Preserving fruits and vegetables for months and even years is an art that requires knowledge and skill. By canning, food is significantly enriched and diversified during the winter months. When canning, sterilization is important, with the help of which microorganisms that can cause spoilage are completely or almost completely destroyed.
I will tell you how you can easily and quickly prepare sterile glassware without special equipment.
Wash a lot of jars thoroughly, place them in a cold stove oven and keep them at a temperature of 120-130 degrees for about 10 minutes. The jars will dry and be reliably sterilized. Do not remove the glassware from the oven immediately, let it cool slightly.
You can keep the jars over steam - a pan of water on the stove, on it is a wooden stand with holes - just a row of slats knocked together, a jar is placed on it for sterilization, if the size of the pan allows, you can fit several pieces.
They also practice sterilizing dishes in the microwave, but, unfortunately, a significant part of the bacteria after this feels as if nothing had happened. So my advice is to sterilize the jars in the oven or over steam. A microwave is absolutely not suitable for this, unfortunately...
That's it, our dishes are ready for further use. We choose a recipe and fill the jars with preserves, marmalades, compotes, jellies, fruit juices, vegetables, pickles and other goodies. To ensure that homemade preparations do not deteriorate and are stored well, it is necessary to include thermal heating in the process of home canning.
This process combines two concepts: pasteurization - heating homemade products at a temperature below 100 degrees, and sterilization - heating at a temperature of 100 degrees and above. Sterilization requires more complex conditions, usually an autoclave. Therefore, pasteurization is more often used at home. There is a certain relationship between temperature and heating time for canned food. At 120 degrees and above, microorganisms die quite quickly, and at lower temperatures, canned food must be heated for a longer time.
For pasteurization of homemade preparations, you can use any container with a lid in which it is convenient to place jars. At the bottom of the dish you need to place a wire rack, stand or cloth on which jars with homemade preparations are placed. It is necessary to pour water into the tank, heat it to 40-70° (depending on the temperature in the jars being placed), after which the jars are placed. The water level should reach the hangers of the cans. Cover the tank with a lid, put it on high heat and bring the water to a boil.
The water should not boil violently; the pasteurization time is counted from the moment the boil begins. The time of the first stage (bringing water to a boil) should be as fast as possible in order to reduce the duration of heat treatment of the product and avoid overcooking canned food. Thus, the time for heating water to a boil when pasteurizing half-liter and liter jars is no more than 15 minutes, for three-liter jars - no more than 20 minutes. The duration of the second stage of pasteurization depends on the acidity and consistency of the product: liquid products 10-15 minutes, and thick ones 2 hours or more. It takes less time to pasteurize acidic foods because... an acidic environment does not promote the development of bacteria. The size of the container is also important - the larger it is, the longer the duration of pasteurization.
The jars must be removed by the neck, without removing the lid, using a special clamp or potholder, transferred to the table and quickly sealed the lid tightly with a seaming machine. After this, roll the jar several times on the table to make sure that droplets of syrup do not appear from under the lid.
After this, cool the jar in air, turning it over several times (place the lid up and down) for better heat distribution inside it. To avoid digestion of fruits and berries during slow cooling in air, homemade preparations can be carefully cooled in water: first in water at a temperature of 60-70° for 8-10 minutes, then put the jar in for 6-8 minutes. into water at a temperature of 30-40°, and then finally cool in air.
Jars with homemade products cannot be sealed with metal lids before heating, as water vapor in the jar will create pressure that can rip off the lid. Glass lids with clips can be closed on the jar before heating, since the clip allows excess air and water vapor to be released from under the lid during heating. During cooling, a vacuum is created in the jar under such a lid, which will tightly press the lid with a rubber ring to the neck of the jar.
You can also pasteurize homemade preparations with steam. To do this you will need a kettle and a rubber tube. Steam pasteurization works well for marinades. You need to put fruits, berries or vegetables with spices in a sterile jar. Place a rubber tube on the spout of the kettle, lower its other end into the jar (at 2/3 of its height). Bring a kettle of water to a boil. From the moment steam appears in the jar, the pasteurization process begins. Three-liter jars with homemade preparations need to be pasteurized for 15-20 minutes, liter and half-liter jars - 7-10 minutes, until the juice appears. After this, you need to add boiling marinade or filling to the jars and quickly roll up. For apples, pears, plums, currants, gooseberries, strawberries and raspberries, jars of no more than 0.5 liters are recommended.
