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It is unlikely that anyone will argue that the sterilization stage when preparing canned food for the winter is one of the most important. After all, it is thanks to these correctly carried out procedures that you can be sure that your work will not be in vain and in winter your loved ones will be able to enjoy truly tasty and healthy products with you. This article describes one of the most ancient methods of disinfecting dishes - sterilizing jars with boiling water. The main features and subtleties of this process are highlighted, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of this method.
Tools and accessories
Housewives have been using sterilization of jars in boiling water for, perhaps, more than 100 years. This is one of the most traditional ways to sterilize dishes during canning. After all, medical instruments for operations have long been sterilized in boiling water. And to this day, this method allows you to get rid of most microorganisms known to science. What do you need for sterilization with boiling water?
First of all, you need a large saucepan. It’s good if its capacity is about 15-20 liters. However, if you have a small number of small jars, then a 5-6 liter metal container will be enough.For work, it is convenient for the pan to have a wide bottom, that is, in terms of dimensions, its height should be significantly less than the diameter of its bottom.
For boiling sterilization, you will also need to prepare some clean cotton towels.
To remove jars and lids from boiling water, it is highly desirable to have special tongs. Moreover, for lids these can be ordinary household tongs, in extreme cases, if they are not available Lids You can carefully pick it up with an ordinary fork. But for the safe removal of cans, it is very desirable to have special tongs.
They usually consist of two light metal parts crossing each other like scissors, about 25-30 cm long. On one side of each part there are handles in the form of rings, like scissors. On the other side of each part, the metal part is curved in the form of a half ring. When they are connected, they form a very convenient neck shape, with which you can simply and safely grab the jar by the top and pull it out, either empty or full, from boiling water.
This device is especially convenient to use for sterilizing jars that are already filled with something, but it can also be useful for safely removing empty jars while water is boiling.
Finally, you will need the glass jars themselves and their lids. It is their complete sterility that you need to achieve.
Preparing for sterilization
First you need to prepare the required number of cans.Always select a slightly larger number of jars than you need, as setting the extra jar aside is much easier than starting the whole process over again.
Using sterilized jars the next day or even a few hours later is not always safe - it is better not to risk your health.
All jars must be checked for cracks and possible chips. After all, even the slightest crack can cause the jar to burst during heating. And chips on the neck will not make it possible to hermetically seal the jar, which means your work may be lost. It would be prudent to put jars with even the slightest suspicion of mechanical damage aside.
Then the jars are thoroughly washed. If the dirt is strong, then it is better to use laundry soap when washing, and only then soda. Also, if heavily soiled, you can soak all the jars in warm water and soda for several hours. Only then are they washed again with soda and rinsed thoroughly under running water.
Caps are usually new. When using reusable screw caps, make sure they are straight and do not chip the enamel. They are washed in the same way as jars.
Features of the process itself
Unfortunately, many people believe that sterilization of jars boiling water consists only in placing the washed jars on a wooden board and filling them half or even one-third with boiling water. After cooling, they are used for canning.This simplified method may still be suitable for you if you are going to store products in these jars that will be eaten within a week or two, and will be stored in the refrigerator.
For long-term preservation of food for the winter, this method of sterilizing jars is completely unsuitable.
Real sterilization is as follows. In a prepared large-volume container, you place the number of cans, preferably with the neck up, that fits in entirely.
The pan with the jars is filled with water, and the jars must also be completely filled with water. After which the pan is placed on high heat, and the water is quickly brought to a boil. The heat can be reduced slightly and the jars are boiled for a certain amount of time. The very time the cans stay on the fire in boiling water depends, first of all, on the volume of the can. How long should jars be boiled?
Many even experienced housewives, using this sterilization method, make a common mistake - they keep the jars in boiling water for only a short time, 5-6 minutes, and think that this is quite enough. Others do not divide the boiling time of jars depending on their volume - and boil any jars for 15 minutes. Both approaches are not entirely correct, because in the latter case, for small jars with a volume of no more than 0.5 liters, just 6-8 minutes of boiling is enough.
- Jars with a volume of up to 1 liter need to be boiled for 10-12 minutes.
- If the jar has a volume of 1 to 2 liters, it needs 15-18 minutes.
- Jars from 2 to 3 liters require sterilization for 20-25 minutes.
- Finally, jars with a volume of 3 liters or more need to be boiled for half an hour or more.
The time of sterilization in boiling water is one of the main safety factors of the process, since how many minutes the jar is boiled determines how guaranteed spores of various organisms will be destroyed on its surface.
Another important determining factor in the safety of sterilization is how quickly, after removal from boiling water, the jar is filled with the necessary contents and the sterilized lid is screwed on.
It is very important not to leave sterilized jars in the air for a long time. It is advisable to immediately after removing it from boiling water using tongs and pouring out excess water, fill it with the prepared vegetable or fruit preparation. True, before filling sterilized jars with fruit preparations, it is important to dry them well. However, a jar removed from boiling water, as a rule, dries very quickly at room temperature. Place it neck down on an ironed towel.
Screw-on lids can be easily sterilized in the same container where jars are sterilized. For metal lids, 15 minutes of boiling is sufficient. Special plastic lids for canning are thrown into boiling water for literally a few seconds, so it is better to use a separate container for them.
Advantages and disadvantages of the method
Of course, the method of sterilizing jars in boiling water has both advantages and obvious disadvantages. The advantages of the method include:
- Simplicity and versatility - a container with hot water can be found in any home.Moreover, such sterilization can be carried out even in camping conditions over a fire in a pot, if there is such a need.
- The lids can be sterilized directly together with the jars - no separate utensils are needed.
- Sterilization in boiling water is ideal for small jars that easily fit into almost any pan.
But the method also has its drawbacks:
- The kitchen or other room in which sterilization is carried out is filled with hot steam, which is quite unpleasant, especially in the summer heat. Moreover, with a large number of preparations, the room risks turning into a real bathhouse.
- If the water used is quite hard, then all the salts settle on the inner surface of the jars and then mix with your preparations.
Nevertheless, despite all the possible difficulties, sterilizing jars in boiling water is still popular among housewives due to its simplicity, especially in country and rural settings, where modern kitchen appliances are not always available.
