| Canning at home is a great way to preserve fruit | | | | prepared pan of warm water. If you're worried about |
| (including tomatoes) in times of plenty. Their are | | | | the jars jostling about and banging each other, wrap |
| several methods you can use to can fruit at home. | | | | each one in a little newspaper or cloth. |
| The most common are cold water bath, the oven | | | | - The water in the saucepan should reach nearly to |
| and hot water bath methods. | | | | the lid of each jar. |
| Here we'll talk about the hot water bath method of | | | | - Slowly bring the pan to the boil. |
| home canning. This method requires no special skills | | | | - Simmer for the required length of time, then |
| and certainly no special equipment. If you are new to | | | | remove the jars and tighten their lids. |
| home canning this is definitely the way to start! | | | | - The bottled fruit will store well for up to a year in |
| Vegetables are low in acid and difficult to sterilise so | | | | the dark. |
| they are best preserved cooked (such as in | | | | How to Can Tomatoes at Home? |
| chutneys) or pickled in alcohol, salt or vinegar (such | | | | Tomatoes are perhaps the most useful fruit to home |
| as dill pickles). Fruit, however has a much higher | | | | can because they can be used in so many ways, |
| acidity and is therefore easy to can at home safely. | | | | from pasta sauces to stews and soups. To bottle |
| In the UK we call canning, bottling so I will use the | | | | tomatoes at home simply follow the procedure |
| terms interchangeably here. | | | | above, adding a pinch of salt and warm water to the |
| How to Can Fruit at Home? | | | | jars rather than sugar syrup. |
| - Prepare your firm, ripe fruit. Make sure it is clean, | | | | How Long to Simmer Fruit When Home Canning? |
| peeled and pitted if desired, and that any blemishes | | | | - Tomatoes need around 40 minutes. |
| have been removed. Seriously over-ripe or damaged | | | | - Soft fruit and apple slices need around 2 minutes. |
| fruits should not be bottled at home as they will not | | | | - Stone and citrus fruit need to simmer for around 10 |
| store well and may spoil the rest of the batch. | | | | minutes. |
| - Now pack your prepared fruit into warm, sterilised | | | | Simmering fruit when home bottling is the action that |
| jars. Pack the jars as tightly as possible and leave | | | | sterilises the fruit, helping it stay in good condition |
| 1cm of space between the contents and the top of | | | | over time. Simmering for too long will, in effect 'cook' |
| the jar. | | | | the fruit for maybe longer than ideal but will not |
| - Top up the jar with a little lemon juice (1/2 tbsp for | | | | affect its storing capacity. Simmering for too short a |
| each litre of fruit) and a warm sugar syrup. | | | | time is more problematic as you may not sterilise the |
| - Prepare a large saucepan by putting a clean cloth or | | | | fruit sufficiently and it may spoil. So, if in doubt |
| block of wood in its base and filling with warm water. | | | | simmer for a longer, not shorter time. |
| - Put the lids on loosely and pack the jars into your | | | | |