Annabelle’s food preservation and sterilization methods

Directions

• Preparing the jars
• Check that the jars are in good condition and not chipped.
• Wash the jars in hot, soapy water and pat dry with a clean towel.
• For vinegar-based preparations or jams, sterilize the jars in boiling water (10 minutes at 100°) or in the oven (20 minutes at 140°).
• Sterilize the seals by scalding in boiling water for 10 minutes.
• Turn the jars out onto a clean cloth.
• Preparing the vegetables or food
• The quality of your jars depends directly on the quality of your food 😊 choose the freshest vegetables possible, never thawed vegetables.
• Clean vegetables thoroughly.
• Blanching vegetables. This technique involves plunging vegetables into boiling water for a very short time and then plunging them into cold water to stop the cooking process.
  – Hardy vegetables such as carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, courgettes, green beans, etc. can be blanched for between 2 and 3 minutes.
  – More sensitive vegetables or small fruits such as tomatoes, mushrooms, cherries, etc. should be blanched for just 1 minute.
• Drain well.
• Putting the food in the jars
• Fill the jars with the still hot food, up to 2 cm from the rim, taking care not to leave an ‘air pocket’ in the jar.
• Wipe the rim of the jar with a clean kitchen towel.
• Close the jar by tightening the lid. At this point, the lid is still “raised”!
• 🚨 Sterilize: there are several ways to sterilize: oven, pan of water, sterilizer, etc. 🚨
• Oven sterilization
• Place the jars in a tray at the lowest point in the oven, in a pan of water. Important: to avoid thermal shock, place the jars in the oven as soon as they are switched on. Do not preheat the oven.
• Heat the jars for 1 hour at 150°C.
• Leave the jars to cool in the oven for 40 minutes before removing them.
• Sterilization in a saucepan
• Choose a fairly high saucepan, at least 5 cm taller than the jars.
• Place the jars in the pan, without them touching the bottom or each other, to prevent them from colliding. To do this, place cloths between and under the jars, or a wire rack underneath.
• Fill the pan with water up to 2-3 cm above the jars.
• Heat the water to 100°C. The cooking time for the jars begins when the water comes to the boil.
• Each vegetable or preparation requires a specific cooking time. See the notes below.
• Turn off the heat and wait for the jars to cool completely before removing them from the water. ⚠️ The lid is now sucked inwards.
• How do you know if the product has kept well? Before storing the jars:
• Check that the jars are airtight by turning them upside down to check for leaks. If small bubbles appear, sterilization has failed. In this case, eat the contents quickly.
• Check that the lid is pressed down slightly! If these two points are correct, sterilization has been successful. Congratulations! 😊
• Storage
• Stick a label with the contents, date and year on each jar.
• Store the jars in a dry place away from light.
• First in, first out: rotate and place new jars at the back.