Preserving - water bath method

cgvl, Dec 31, 11:43am
I use the over flow method for fruit. Its fine but doesn't work with acidic fruit and vegies.
Some people advocate the water bath method but my mother and both grandmothers only ever used the over flow method and its fine and definitly not a no no.
Just make a sugar syrup or not if you prefer and gently poach your chosen fruit until soft but not mushy. Ladle into the hot jars and pack well. Pour over the hot syrup/water which you have cooked fruit in until it reaches top of jar. using a clean knife, slide it down the inside of jar to remove any air bubbles and top up with syrup until its about to overflow then seal immediately. You should get a little liquid run down outside of jar. Wipe with a damp cloth and set aside to cool.
I use this for peaches, apricots, pears, plums, nectarines and gooseberries when I can get enough.

pickles7, Dec 31, 8:44pm
http://canningusa.com/Joomla/
This site will put you in a good position to bottle anything. Some foods need a different method.

picxie, Dec 31, 5:50am
Hi all . I've been doing some reading on different preserving methods. It appears I have always used the 'open kettle' method which is a bit of a no-no it seems (I usually just make jam and chutney so I guess those aren't too bad). I'd like to try doing more preserves and should probably do it another method, and I'd like to do it in a water bath. However my large stockpot is not large enough for the Agee jars. Where would I get a cheap pot from! I've searched TM but I'm not sure what I should be searching, and 'preserving pot' comes up with lots of pots that you'd make the jam/chutney/etc in, rather than something that could be used for a water bath.

deus701, Dec 31, 5:57am
depend what are you using.gas or induction. I would just get a deep dish oven tray or basting tray and put it over the flame.and top up the water everynow n then.

picxie, Dec 31, 6:09am
But from what I've read, the water needs to cover the top of the jars. And the Agee jars are rather big! So an oven tray wouldn't be deep enough.

picxie, Dec 31, 6:09am
I'm curious to know what methods other people use to preserve things!

gbking, Dec 31, 7:32am
search for "agee preserver "