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High Acid "Boiling Water Bath" Home Preserving
 This is the basic equipment needed for
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"Boiling Water Bath" preserving is the accepted world standard for 'high acid' preserving, please make sure
any guide you use is up to date, and consistant with the instructions on this page.
With so many great
'high acid' recipes, foods,
pickles, chutneys, and jams to choose from it's easy to start.
You don't need any specialized equipment
and the process is simple. You even recycle the jars. All you need is a recipe and for safety's sake,
new lids. If you are looking for some good recipes
please try some of my
favourite creations. You'll find more recipes in our
forum , and you can browse through our online store
where you'll find some great specialized "preserving and canning" guides & cookbooks. |
"Boiling Water Bath Preserving"
Equipment & Procedure.
You will need a large pot to use as your boiling water bath. This pot will need to be big enough to stand 4
or more jars in and then fill with water till the jars are completely submerged.
You will need jars. These can be re-used from the jars you purchase food in from the grocery store. If you
do not have any at home, ask a neighbour if she/he has any jars. They end up in the garbage most of the time,
so people will be quite willing to give them to you.
You will need lids for the jars. It is not advisable to use lids that have been used before. If you look at the inside of the lid you will see a ring made up of a rubbery substance.
This is what makes the seal. This substance is effected by the acids in the original jar contents, and in the recipe you are processing and can
become degraded with multiple use. Therefore they are only to be used once to be sure you will get a good seal.
You will also need a pair of tongs, some clean towels and a wide mouth funnel. If you can not locate a funnel,
you can get creative. I have used the top half of a plastic 2 litre milk container, or a plastic cup with the bottom cut out.
Procedure:-
Prepare a nice big batch of one of the preserves/sauces from the list of recipes provided or a recipe from
another publication if
you have one. Remember you are going to be eating this, so a little taste test along the way is recommended. No recipe is ever 100% accurate as acid and sugar levels in your ingredients
will very according to soil types and ripeness.
Wash the jars you are going to use in hot, soapy water
and then rinse well. Leave them in a sink of hot water to await being filled
with you preserves. Do the same to the lids and leave them in a sink of hot
water waiting to be placed on the jars once full.
Spread a towel out on your counter and when you are ready to fill your
jars, place the jars on the towel, right by the pot of preserves. (This is
where you need the tongs, so as not to burn your hands getting the jars out of
the hot water.) You want the jars to be still hot when you are putting the hot
preserves into them to. Hot liquid into cold glass can cause the glass to
break so be sure that your jars are left in the hot water right up until you
are ready to start filling the jars. Fill each of the jars with the preserve, using
a wide mouth funnel, or your own creation,
leaving a two and a half cm space at
the top. Once the jars are full, wipe off the rims with a clean cloth. Be
sure that there is no preserve on the rims of the jars as anything that gets
between the rim of the jar and the lid can stop you from getting a good seal.
Once you have cleaned off the rims of the jars you are ready to put on the
lids. Using the tongs, get the lids out of the hot water and place them on the
jars, tightening them all the way. Now you are ready to process the jars to get the vacuum seal to ensure
freshness.
Get the large pot and place the article you have chosen into the
bottom to create a space between the bottom of the pot and the jars. As
mentioned before, this can be a cake rack or something similar. Then place the
jars into the pot ensuring they are not touching each other. Then using a jug,
begin to fill the pot with warm to hot water. Do not use boiling water, but do
not put cold water in as the glass is hot and once again you do not want to
risk any jars breaking due to rapid temperature change. Fill the pot till the
jars are completely submerged. Turn the stove on low to medium and slowly bring the pot of water with your
jars in it to the boil. This should be a gentle boil, or John Gross in "Food Preserving At Home" describes it as "briskly boiling" water.
Process the jars at this gentle boil for the time required in
the recipe and depending on the jar size. Larger jars are processed for
longer. Once the time for processing has been reached, turn the stove off and leave
the jars in the water to cool down. You want them to cool down slowly. There
is no reason for you to risk trying to get the jars out of hot water and
burning yourself. Once the water has cooled sufficiently for you to safely
remove the jars you can do so. Place the jars in a safe place to continue
cooling if necessary. As the jars cool down, a vacuum is created by the contents of the jar
cooling. Push the pop-top button down as they cool. They will not stay
down if the jars have not cooled sufficiently. If this happens just wait a
little longer and push them down again. Continue to do this until all your pop
tops stay down. If the pop tops do not stay down that is an indication that you do not have a vacuum seal. If any of the jars do not seal, you can process them again or simply decide
that this is the jar you are going to use right away. There are several
reasons why a jar may not seal. There may have been some preserve left on the
rim of the jar, or there may be a defect, such as a chip in the rim of the
jar. Also if you do not leave enough empty space at the top of the jar, you
could prevent a vacuum being created. Now your jars are cool and the vacuum seal has been created, you need to
label the jars with their contents and the date. This is important as no
matter how good your seal is, you do not want to leave a jar at the back of
the cupboard for years with no date on it. Always eat the oldest jar first.
Even preserved foods that you purchase in the grocery store are dated with the
best use by date.
Further information can be found in good preserving books, like those sold on our site. You can also
download, in PDF format, ideal for printing or saving on your computer, the ...
As you will be standing glass jars in this pot, you need to create a space between the jars and the bottom
of the pot. To do this you can us a round ,care rack or the removable, bottom of a spring form cake tin.
It does not need to be much of a space, but enough so that the glass jars are not sitting directly on the
bottom of the pot.
Our
"new or replacement
lids" are what you need.
If the processing time for your recipe is less than ten minutes it is recommended
that the jars and lids should be sterilised in boiling water after washing.
"USDA Complete Guide to Home Preserving"