I've been canning fruit for 40 plus years and have always just used the overflow method. So much easier and quicker, and absolutely no equipment needed. I've found 5 year old jars that are still perfectly edible.
I need to have another go at this - I tried it with my nectarines last year and all but two jars almost exploded on me after a while in the pantry ... must have missed some bubbles or something!
I've always used the overflow method, but last year did the water bath method as you did (without all the equipment too) and it has worked well. My mum (now 92) showed me a way by packing raw fruit into jars and water bath them, long enough to cook them. I never tried it myself but apparently this was the method to get beautiful jars of fruit to enter ag shows etc.
Oh that's interesting ... I'm being told about a few different methods now so have plenty of experimenting to do lol ... I think it's a case of finding what works for you and sticking with it, certainly a good skill to have though!
Hi Sarah, my Nana never had a rack and always put a folded tea towel in the bottom of the water bath. Just fold it in 1/4 and pop it in. She always submerged it before the water got to a rolling boil. I’ve done the same myself many times and never had a problem. Bells and whistles not really required but I would highly recommend a jar lifter.
Yeah it's really hard finding a jar lifter without having to buy one as part of a larger set of items at the moment! I obviously got my teatowel method wrong and need to do some more experimenting haha
I did something similar with apricots, I modified the rack from an old toaster oven. The apricots were still slightly firm, halved pips removed packed in as many as possible per jar, topped with cold rain water and barely a t-spoon of sugar per jar. Lids on but not tight into the big pot barely covered the lids with tap water, brought the whole lot up to simmer. Watch the bubbles escape from under the lids and when they stopped, removed them and tightened the lids. As they cooled the button on the top popped in and that was that! Three years later they were as if they had just been picked. The t-towel thing was hilarious, see ya.
Oh that's interesting I've never heard of that method ... yeah my hubby's talking about making a rack for the bottom as we can't find one that's the right size for our pot so will come up with something (that's not teatowels haha)
I found the tea towels tricky too. I have the proper tongs and they work really well. I think I am going to invest in a proper water canner too even tho they are expensive here in NZ
Yeah I'm being told about a few different methods so might do some more experimenting, my husband can probably make me a wire rack but finding it hard to locate the tongs without having to buy a whole set of things at the moment!
Just make sure the jars have sealed properly. The little dimple in the middle will pop down, usually with a very satisfying “pop” sound. If it doesn’t seal properly it can be very dangerous to eat. It’s lots of fun to make preserves, but you have to be very careful with safety. I’ve done masses of apples with the overflow method with no problems. Enjoy your preserving!
If there is enough sugar in the syrup, it will sterilise itself. Then, the only concern is thermal expansion (or shrinking, in this case), in regards to jar explosions
Are they crisp? I suspect they are soft except for the tough skin. What I would do is grind them into a smoothie or try to make a jam. Then there is no room spent for added water. When brown, apples still taste good to eat with a spoon. I think a frozen smoothie has more nutrients compared to cooked and you can add ascorbic acid. Fruit are already very watery in general.
They're still firm to the bite but not "crisp" of course as they've been stewed, so this is the sort of thing you'd have with apple pie or just on their own as a pudding (with ice cream etc), as you would if you bought canned apples. Jam would or a smoothie would be a different entity but definitely still yummy! Freezing apples also works really well to use in baking at a later date - I've done a video on that too if you're interested: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Y7WOwugmgig.html
I'm new to it to and done peaches in the weekend bloody over cooked n it was only like 1/4 cup of sugar to 1.25 liters n used the tea towel trick, I doubled it over. Sucked myself I as I went to check and I'm like wtf the waters black😪 then I remembered the tea towel😅😅😅 i didn't cover tops of jars n my jars were odd sizes but seemed to work ok👍 as I put them on bench and I hear them pop as there sealed. Yeap everyone One thing is iv read somewhere it's no good to use metal when removing air bubbles so I just used a plastic one. Need to buy myself some chop sticks.
Yeah I've heard not to use metal too, just wasn't really thinking at the time lol ... it's certainly a process to go through but great to have food in storage for the off-season!
@Cheaper Ways NZ yeah I actually don't like being in the kitchen much. I watch ur videos a lot as it's not 30 ingredients to make a meal. Cheap, affordable and tasty is what u show us and love how the kids n ur hubby help. Have a good 1
RU-vid videos by Useful Knowledge, has bottled apple sauce and tomatoes with no water bath. I have done them numerous times and they have always worked. Saves a lot of time, but you can’t do it with everything!
