The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Food & crafts => Food processing => Topic started by: bloomer on October 15, 2014, 01:17:03 pm
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ok i have gone chutney mad and i have a dilemma...
i have run out of kilner jars that self seal...
i have a stack of assorted jam jars etc save from through the year, what is the best way to get them properly sterile/sealed to keep chutneys and jams safe the best???
any advice welcome...
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Have you got a dishwasher with a hot setting? That should sterilise them pretty well.
As for sealing, how about standard jam covers, assuming the lids aren't a good fit?
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jam covers are they those weird wax/paper disks?
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I use recycled jam jars for jam and chutney. Plastic lids are better for chutney as the acid can attack metal lids, but you can over come this by putting a circle of grease proof paper over the top of the jar before screwing on the lid. Jam pot covers are cellophane circles you put over the top of the jar and anchor with a rubber band. The waxed circles sit in top of the jam to stop mould.
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thanks, i'll try some of that with tomorrows batch...
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I always use recycled jars for my jam and chutney. I wash well and then put them in the oven to dry. I use them direct from the oven while they are hot. I cover chutney in the same way as jam i.e. wax discs and plastic film on the top. I have never had a problem.
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thank you
@bionic, what temperature do you heat them too in the oven??? that's how i do my kilner jars but never really sure how hot for how long...
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Its a fan oven and I usually set it around 100. The jars often end up in there for a while as chutney and jam always seem to take longet to cook than I expect.
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thank you, thats what i do with my kilners but always like to check, 100C for over 5 minutes should kill most bugs i believe...
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We are going through a piccalilli addiction spell at the moment and although we do have some Kilner jars we don't have anywhere near enough for the amount we make in each batch.
We just wash jam jars and lids in the dishwasher on a hot wash then stick in the Aga for a bit before filling
Never had a problem with them
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If you want to keep your chutney for a few years, it will evaporate through the cellophane tops, no matter how good a vacuum seal you get. I use recycled jam and marmalade jars for jam and chutney, the kind which take screw top lids from Lakeland. These are lined with plasticky rubbery stuff so don't corrode as bare metal does. Other companies sell lids too - I think it's worth the cost of replacing any misshapen lids or you don't get a good seal with damaged lids. Using recycled jars makes the cellophane covers a problem, as most jars with jam from shops comes in screw top jars and you don't always get a good cellophane seal with them.
For sterilising the jars, I soak/wash mine in very hot water then dry and fill them. Jam in particular is lethally hot so any bugs which could survive that will be impressive. Chutney isn't quite so hot, but I have never had a single problem with chutney going off (or jam except with ill-fitting lids a while back). My mum always warmed her jars in the bottom oven of the Aga, but they weren't especially hot - I always assumed it was to equalise temps so the jars didn't break, rather than to sterilise them. Bottling on the other hand does require total sterility.