Or you can do it simpler: pasteurize it with steam in a saucepan. Pour some water (so that the water covers the wooden or metal grate), place the filled jars, cover tightly and bring the water to a boil. The resulting steam heats the jars and their contents. The time for heating water to boiling is 10-12 minutes, the time for pasteurizing cans with steam is twice as long as when pasteurizing in boiling water.
When canning at home, glass jars with glass lids and metal clamps work well for pressure cooker pasteurization. The jars need to be filled with the product, closed with lids with rubber gaskets and clips on. Then place them in the pressure cooker on the rack and add hot water (just below the top rims of the jars). After closing the pressure cooker with a lid, you need to heat it until it hisses (this sound means that pasteurization has begun). Once finished, turn off the heat and once the pressure cooker has cooled, open the lid and carefully remove the jars.
Products containing a lot of protein (for example, meat, poultry, fish, green peas) are pasteurized at the boiling point of water 2 or 3 times. During the first pasteurization, mold, yeast and microbes are killed. The spore microorganisms remain and germinate within a day. They are destroyed during the second, sometimes third, pasteurization. To carry out re-pasteurization, the jars are sealed with lids and special clamps are installed on them so that the lids do not come off during the process. These fuses are removed only after the cans have completely cooled down.
Almost every family makes homemade preparations for the winter. In winter, fresh vegetables and fruits become less accessible. Therefore, people have long stocked up on healthy foods for future use in the summer-autumn period in order to make up for the deficiency of vitamins in the winter and diversify their diet.
For homemade preparations, different methods are used: drying, freezing and canning, including pickling, fermentation and salting. And you can prepare almost everything for future use - vegetables, berries, fruits, mushrooms, herbs, fish and meat.
Drying There are three types of products: natural (in the sun), using an oven and special drying machines. The essence of the drying method is to dehydrate the product. Drying can be stored for a long time, the main thing is to create the right conditions: in a dry, dark place without access to moisture. You can dry apples, apricots, pears, grapes, eggplants, tomatoes, herbs and, of course, mushrooms.
Drying is an incredibly popular harvesting method, known since the times of the primitive communal system. Dried products retain all vitamins and nutrients, so this type of preparation is a good replacement for fresh fruits and vegetables.
The main thing is to prepare the drying correctly. Under-dried products will quickly become unusable, while over-dried products become fragile and tasteless. And sometimes drying in the oven burns, so you have to be on guard. To check the quality of drying, remember it in your hand. If the dried product has crumpled into a wet lump, the dryness is insufficient.
If suddenly such a nuisance as a power outage occurs and the food is defrosted, Unfortunately, you can't freeze them again.. If you break this rule, you will get a tasteless and useless product.
What can replace vinegar in canning?
The essence of canning is to create special conditions for storing food that prevent the development of bacteria. Canning differs from pickling and fermentation in that during the preparation process acids (acetic or citric) are immediately added to the brine.
It is believed that canning with vinegar is harmful to health: it irritates the stomach lining, liver and kidneys. In addition, it is now difficult to find high-quality vinegar. It is mainly made from synthetic acetic acid. This vinegar preservation is more tasty than healthy. Nutritionists advise using instead of the usual vinegar when canning:
- Natural apple cider vinegar(not to be confused with the flavored one from the store), or juice (puree) of sour berries: cranberries, red currants, lingonberries, cherry plums in the proportion: a glass of juice per 1 liter of water.
- Tomato juice. You can preserve tomatoes, zucchini, peppers and even cucumbers in it!
- Grape leaves are an excellent natural preservative. So, one grape leaf replaces a teaspoon of vinegar.
- Green sour grapes They are also a natural substitute for vinegar. The brine is prepared only from salt, sugar and water, and the vegetables in the jar are topped with sour grapes (a large bunch is enough for a three-liter jar). And it will add benefits and look picturesque!
What are the benefits of pickles?
The principle of pickles and fermentation is that during pickling, the products themselves release organic acids (mainly lactic acid), which is a natural preservative. True, this takes time, depending on the product from a week to a month.
Pickles are considered much healthier than canned food: the products do not lend themselves to aggressive heat treatment, and the brines are prepared without harmful vinegar. For example, sauerkraut is a rich source of vitamin C (it is even higher than in fresh cabbage), potassium salts, calcium and phosphorus. Cabbage brine is successfully used in cosmetology, as a tonic and a base for face masks.
The disadvantage of this method is the short shelf life (up to nine months) at low temperatures -1 to 4 °C.
When to prepare for the winter
It is better to prepare food for the winter using different methods, because the same product, prepared in several ways, has different taste qualities.
