I was recently given some Ball freezer jars. Can I safely use these to can with or will the heat break them? The only visible difference is that they are straight-sided and I want to use them for bread/cake. Thanks for any help. Beth

-- Beth Southwick (southwick@a-znet.com), December 13, 1999

Answers

I just double checked in my "Ball Blue Book" and you can use the "freezer jars" for canning or freezing - the straight sides are so that as contents freeze they can easily expand up the sides of the interior (if you leave enough headspace!). So, enjoy!

-- Kristi (securxsys@cs.com), December 13, 1999.

If you use the freezer jars for freezing, be aware that freezer jars are a canning convention left over from the days before plastic bags.

Perhaps 95 percent of what you freeze in a freezer jar will come out all right but in some small percentage of the jars, the contents will expand on freezing and break the jar.

In that respect, plastic bags are a lot more reliable. And they don't make a mess in the bottom of your freezer when they break. And you can store a lot more foodstuffs more compactly in the same amount of freezer space.

Best regards,

-- Joe (KEITH@neesnet.com), December 14, 1999.

The freezer jars will be OK to can in, their shape is different but they're as strong as canning jars.

The real problem is in the jar cake/bread. There's just no way to make those things and achieve a reasonable certainty of safety regarding botulism.

.........Alan.

The Prudent Food Storage FAQ, v3.5

http://www.providenceco-op.com

-- A.T. Hagan (athagan@sprintmail.com), December 14, 1999.

Yeah...why would you want to can bread or cake?? And how would you get it out of the jar?

However....if these are "gift" canning/freezing jars....inspect each one carefully. Look for chips around the lip of the jar...look with your fingers. And look for any funny lines or potential fractures in the body of the jar. It would be wise to sterlize them, I think, for the first time use, as you don't know what or how those jars have been used. That process (heat to boiling, hold for 20 minutes) would cause any fractured jar to break, I think.

Canned birthday cake...hummmm. I canned 7 jars of dried flowers one year...they are still fresh, and dry, right in the jar. Summer 1996.

-- Mary (CAgdma@home.com), December 14, 1999.