SAFELY JAR / CAN YOUR FOOD (waterbath)

Boiling jarred food to provide a long-term preserved seal

Jarring your food is eco-friendly and economical.

Since we like to make food in bulk to save time, jarring prevents us from over-eating our favourite meals. Like this Bolognese sauce, it's going to be delicious come a cold winter day!

Jarring Step-by-Step

Tools:

• Mason jars or empty glass jars with a good seal

• Large pasta pot

• Large bowl

• Clean rag cloth

• Water

• Kettle

• Stove / oven

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 275/300 fahrenheit and fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil.

• Place jars on a metal pan with lid removed. Do not place them on the metal wire rack, this may cause them to shatter.

• Cook jars for 10 mins, this sterilizes and tempers the glass. Time this for when the food you are prepping is ready, so you pour hot jam or sauce into hot jars.

• In a separate bowl place lids and cover in freshly boiled water to sterilize.

Loading up our sanitized jars with homemade sauce for long-term storage

• Fill jars with with the jarring contents.

• Hopefully your large pot of boiling water is ready by now!

• Using a clean cloth, wipe the rims of the jar.

• Place lids on jar and firmly tighten. Caution over tightening, because this may result in jars shattering.

• Once the large pot has come to a boil, reduce heat to a constant simmer and place sealed jars fully in the water. It helps to have a canning basket and canning tongs. In this photo below, we didn't have them, so we used a cotton cloth to separate the jars from hitting one another.

Boiling the sealed jars with a cloth to prevent them from banging each other, eventually you will hear the lids 'POP'!

• Boil jars for a least 10 minutes.

• Sometimes you will hear a pop in the lid meaning air has escaped, increasing the seal.

• Turn off heat, remove from the pot and allow the jars to come to room temperature. Be careful removing jars and placing them directly on a cold surface- this change in temperature can shatter the glass. I always place my hot jars on a wooden cutting board of a pan lined with a dish cloth.

• At this point they are ready for long-term storage! Food stores best in a cool dark place, like in a basement cool-storage, pantry or in a dark cupboard.

• Remember to label them with the date processed.

Good luck, and thanks for reading,

Samantha & Brian