The Poultry Keeper

Sparklepeeps · Joined: 17 Jan 2007 Posts: 1901 Location: Cheshire

Am I right in thinking that you have to sterilize your jam jar before filling it with anything other than honey?

How do you sterilize them? Do you do it before/ during/ or after filling it with its contents? Surely screwing the top on will make it unsterile? (I dont have any fancy equiment - but I will probably be able to find a neighbour who does if there is no other way).

Thank you.

Itsybitsy · Joined: 11 Feb 2006 Posts: 1325 Location: Leicestershire

What are you filling them with?

If I am re-using jam jars then I wash them out and dry them, usually at the last minute so they are still warm. If you are using them for jam then the heat of the boiling jam (which is above boiling water point due to the sugar content) is more than enough to sterilize them. Then if I am also using good lids I put them on straight away and as the jam cools and shrinks it creates a vacuum as modern jam jar lids form a proper seal.

However this isn't the right time of year to be making jam?

You can either sterilize by heat - boiling water poured in or dry in the oven or you could use baby bottle stuff.

I've never killed anybody yet and I just use hot water straight from the tap, when I was pressing apples for juice and using second hand bottles, I washed them out and filled them with tap hot water, at the last minute I emptied them and then quickly refilled with the hot (pasteurized) apple juice, the temp of the juice was about 80c, then I screwed on the tops (new) none have failed - they would have started to ferment and burst if I got it wrong.

Itsybitsy

stephen · Posted: Mon Dec 10, 2007 7:10 am Post subject:

For ours we put the jars in the dishwasher on a very hot setting, then put them in a warm oven till we are ready to bottle. That works very successfully.

Gilly C · Joined: 22 Jun 2006 Posts: 2380 Location: South Cumbria

I do the same as Stephen for jams ,chutneys and sloe gin

kated · Joined: 01 Nov 2006 Posts: 1744 Location: norfolk

I put jamjars in the oven - after having washed them in hot water - around 100 degrees centigrade, 10 minutes should be enough. Put hot jamjars on an old tea towel to fill them to avoid shocks of hot jar on cold surface.

Sparklepeeps · Joined: 17 Jan 2007 Posts: 1901 Location: Cheshire

Thank you, that has been very helpful, I like the dishwasher idea, sounds easy. But I cant tell you any more because its a secret!

mojo · Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2007 10:21 am Post subject:

hope santa reads this sparkley