I wouldn't. Why risk putting any possible liability on yourself? Sell them 4 pints instead of a half gallon.

Rodney

Not and insure safety. If they aren't concerned about the safety issues (as they should be) then sell them the pints and let them dump them into the 1/2 gallon jars and return the pint jars to you for reuse. That way it is their responsibility, not yours.

Just tell them you have state and county rules you have to abide by and they don't allow for the 1/2 gallon jars.

Dave

Well, I think that would depend on how far in advance you want to make the jam. If you want to make several batches and put it in a jar without processing it, and you do that weekly, I'm sure it won't spoil before the week is up. Jam lasts for a couple of weeks in my fridge when I have jars that don't seal, or jars that I've opened and not consumed all of, and selling it as a fresh product rather than a preserved product might be a possibility.

However, if you want to make the jam and keep it for longer periods of time, I think your option is to sell them 4 pints instead.

Plus, since they are a restaurant, you might want to check on state regulations as to what you can supply them with and whether it can be prepared outside their commercial kitchen. Here in Michigan the cottage food law would let me sell jam to you, as long as it contains information on the label that it was prepared in a home kitchen which has not been inspected, and I can keep selling it to you until I make $30,000, but I can't sell it to a restaurant unless I make it in an inspected kitchen and I can't make more than $30,000 per year. Laws vary from state to state, as I'm sure you know, and selling to individuals is different than selling to restaurants.

I hope you sell them a zillion dollars worth of jam! I've had your jam and it's delicious, I'm not surprised the restaurant wants lots of it.

Annie

Well, I did tell the owner that no home canner in the US could sell her unprocessed jam in the large size jars per the NCHFP and had to explain why commercial plants can, with all their huge equipment. Also, that their jams have lots of chemicals and junk to stabilize the jam that home canners do not put in theirs. She didn't want to have her staff spending time opening pint jars all the time so, dead end. I do have an State inspected and approved "commercial" home kitchen (in a separate building than my home) but I don't want to sell something that could close me down. She did still want to buy my processed 4oz, 9oz and pint jars for her little outside cart that offers local honey, cheeses, and produce, and at wholesale to her of course. Besides after making jam for 40 years, selling it at farmers markets for the last 8, I'm a little tired of trying to please everyone and it will be my last season at the market.

Thanks for you advice and support.

Nancy

Then like I said sell her the pints and she can take a couple mins. to dump them into a half gallon jar if she wishes. That way they only have to mess with opening jars except maybe once a week.

Granted molds are the only real threat but molds can easily grow in an open 1/2 gallon jar - especially if it gets left sitting out for any time.

Dave

If she doesn't want to do what Dave suggests, I can think of only one other way she could get half gallon jars from you. It's a bit out there and neither of you would probably go along with it but I'll say it anyway.

If she must have half gallons of your jam then she could hire you part time so that you could make the jam in her kitchen to be stored in her fridge for her kitchen's use. You'd be selling your service, not your jam (at least not directly), and all the responsibility and whatnot would be hers, not yours.

Rodney

I was going to say what Rodney said.

Many restaurants make their own condiments and food items that have to be controlled/monitored through "made on/opened" and "use by/expiration" labeling. If at any time, a restaurant gets a health inspection, they have to be able to prove that a tub of, say, mayonnaise in their walk-in cooler was labeled for the dates that it was made/opened and when it expires. This is how they track and ensure they are not serving expired or bad food items, as well as serves as an inventory resource. A good kitchen manager is always resourcing his/her "use by" inventory to ensure that food isn't wasted.

I don't see why they couldn't do the same for a half-gallon jar of jam made on site. I'm sure there are food safety serving/use by guidelines for items/condiments like jam in a professional kitchen.

I think Rodneys suggestion is a good one for in house processing. Otherwise, just stick to your laws and regulations, and let the restaurant stick to theirs.

gardengrlz - that is a good suggestion, cooking jam there, but I have no interest in driving the whole hour and a half one way to their restaurant, carting all the necessary ingredients plus pots, utensils, jars, lids, etc., and spending at least a couple of hours making jam there with all their other food prep stuff going on with elbows every which way, and probably dirty looks from the staff invading their territory. My time is more precious than the little money I'd make selling the jam to them. I like the solitude of my commercial home kitchen with Pandora filling the air and everything at hand.