When canning food at home, can I use jars other than "Mason" jars or those explicitly sold for canning purposes? For instance, I had a jar of spaghetti sauce, and lo and behold, my canning ring and lid fits on it perfectly. Also, I found an Italian company that makes canning jar lids in many sizes, so it would be easy to reuse jars from commercial products.
I assume it's OK, but I wanted to check with some more experienced canners. Last year was my first year canning. I am self-taught-- no one in my family cans. And no one died of botulism last year, so I am looking to do a lot more canning this summer. ;-)
Thanks in advance for your responses!
I don't see why not. As long as the jars can seal when you are sealing them. Make sure they are sealed (which you have to do anyways) and clean them really well. I always stick mine in the dishwasher right before I can to make sure they are hot.
My mom cans all the time and she does, as long as they seal good.
My grandmother use to use jars that she had bought from the stores with other things in them... pickle jars, spaghetti jars... all sizes. As long as you can seal them and they seal properly they will be fine and a great way to save money. The family would also save all our jars and wash them out for her to reuse and then she would send the jars back with us full of what she canned. I wish we had a spot big enough to be able to grow a large garden for that purpose!
As long as they are glass jars so the can be sanitized properly and the seal is air tight, it shouldn't matter what kind of jar it is.
