Kilner Jars

ChocClare

Penelope_Penguin wrote: »

Really My parents used Kilner jars to preserve fruit and veg when I was a child, and they used a water bath This makes sense to me - you boil the contents to kill bugs. Put the lid on and seal while hot. As the contents cool, they form a vacuum in the jar which keeps any nasties out.

Kilner jars were invented in Yorkshire AFAIK, so why would you need an Amarican piece of kit to use them

I've never done it; I prefer to freeze.

Penny. x

I'm sure they did use a water bath to preserve stuff - it's fine for fruit and for anything with vinegar in it like chutney. However, it's only safe for high-acid stuff - fruit, possibly tomatoes and pickles. My alluringly-entitled Ministry of Fisheries, Foods and Agriculture Guide to the Home Preservation of Fruits and Vegetables is very strict on this point! The problem is that you can get botulism from bottled foods - the nasties are not killed at boiling point, so unless you're going to process them in a pressure canner which cooks at much higher than boiling point, then you need some acid in the mix to kill 'em. Food infected with botulism does not look, smell or taste "off" and paralyses you from the face downwards - meaning that it can be fatal, as you could end up dying of respiratory failure :eek:
Before I put you all off bottling your own foods, can I repeat that this is RARE - it's just a risk you probably don't want to take as you can't tell by looking at the food if there's going to be a problem. People probably did bottle vegetables and meat - and probably still do, particularly in America - using all sorts of dodgy techniques, and were absolutely fine. But that's why methods of preserving vegetables are almost invariably pickled or salted in some way in the old recipe books. Like I say, you can bottle fruit to your heart's content!

I got a pressure canner from America after my freezer died, leaving me with a flooded garage, and MASSES of spoiled food (I could rescue some of the meat but not all). I wanted to weep. So I thought I'd invest in some "canning jars", as there were all sorts of rumours at the time that there were going to be power cuts left right and centre. I also thought that I could "can" masses of tomato sauce from the vast numbers of tomato plants I had growing. Alas, tomato blight, and the much easier option of opening the freezer door and bunging stuff in means that I haven't canned more than a few jars of apples and apple puree. But its day will come, I'm sure!

Ceridwen, I looked at that pasteuriser too when I was looking for a pressure canner. The answer is I'm not sure. I got my pressure canner from American ebay and it was £80. We did a deal with a customer of my DH's who is American and he got it delivered for free to his house, then took it out of the box and shipped it to us far more cheaply than the fellow on ebay was prepared to do. I think it cost about £100 all-in with the delivery. Still lots of money!

x_zombie_x

Hi Chocclare!

I am thinking of getting a pressure canner from america but i'm having a hard time finding the jars for it. Where did you get yours?

ta! :-)

ChocClare

x_zombie_x wrote: »

Hi Chocclare!

I am thinking of getting a pressure canner from america but i'm having a hard time finding the jars for it. Where did you get yours?

ta! :-)

France!

Joking apart (and obviously, depending on where you live) it is MUCH cheaper to buy them in France. The brand is called (Le Parfait) Familia Wiss and you can buy them in EVERY supermarket - even ones the size of your local Londis. We were on holiday in France, checked out the price and they were so much cheaper that it was touch and go whether they or the kids would come back with us - they were fighting over the available space in the back of the car!

If you're not going to France anytime soon, then there are places that sell them online - eg http://www.waresofknutsford.co.uk/products_level3.htm?cat1=preserving&cat2=Jars+-+Kilner+Style and http://www.cookability.biz/home-discovery-preserving-jars/b_697.htm
The main problem is that the postage and packing is quite high on all these things...

Hope that's some help, anyway

x_zombie_x

Oooh excellent! Thank you :-) xx

Trinny

Hello everyone - thanks for all the replies

The Kilner Jars are like this



Help to use them - for other things than storage jars and jam would be really appreciated. Sorry to start a thread and then not be here till now to see the replies - been away on hol.

The jars have a removable central glass disc which separates from the orange plastic ring.

Trin

ChocClare

What sort of thing do you fancy? How about HM tomato sauce http://www.pickyourown.org/canning_tomatosauce.htm
or, indeed, anything you fancy http://pickyourown.org/allaboutcanning.htm?

I like this site as it has step by step photos!

Do NOT be tempted to "have a go" at ANYTHING which says it definitely needs a pressure canner - I am the girl who was still eating best before 6th August fruit corners on 11th September, but even I wouldn't risk that!

powershopper

Hi Trinny, lucky you! The Ravenhead jars with the plastic lids, red or brown, are IMHO the BEST of the bunch. No metal to bend, buckle or rust, To get the rubber rings for them try www.kilnerjarsuk.co.uk under Ravenhead Red Tops. I have some corking peach halves bottled in them--wide openings-you can get 'fat' fruit in. good luck. mmmmm must look up ChocClare's link too......

msb5262

How about damson gin? Pierce each damson with a needle, fill the jar to the line, add a couple of tablespoons of sugar then pour gin over to cover the damsons completely. Seal and leave to mature.

Trinny

Thanks everyone - didnt realise i needed rubber seals to go with the jars. Thanks for the links

Could i have the bottled peaches recipe power shopper

Also - does anyone have a recipe for pickled onions - sweet ones as OH wont eat regular pickled onions but likes the Asda sweet pickles.

thanks

Trin

powershopper

Hi Trinny, hmmm bottled peaches, mostly it's a method rather than a recipe, so here goes.........
1 buy the best peaches you can afford, (I did a deal with the man on the market and bought a box full of really good ones) They need to be ripe but not too soft.

2 Get a big pan of boiling water on the stove and a big bowl of really COLD water in the sink

3 Cut the peaches in half and remove the stones

4 If you are doing a lot, do them in batches of 3 ie 6halves, drop the peaches in the boiling water for about 2 mins, then scoop them into the bowl of cold water. If you have got it right, and I'm sure you will, by the time you can handle them again the skins will just squish off with your fingers, or just peel it off with a little knife.

5 Hold the peeled peaches in a bowl of cold water with a little lemon juice, this stops them going brown.

6 Prepare your sugar syrup, I use 1 cup sugar to 2 cups boiling water. Depending on how many jars you are doing, you may need to double or treble this amount, but it will keep in a covered jar in the fridge until next time.

7 Drain the peaches well, and pack in your jars, wide neck jars make life easier, but if the peaches are too fat for the jar necks, cut them into slices- the peaches not the jars.

8 Gently dribble the syrup into the jars, giving them a twist to release the air bubbles. I release persistant offenders with a plastic picnic knife or a chopstick. Fill up to about 1 cm from top.

9 For the bottling process, can I reccomend HFW River Cottage Preserves, or the current W I book, or any other reliable source of info.

Peaches should be just like tinned ones, with all the yummyness associated with them.

Best served with evaporated milk.

This seems a bit of a ramble, hope it makes sense.

bon apetit:j