Would anyone have experience of using a makeshift water bath for sterilizing
bottled fruit, is it just a matter of using a large pan with a rack in the
bottom, placing the sealed jars inside, covering with water & boiling for
the requisite time? thanks any advice.

whiteMemphis wrote:

> Would anyone have experience of using a makeshift water bath for sterilizing
> bottled fruit, is it just a matter of using a large pan with a rack in the
> bottom, placing the sealed jars inside, covering with water & boiling for
> the requisite time? thanks any advice.

"Same as that" the fellow I apprenticed to would say. "Same as that."

Just make sure the jars are not sealed too tightly... the rings should
be what's called 'finger-tight.' That is, just take thumb and
forefinger and tighten the ring over the seal. Too tight and the air
inside can't escape so a vacuum will form when the jar cools.

B/

whiteMemphis wrote:
> Would anyone have experience of using a makeshift water bath for sterilizing
> bottled fruit, is it just a matter of using a large pan with a rack in the
> bottom, placing the sealed jars inside, covering with water & boiling for
> the requisite time? thanks any advice.
>
>
You just need a pot deep enough to have a rack in the bottom ( so the
jars don't sit on the bottom but have water under them) and allow the
water to cover by an inch and a half and still boil. The jars should
not touch each other or the sides of the pot. the point is to have
boiling water all around the jars, so if yours does that it is fine.
We have one very deep pot that we use for processing litre jars (they're
quite difficult to do properly in the standard blue granite ware pots.
Ellen

If you don't have a rack you can also get by with a towel in the bottom
of the kettle. It's a bit messy but it works.

Carol

You can also use extra jar rings just tuen them upside down . Jim



On 17 Jan 2006 18:26:58 -0800, "Carolinorygun"
> wrote:

>
>If you don't have a rack you can also get by with a towel in the bottom
>of the kettle. It's a bit messy but it works.
>
>Carol