Bottling successfully with the water bath method

If you would like to preserve fruit, you can use a hot water bath method. For this you need either a specifically made canner from a company like Fowlers (available at home and garden stores or secondhand) or a large pot with a suitably sized cake rack in the bottom. There needs to be sufficient space between the bottom of the pot and the bottoms of the jars, thus the need for a cake rack or something similar. I preserve using a canner that belonged to my grandmother, pictured in my post about loquats. The explanation Green Living Australia gives of the hot water bath method is quite good, although I believe you can do without new lids, funnels, and tongs!

I have used recycled pasta jars and their lids with success. However, I will probably discard the lids after opening the jars of preserved fruit.  I may use them one more time, but I am not sure how many uses they will endure. The official line is that they are only designed for one use, but many people have found that they can preserve successfully with recycled lids. The key is to use lids with the button that indicates whether or not they are sealed.

My plums and loquats were packed raw into jars and processed for 30 minutes using the hot water bath method. Here are the steps to successfully preserving raw fruit:

1. Wash your jars and lids.

2. Place fruit into jars and fill with water, leaving at least 1/2 an inch at the top of the jar.

3. Make sure the top of the jar is clean, and place the lid onto the jar.

4. Place into your canner or pot and fill with enough water to cover the jars.

5. Bring to the boil and boil for about 30 minutes.

6. Wait until the water is cool and remove jars.

7. As they cool, the seal should pop down. If it does not pop down when they are cool, refrigerate or freeze the fruit.