Help. What to do when the jar is too big (or the contents are not enough)?

Calendargirl I've done that in the past but wanted some pretty jars to display in the kitchen and hopefully some left by Christmas to give as gifts to my siblings. They love anything that's been homemade...

I freeze my tomato pasta sauce in Flora tubs.

I find one tub is just the right amount for spaghetti bolognese or lasagne.

Farmor, thank you for your info. That's reassuring. I, like you, re-use screw cap jars and also bought some on eBay very cheaply which are screw cap. I sterilise them using the wash/rinse/in the oven 140 degrees for 20mins method, including the caps. The lid of the 3/4 bottle is depressed so I am assuming it has formed a proper seal. I'm quite new to this bottling business so just wanted to make sure that I didn't poison anyone with my concoctions!

AskAlice - I only just saw your post and see you’ve put the 3/4 bottle in fridge. I bottle a lot of tomatoes and also make jam. Sometimes I end up with a not full jar and find that as long as the jar seal is good and middle of lid is depressed - usually hear it pop as cooling- it will keep as well as full jars.

A few people mentioned wax seals, but I always use screw cap lids - reuse mayonnaise, jam and sauce jars - as long as lids are in good condition they hold a vacuum and jam or tomatoes keep for up to a year (or longer).

Thank you all for your prompt and helpful responses. I've put the 3/4 bottle in the fridge, just in case, and will use it for the GC's spag bol next week. Interesting re. the strong alcohol karmalady, I might do that for the next batch and give it as presents to my siblings!

I'll also freeze some of the smaller ones whole, thank you Ilovecheese. I spent ages this morning peeling the tomatoes using the boiling water method so that will save me a lot of time.

3/4 full is fine to bottle. If in doubt then pour a small amount of strong alcohol onto the surface before sealing with the mormal lid

Freeze the tomatoes whole. When they defrost the skins just fall off.

Pantglas2

I’d store that one in the fridge and use it promptly Alice.

Either that or freeze it. This is one of the things you can freeze in an ice cube tray and use as much or as little as you need for a soup or a stew.

I would freeze it.

I’d store that one in the fridge and use it promptly Alice.

Thank you both! Unfortunately I don't have any wax seals to hand - would clingfilm work, or baking parchment? I'm trying to cut down on fat, salt and sugar, Lathyrus otherwise I would try your solution as I agree that clarified butter adds a certain something to the flavour!

Wax seal to cover the whole surface or seal with melted fat that goes solid again, like clarified butter. That’s yummy if you use it in the cooking.

When this happens to me, with jams, chutney etc I just put the wax seal on it, then the cellophane or lid, and then put it in the fridge.
We use it as the sample pot, so then we know the rest will be good! It doesn’t last long before it’s all eaten.