How easy is it to bottle apples?

blue_cat_4

Hi I'm sure the information I need is on here somewhere but I've looked and can't find it! I have been given loads of cooking apples and wanted to have a go at bottling them. I've bought the jars and was ready to go but then looked at some sites on the net and scared myself with all the talk of having to be careful of botulism. It all seems to be at lot more complicated than I thought with talk of thermometers(which I don't have)and pressure cookers(which I also don't have) Could anyone give me a simple "dummies" guide to how I go about bottling as I really don't want to have wasted money on the beautiful preserving jars that I was hoping to see full of apples this afternoon. Thanks

jamanda

Hi,

I've been bottling them in syrup. 2 cups water to half a cup of sugar. Bring syrup to boil, chuck in prepared sliced apples. Bring heat back up to boil. Don't let the fruit boil more than one minute. Bung into warm sterilised jars, making sure there are no air pockets and seal. Turn jars upside down to cool, but store right way up when cold.

I've done quite a few like this, and my very picky mum has test driven some and said they are lovely.

meg72

jamanda wrote: »

Hi,

I've been bottling them in syrup. 2 cups water to half a cup of sugar. Bring syrup to boil, chuck in prepared sliced apples. Bring heat back up to boil. Don't let the fruit boil more than one minute. Bung into warm sterilised jars, making sure there are no air pockets and seal. Turn jars upside down to cool, but store right way up when cold.

I've done quite a few like this, and my very picky mum has test driven some and said they are lovely.

Thanks for this please can you tellmewhat jars you are using.

adelight

jamanda wrote: »

Hi,

I've been bottling them in syrup. 2 cups water to half a cup of sugar. Bring syrup to boil, chuck in prepared sliced apples. Bring heat back up to boil. Don't let the fruit boil more than one minute. Bung into warm sterilised jars, making sure there are no air pockets and seal. Turn jars upside down to cool, but store right way up when cold.

I've done quite a few like this, and my very picky mum has test driven some and said they are lovely.

How do you stop air pockets?
Also, why do you cool them upside down?

I have 3kg of apples to use and would like to freeze them in some big empty pickle and coffee jars i've been collecting. Would that amount of syrup be enough/too much?

jamanda

I've been using large coffee jars. However, whenever I'm bottling anything, jam etc., I always put a sheet of clingfilm over the top of the jar before putting the lid on to ensure a good seal.

With regard to air pockets, either bang the jar a bit (not really recommended with hot jars) or poke it with something, e.g. wooden spoon handle, end of slotted spoon etc.

Make sure you fill right to the top and just wipe the top edge before clingfilming.

No idea why you have to let it cool upside down. Probably to do with the sealing.

HTH

Edit - you can freeze apples without going to the trouble of putting them in jars first. The idea of the jars is to keep the freezer free for other stuff.