bottling fruit

Ted_Hutchinson

As I've run out of small Kilner Jars I thought I would experiment bottling raspberries/blackcurrants in large jamjars with safety/tamper evident popup rings in the lid.

As they seem to have sealed properly and I had no problems with the jar breaking in the pressure cooker I thought I would put the method I used here so others could try it.

Before starting I checked the jars and lids fitted in the pressure cooker on the trivet without touching each other or the sides of the pressure cooker and the pressure cooker lid closed easily. I also checked how much fruit and syrup I would need to fill those jars then put that fruit in a bowl.

Make suffient syrup of 8oz sugar to 1pt of water by dissolving the sugar in the water and bringing to the boil and boiling for 1 minute.

Pour boiling syrup over prepared fruit and set aside.

You are now ready to start bottling.
Put clean jars and lids in a saucepan with warm water and keep heat on low.This is to keep the jars hot.

Pack fruit not syrup in the jars but don't fill too full or you won't have room for much syrup and particularly with blackcurrants you will need them sweeter.

Bring the syrup to the boil (I used a microwave but a saucepan will do)

While the syrup was coming to the boil put 1 and a Half pints of water in pressure cooker and bring to boil.

Pour boiling syrup over the fruit in the jars, Syrup needs to come to about half inch from rim of jar.

Put lid on but don't screw it tight..

Then transfer the filled jars to the pressure cooker.

Ensure lids are loose NOT TIGHTENED DOWN.

Then bring the pressure cooker slowly to LOW pressure (5lb) and time for 1 minute

Turn off heat but don't move the cooker off hob. It needs to come down slowly over 10minutes.

Then open cooker and tighten lids. (obviously if you seal the jars before you bring the pressure cooker to pressure they will explode as the cooker heats.)

Remove the jars from the pressure cooker.

Retighten lids after 15 minutes.

The advantages of bottling fruit as opposed to simply freezing it are

• You can give them as presents.
• When you come to eat them they are in the pantry and don't need defrosting, sweetening or cooking.
• They don't take up any freezer space or energy to store.
• Bottled fruit is very easy to use in pies crumbles etc.
• Once bottled and stored in a cool dark place there should be no further deterioration. It's possible that fruit in a freezer will split in the bag and you'll find loose fruit in the bottom of your freezer. Freezer fruit can taste of freezer burn if left too long or bags become less well sealed.
• As the fruit was straight from the garden and the jars scrounged from neighbours to save them going to the recycling depot the only cost was the sugar and energy to cook them and as the blackcurrants would have needed cooking anyway this isn't an additional cost. It really is an almost free way of preserving fruit in a convienient, usuable form.

There are other methods of bottling fruit using an oven or using a water bath. I'm familiar with both these methods and can describe them for those who haven't got a pressure cooker.

I use the pressure cooker because it's quicker and easier when preparing and bottling just 2 or 3lbs at a time. If I had a larger amount of fruit ready at a time then these other methods would be better.

Edit: If anyone wants the processing times for other fruits will happily post these.

ChocClare

Can anyone help me on this?

I would like to bottle some fruit/veg/apple puree/tomato puree/chicken soup etc. - at least if not now, then later in the summer when my HUGE harvest is in :rolleyes: - and I have a couple of old cookery books which tell me how to do this using a pressure cooker, so we're all right there. Apparently, for vegetables and meats you HAVE to do it with a pressure cooker.

My problem is that the recipes call for "5lb of pressure" or "7lb of pressure". Fine for those pressure cookers with weights on the top I suppose but MINE HAVEN'T GOT WEIGHTS:eek:

I have two pressure cookers - a Lagostini one I got from an Italian auntie as a wedding present and a Kuhn Rikon Duromatic which I inherited from my father-in-law (aren't I flash?!). The Lagostini has a valve which you can push down or pull out depending on how much pressure you want, and the Duromatic has a similar thing with one ring and two rings marked on the valve. Do any of you bright things know what pressure that might equate to? There's no mention in either of the handbooks (and anyway, they presumably wouldn't work in pounds).

Come on, jam-makers and pressure-cooker afficionados! All help gratefully received!

Michael_K

I don't own a Kuhn Rikon Duromatic pressure cooker but came across them when looking to buy one and the mention of the two rings rang a bell.

I think this might be what you're after:

"The first red ring (low) indicates 8 pounds (per square inch) which corresponds to 235 degrees F, and the second red ring is 15 pounds, which is 254 degrees F."
http://www.kuhnrikon.com/tips/experts/q3.html

HTH

Despite the tag of being the Rolls Royce of pressure cookers, I reckoned the design is flawed as it seems you need to finely manage the heat to get it to stay at pressure, whereas other cookers just expel more steam if there's too much heat. So I'd be curious how you rate it.

ChocClare

Thank you so much, Michael, your link was incredibly useful: not only did it list the pressures, but there was also a linked page on bottling with that particular pressure cooker and links to various international links too! Kudos to you!
I'm sorry I haven't added to your Thanked Posts but the Thanks button wasn't working for some reason...

powershopper

Now that we have reached the time of year for preserving fruits, I think I would like to invest in a Ball Home Canning Basics Kit - This seems to be the kit to have in the U S and a pretty darned useful bit of gear here too.... if I only could find one in U K. Sooooo (and here's the challenge) anyone know where I can get one? I think that bottling fruit is one of those really satisfyin "earth mother" things, like making bread from scratch!!

champys

I have never heard of this, and just googled it. Do you really need all that? I tend to bottle our mirabelle plums every year, originally I did this in Kilner jars in the oven, but since reading a post on this website I now simply use jam jars and do the bottling in the pressure cooker. The advantage of smaller jars is that we only use them up small quantities at a time, so less waste.

powershopper

Brilliant that idea Champys, (using smaller jars) but I would like to have the tong things to get jars out of the boiling water, don't use pressure cooker.

foreversomeday

I am intrigued now, I never thought you could do this kind of thing at home (I must sound really naive now lol) - is there a longer thread about this or any websites etc you could point me to?

mummytofour

Off to google.

Patches41048

Lakeland do a canning kit, i gave it some serious consideration while i was in the shop on Sunday but couldnt justify it as i haven't bottled anything yet and wasn't sure it would get used.

I hope this helps

powershopper

Thanks for that Patches, I already use my Jam Pan for bottling, and just needed the tongs etc for lifting out the jars, off to Lakeland then...............