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The main problem when preserving jars is how you vacuum your jars. I do not want to use a special jar for preserving aliments, nor special caps for the jar. I only have the normal ones, the ones you tap the cap and it is supposed to seal. The Quattro Stagioni cost too much if you want to preserve more than 30~50 bottles. There are also special tool which I do not trust at all.

I am not asking about:

  • For aliments with a low PH. For example pickled gherkins, pickled gherkins pickled eggs, and not that much. I do not like to make every vegetable pickled.
  • Aliments that are dehydrated. I do no even have to save in a bottle I can use a rope, for tomato or fungi/mushrooms, but others like dry ginger, onion or lemon I save on a jar.
  • Aliments which are saved with plenty olive oil (AOVE). I am spanish, so AOVE is the base of anything. I have done raw salads (tomato, onion, some garlic, zucchini), put them on the bottle, boiled up and its ready. But I am a little doubtful about cooked aliments, even when I cover them up with AOVE i see air bubbles in the bottle, I have thrown some out because they got rotten.
  • Aliments that are fermented. I am really familiar with Sauerkraut. It is great how easy it is and how you do no need any sanitizing process. I usually crush with my hand the raw cabbage, some onion, garlic, ginger, turmeric, salt, wait for it release all the water. Put all on the jar, cover the jar with plenty of the water it released (which is basically brine) and that's it.

My usual method with the jars is:

  • Boil the cap in water (about 20 minutes in the moment it start boiling)
  • Boil the bottles (about 20 minutes in the moment it start boiling) or heating it in the oven (about 20 minutes at 100 Celsius/212 Fahrenheit)

After I sanitize my bottles I put my cooked food, for example tuna, or roasted vegetables (typical in spain), and the boiled in water the bottle with the food inside. But the caps that tell you when the bottle it is vacuum?. For me, most of the time they do not work. Most of the time there is an air bubble in some jars.

I know there is technique called autoclave, and there are some not cheap manufactured machines such as: https://grupo-selecta.com/en/autoclaves-for-canning/

Which method do you use to preserve your aliments, and if you have found ones do not fail that much when preserving cooked aliments, or any tool, tip or specific cheap jar or method to vacuum and preserve my aliments in a jar?

Kate Gregory
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Ismael
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2 Answers2

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It is ok that you can see some air still in the jars. In fact, if you fill the jars so full that there is food to the very top, you won't get a seal. The way "canning" works is that heat expands the air at the top of the jar and forces it out of the jar so less air is in there. When the jar cools to room temperature, the pressure in the jars is less than our atmospheric pressure (a small vacuum, not an absolute vacuum) and this holds the lids on so tightly that bacteria cannot get in from outside. If what went into the jars was boiling hot, then there will no be bacteria already in there growing, so you are going to be ok. As you noted, a slightly acidic pH is helpful, but that doesn't mean it has to be pickled: I add a teaspoon of lemon juice to canned tomatoes, which you can't taste but which all the recipes swear is vital to lower the pH.

You asked how you can know if the seal fails? I use the two part lids for my jars. A flat metal lid with a little rubber ring on the inside surface, and a larger metal screw ring that holds it on while processing. When you first put the lid on, you can push the domed centre and it will boing up and down. After "processing" (boiling the closed jar full of food in water, for 20 minutes if they are 1 litre jars), the lid should stay down exclusively. It's common for them to "ping" down noisily when you remove them from the boiling water. Sometimes you poke them to check and they go down once, but then don't bounce up again. If your lids have "gone down" the processing has succeeded and you have a vacuum seal.

If your lids still "boing" after processing then you need to do something else. Most of the time it's a matter of removing the lid and cleaning the edge of the jar, maybe taking out some food if there wasn't enough "headspace", and processing it again. But some people just put the jar in the fridge and use it right away rather than trying to redo a single jar.

I am not going to address your other methods such as covering with olive oil or fermenting, that is too broad a scope for a question here.

Kate Gregory
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For effective vacuum sealing without special equipment, try using the water bath method. After filling your sanitized jars with food, screw on the lids tightly and process the jars in boiling water for the recommended time. This helps create a vacuum seal as the contents cool. Ensure jars are completely submerged and avoid overcrowding. For better results, you can also use a canning funnel and jar lifter to handle hot jars safely.

abuislam
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