Each vegetable and fruit has its own time. You need to start harvesting as vegetables and berries in the garden and fruits in the garden ripen. If you do not have your own plot, during these periods they are quite affordable in the markets.
Starting from the end of May you can harvest greens(parsley, dill, onion, sorrel). Greens can be dried, frozen, pickled and salted.
Delicious berries ripen in early June: strawberries, raspberries, currants, cherries and others. They can be frozen, canned juices and compotes, and cooked into sweet jams and preserves.
At the end of June, the first cucumbers ripen in the gardens, from this period and throughout the summer you can harvest them. Cucumbers can be canned, salted whole, or used as one of the ingredients in canned salads.
In August-September, depending on the climate of your region Tomatoes, tomato juice, sweet peppers, eggplants, cabbage, apples and pears are prepared.
It turns out that preparations for the winter can be done from the end of May to October! Every warm month brings new vegetables and fruits, so you can enjoy fresh vegetables and fruits for six months, gradually preparing them for future use.
What containers are needed for homemade preparations?
- Glass jars are the most familiar and correct container for preservation. Advantages of glass: reusable, affordable price, possibility of sterilization, high-quality and long-term storage of products (up to two years), transparency of the material.
One and the main disadvantage of glass jars is fragility. A glass jar may burst due to temperature changes during canning. To prevent this from happening, hot brine must be poured into the jar gradually, in small portions. The jars are sealed with tin lids using a special seaming machine, or screwed tightly with screw lids.
Glass and lids should be thoroughly sterilized before canning. to avoid the housewife's nightmare: exploding cans.
- Wooden tubs, enamel buckets, pans and plastic buckets are used for pickles, since there is no possibility of sterilization and sealed packaging of preservation.
- Freezer bags. Of course, you can use a disposable bag, but it has disadvantages: it is thin, the contents stick to it, and often, in order to get a frozen product out of it, you have to wait until the bag thaws.
But special bags are created for freezing food: thick polyethylene, reusable clasp. The contents of the bag do not stick to its walls and spill out easily.
- Containers for dried products. Drying should be stored in tightly closed containers. Glass jars with nylon lids, thick plastic and paper bags, and fabric bags are suitable. Unfortunately, dried fruits often harbor insects, so it’s good if the container is still transparent. Well, supplies in opaque packages must be shaken periodically in order to notice pests in time.
Favorite recipe of the editors of the Aport Blog
Beet caviar salad with vegetables
This versatile dish, when prepared, has a beetroot color and a spicy, rich taste of various vegetables. Caviar can become a separate dish on your table, a salad for main courses, an ingredient for sandwiches and a dressing for borscht.
1 kg beets
700 grams of carrots
2 kg tomato
0.5 kg onions
Add:
salt 1-2 tablespoons
sugar 2-3 tablespoons (to your taste)
1 cup sunflower oil
Cook raw vegetables, twisted in a meat grinder, for 2 hours over low heat, stirring occasionally. 10 minutes before readiness, add a head of grated garlic.
Place the hot caviar into sterilized jars, roll up with sterilized tin lids and wrap in something warm until it cools completely.
Bon appetit!
Homemade preparations are a whole science and creativity that require skills, material and labor costs.
However, your efforts will be rewarded by crunching delicious cucumbers in the frosty winter, bright salads and natural juices on your table. Good luck and delicious masterpieces!
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Tanya
Several different personalities coexist in it at the same time. He flutters around in pink scarves and stockings, but loves black humor, rock music, art house and unusual people. Likes to quote the Cheshire Cat. In his free time, he splashes in the pool, reads classics and science fiction. I recently discovered my interest in copywriting, and hopes that it will be mutual. He believes that this is real creative cuisine. And my favorite topics for articles are clothing, various accessories, cosmetics and gift topics.
Alexander 07/18/2016
I would use apple juice instead of regular vinegar, but not tomato juice. I tried cucumbers in tomatoes, I didn’t like it. So this is not for everybody. And in winter you can also make preparations, especially sauerkraut.
AnswerNikolay 07/30/2016
Answer Alexander:
In vain, in vain. However, there are no comrades according to taste and color. Even barbecue meat is marinated in tomato juice in a unique way!
AnswerIvan 08/24/2016
Reply Nikolay:
How to say. Marinating meat in tomato juice is one thing, but preserving it based on it is a completely different matter. I tried these cucumbers. I liked them, but their taste is very specific.
Answer
Pavel 08/20/2016
Answer Alexander:
I am also a supporter of apple cider vinegar, but the problem is that it is very difficult to find it, which is natural and healthy.
