage.