I'd heard some people say you can can non-uniform jars too like old pace sauce jars. And stuff you wouldn't normally think of using, like recycling glass jars from stores. Is that part true though? I'd wanted to find real references to confirm.
I personally only/mostly use "canning" jars, but I know many who successfully can with older mayo/etc. jars. I specify "older" because most of the newer jars are made thinner and the lid size is different. The (very) few non-mason jars that I do use are older/heavier, and I only use them for water bath or steam canning and never in the pressure canner.
Theoretically, you probably can use at least some of them safely.
Practically, it just isn't worth it. The real thing will last many decades so cost almost nothing even if bought new with the current prices.
Then there are efficiencies like the canners and racks in the canners being sized for standard canning jars, uniform lids and rings, jar lifters fitting well ...
Important point...some jars are different shapes and then 7 quarts will not fit in the canner as usual.
Canning stuff doesn't last at Goodwill stores around here. My neighbor goes to a lot of estate sales, though, and she said she can find a fair amount of canning supplies. She doesn't need any of it, but she'll buy it for friends and neighbors who are looking for them.
I'm often surprised at what Goodwill & Salvation Army, etc. will charge for canning jars...sometimes new price! Why?
I also will buy canning supplies if I see them at a good price. Even if I don't need them myself, I know others who can use them!
Many of the resale shops and estate sales charge more than they are new. Sometimes they don't; it is worth checking. Farm auction sales have been good sources.
True
I will not use jars that are not meant for canning to can with. Like old salsa jars or something. The seals are not meant to be reused. I'm a stickler when it comes to safely canning, I don't need anyone getting sick. I have a huge stash of real canning jars & I always use new lids, I do not ever reuse them. Could it work, probably - but is it worth it?
Many of the older ones were intended to be reused (before we became a "throw away" society. Like I said above, I have a very select few that I do use for water bath or steam canning, but not pressure canning. However, I know some who regularly can with the old mayo jars and have had not issues with them. (They gladly took the ones I was cleaning out of my supply) I do think there is a different in quality, thickness of jars, etc from years gone by and jars produced now (We see this in the difference of quality in the Ball lids...for years I thought of Ball was the standard of quality.)
Dear Wife got sick a number of years ago and that put an end to our canning. She was just not up to the task. We gave away all our jars and lids to a cousin who was still canning back then. Dear Wife is better now, but today we only freeze stuff. We have 2 freezers but only have one in use at present. With only 2 people in the house, our challenge is to eat the food before it goes bad. We need to do better at food management.
I freeze a lot too, but lately have been trying to can more of it. I stress out every time we have a power outage. I've been thinking about this for awhile and then.....our basement refrigerator/freezer tripped. Unfortunately, we didn't realize it for 2 weeks. Thankfully there wasn't much in the fridge right then, but the freezer was full. Sadly, we lost a whole bucket of ice cream, a 2 quart container of apple cider, some applesauce and much more. I think I'll feel better if I put as much as possible in canning jars rather than the freezers in the future. I'm glad this was only a refrigerator freezer and not one of my big freezers!
Everyone here probably knows... Broth must be pressure canned.
Just in case someone who doesn't know reads this... my conscience dictates I have to say it.
and meat and vegetables, etc. I get so nervous when people talk about water bathing for 3 hours the way their mothers and grandmothers did. We've learned so much more about safety since those days!