How to seal glass jelly or spaghetti sauce jars
 

Does anyone know how to re-seal jars like jelly jars or marinara sauce jars? I have a vacuum sealer and can seal canning jars, but is there any way to reseal the others?
Thank you
Jo Ann

I’m going to be frank here. I know of a person who died of food poisoning from improperly canned vegetables. You should call your county extension office for advice.

Are you talking about reusing old jars or trying to save the product that you already canned? If you are trying to save product and seal popped and it sat on a shelf...….THROW THEM OUT!!!!! If you just canned that day then reheat the food and jars and reprocess with new jars. There may be a chip or food on the rim that preventing a tight seal. If you are trying to save money by reusing old commercial jelly/spaghetti jars.....don't. They are not made for canning and may shatter during processing.
Tranum is correct. If your in doubt them please call your county extension office. These is a strict code on how to safely can food. Its not something to play with.

I have canned my garden produce for many years...you need to use glass jars that are made to stand high temps...anything less and you are asking for trouble...jars will explode at high temps if they aren't designed for high temps and they usually explode as you are removing them from the water bath, causing severe burns!!!

If I'm understanding your question right, you are not canning in the sauce or jelly jars, but wanting to put what is left in the jar back in the refrigerator to keep fresher, longer. I think I tried it a couple of times. What I did was wipe the edge of the jar, wash the lid in hot water and dry. Put lid on jar - you will tighten and then back off just a bit (don't remember how much for sure) Put it in a "Food Saver" canister and seal the canister. Once sealed, remove hose and unseal the canister. You should find that the jar inside has been sealed and can go in refrigerator. You may have to adjust the amount that is backed off. You can check the seal on the sauce or jelly jar like you do on a Mason jar. If you can push the center of the lid down, it is NOT sealed. Try again,

I think I did have to do it a couple of times, but I think the first time the edge of the jar and lid were not clean and dry. I also found that the warmer the lid the better they sealed. I also needed to put two lids on Mason jars for the large 'can sealer' to work properly. It sealed the one on the jar and could remove the top lid before putting the ring on.

Hope this helps. I have had lettuce that I shredded and put in regular Mason jars. I put a piece of paper towel on top of lettuce, sealed and then put in refrigerator for close to 2 weeks. The lettuce was still fresh and crispy.


Janey - Neat people never make the exciting discoveries I do.

From what I'm reading you want to use jars other than canning jars for canning. If that is the case I would say definitely not. Not worth the repercussions to save a bit on jars.

The 2 piece canning lids (flats and rings) are designed to create the proper vacuum when canning. I don’t know of any way to use the leftover commercial one piece screw on metal lids in Home canning to get the correct vacuum seal. I would not risk it. Use those jars for jelly with parrafin wax or just general storage of dried herbs, etc. if you want to Home can fruits, vegetables or meats, you need to invest in the proper Ball type jars, lids and Home pressure canner to do it safely. This is not the area to be penny wise and pound foolish in my opinion.

Most of those others are deliberately made so you can not reseal them. Sometimes you can reused the jar but need to put a new lid on to do so.

If you are using them for craft projects and want to seal them to keep moisture out, then it's not going to be a big deal doing so.

That is exactly what I am talking about........thank you for your information.