Answer
Olga 07/19/2016
I myself have been using freezer bags for quite a long time and successfully. A very necessary thing with my refrigerator, in which half is a freezer!
AnswerVlad Kademin 08/25/2016
Olga's answer:
What about the practicality of settling in such bags, is it convenient? It’s just that while the containers can be neatly stacked, the bags themselves are not very convenient to stack.
AnswerTanya 08/26/2016
Answer from Vlad Kademin:
There are special clothespins for bags, or at worst you can use the laundry. Moreover, special bags are sold with them already. It’s a matter of taste in what to freeze the food, but the bags take up less space.
Answer
Tatiana 07/20/2016
Only homemade preparations contain everything that is most delicious, healthy and safe. Especially when you do it with your own hands, for your family and with love.
AnswerAndrey 07/23/2016
Answer Tatyana:
Yes, homemade preparations are safe and tasty. But not always useful. If you add the same vinegar (even apple cider vinegar), then the preparation is unlikely to be useful.
Pickled cucumbers and tomatoes, various assorted vegetables, jam and berry compotes - if all this has become too banal for you, then by all means take a look at this culinary selection. Unusual preparations, such as cucumber jam, carrot cheese, potato starch, prepared at home, simply excite the imagination. You can find these and other, no less interesting and original, preparations for the winter in this section of the site. Once you learn how to prepare certain unusual recipes, you will definitely be pleasantly surprised! If you choose a step-by-step recipe with photos, you will get the job done easily and simply.
The best recipes with photos
The last notes
There are many ways to prepare plums for the winter. I prefer to store plums in the freezer. When frozen, the taste, appearance of the product and vitamins are preserved. I most often use frozen plums in syrup for baby food, making desserts and drinks. Children who often eat poorly eat this preparation with pleasure.
Kitchen accessories and utensils include a huge list of products, including pots. In the manufacture of pans, three types of materials are used - enameled steel, steel with a chrome surface and aluminum, which, by the way, are already falling out of use. It doesn’t matter what material your pans are made of, in this case volume is of great importance. To prevent the preparation process from taking many hours, you need to select such pans that you can roll up several 3-liter jars at the same time.
7. Pots. 1. 7 liter saucepan. 2. 9 liter saucepan.Very convenient for preparing compotes and vegetable preparations. Place 2 pans on the fire at once while the water heats up to prepare berries, fruits or vegetables. Using 2 of these pans you can roll 4 3 liter jars. And if your recipe requires sterilizing a 3-liter jar, then place a sterilizer on the bottom of a 9-liter saucepan, place the jar, pour warm water and proceed according to the recipe. I usually sterilize jars in a 7 liter saucepan. You can also cook mushrooms, a lot of corn or jellied meat.
8. Pots, kettle.In such a pan it is very convenient to chop vegetables for salads for the winter, cook jam, stew vegetables for various salads and sterilize 0.5 liter jars. And the kettle is useful for preparing cucumbers for the winter using the triple sterilization method.
9. Mug, bowl.With the help of such a mug it is very convenient to measure sugar for making compotes. I add one such mug of sugar when cooking. And in a bowl you can put the lids for preservation and fill them with hot water - plastic ones for 30 seconds, metal ones for 1-2 minutes.
10. Metal can gripper, metal sieve. 1.This grip is used to remove jars after they have been sterilized. A very convenient little thing, grab the jar around the neck, squeeze the handles tightly and calmly remove it from the boiling water, your hands will always be without burns. I don’t sterilize three-liter jars, so I don’t know whether the jar grip will withstand such a load. 2. A metal sieve will be useful for blanching some vegetables and fruits when preparing salads and jam. It is very convenient to prepare some berries for jam by rubbing.10. Stone squeezer for cherries, steelyard.
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With the help of such a pitter, it is convenient to remove pits from cherries when preparing jam or pie filling. Can be of different shapes and sizes. If you don’t have special kitchen scales, then a steelyard is simply necessary, because when preparing many salads you need to strictly follow the recipe and weigh the products.
11. Mechanical meat grinder, food processor. |
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A mechanical meat grinder is very widely used by all housewives, especially when it is necessary to grind a small amount of food. I use the food processor for chopping and chopping food in large volumes.
12. Wooden apple slicer.A spoon or a spoon with a long handle is convenient for stirring salads and jam. And you won’t scratch the dishes and you won’t burn your hands with hot splashes. An apple slicer is indispensable when preparing compotes and pies for the winter.
It seems that we have sorted out the basic kitchen utensils. What additional accessories do you use? Share your tricks with blog readers.
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