How to sterilize glass jars ?

Your fridge is overflowing with good fruits and vegetables and you don't know what to do with them? Would throwing them away really hurt you? Wasting is not good for the planet, but your wallet doesn't appreciate it either. So think about sterilizing your  glass jars  ! Making homemade preserves is really not that difficult and it's even quite delicious.

How to sterilize empty glass jars ?

The first step before making homemade preserves is to sterilize your empty jars and their lids. 

The first step, before even thinking about any kind of sterilization, is to clean your jar with warm water and natural soap (household soap). Be careful, it is important to let them dry upside down on the sink or to wipe them until the humidity inside the glass jar is gone.

After the cleaning, it is time for the first sterilization with boiling water. These are the steps :

1. Plunge the glass jars into cold water ;

2. Heat up gradually until boiling to avoid thermal shock and the explosion of the glass jar ;

3. Boil for 10 minutes ;

4. Take them out and let them dry until the fog in the inside disappears.  

Another option is to sterilize them in the oven : 

1. Place your glass jars in your oven as well as the lids of your glass jars ; 

2. Heat your oven up gradually to 140 degrees;

3. Leave them for 10 minutes ;

4. Turn it off and leave in the oven until needed. 

How to sterilize full glass jars ?

Once the glass jars are perfectly sterilized, it's time to fill them with a lot of good stuff. Be careful, when filling, do not exceed 2 cm under the top edge of your jar, it is important for the next steps.  

Another tip that we reveal to you today is to be careful not to leave air pockets in your food to make sterilization easier and increase the durability of your preparations. So be sure to press on the food in the jar. 

 Sterilization with boiling water 

After filling your glass jars with delicious food, close your glass jars with your airtight lids. Here are the steps to follow:

1. Take a large pot and place a cloth in the bottom to avoid metal-glass contact during sterilization ;

2. Place the glass jars in the bottom of the pot ;

3. Fill the pot to cover the glass jars with boiling water for an additional 2 to 3 cm ;

4. Bring water to boil ; 

5. Let the magic work for 20min ;

6. Turn off everything and leave for an hour;

7. Remove the glass jars from the pot and let cool for 24 hours at room temperature before storing.

Fast sterilization

This technique is simple and short but only works for hot preparations like homemade jams. It has 3 steps: 

1. After preparation, pour the concoction into the glass jar while it is still hot ;

2. Close the glass jar and turn it upside down until it cools down completely (it usually takes 24 hours);

3. You can put it away ! 

Sterilization with a sterilizer

If you make a lot of preserves, you can also opt for a sterilizer that will allow you to sterilize more jars at the same time and avoid having to use a cloth. This sterilization consists of 6 steps: 

1. Put your glass jars in the sterilizer ;

2. Fill the sterilizer with water until every glass jar and their lids are covered ; 

3. Close the lid of the sterilizer ;

4. Set the sterilization time and temperature according to the food in the glass jars ;

5. Remove the glass jars from the sterilizer after the allocated time ; 

6. Let cool for 24 hours and store. 

To conclude... 

Now you're ready to make great homemade, zero-waste preserves! Nothing simpler or more practical.

See you soon for new bouncing adventures,