Putting Food By - Janet Greene [133]
Quickly, some other equivalents for finished jelly in Fahrenheit and feet (to save space, look up your own Celsius in Chapter 3): 218 F at 2000 ft; 216 F at 3000 ft; 214 F at 4000 ft; 212 F at 5000 ft; 210 F at 7000 ft; 206 F at 8000 ft.
Conventional Processing with the Quick B–W Bath
Ladle in your hot, hot jelly/jam into hot jars, leaving ¼ inch of headroom. Quickly wipe the sealing rim of the jar with fresh paper towels dampened with boiling water; take care of any smudges that have climbed up inside the jar, and wipe the threads as well. Put on the prepared disc lid, screw down the band firmly tight, and fill and cap the next hot jar. When there’s a canner-load, put your jars in the hot water, add boiling water as needed (but don’t pour it directly on top of the jars) to come 2 inches above the lids. Cover the canner, bring to boiling, and boil convincingly but not violently for 5 minutes only.
Remove jars; let cool upright and naturally. When you hear the soft plink that means a strong vacuum has formed, you know you have a hardy seal, designed to withstand less-than-ideal storage. Check all jars for good seals every month or so.
The Quick B–W Bath versus the “Inversion Method”
In 1987, General Foods, maker of both liquid pectin (Certo) and powdered (the Sure•Jells), introduced a new sealing method for jellies and jams, which it touted as safe than and as quicker and easier than 5-minute processing in a Boiling–Water Bath. The technique calls for leaving only ⅛ inch of headroom, wiping the jar carefully, clapping on the disc and screwband, and immediately inverting the jar, leaving it to sit upside down for 5 minutes. It is then turned upright and allowed to continue cooling in the standard fashion. The thinking behind the inverting is that the jam/jelly—being still at a temperature to destroy spoiler micro-organisms—will sterilize the underside of the sealing disc, and the little amount of air trapped under the lid.
A vacuum can form if the jars are hot and the contents are at least 165 F/74 C. But it won’t be a strong vacuum, because any amount of air left in the jar will invite growth of mold eventually—even though the jar is technically sealed. Thus, even proponents of the inversion method recommend processing jams and jellies in a Boiling–Water Bath in the South, to counteract heat and humidity of storage in the region. Also, food scientists have expressed worries over the inversion technique used at high altitudes, and they are against it.
PFB once advocated the inversion method, but we reversed our own recommendations in our previous edition. We continue to be against this method today, as is the USDA. Why take the time and effort to put by preserves, only to risk having them spoil?
Labeling and Storing
During the 24 hours before you store your jelly, check it for loose texture and faulty seals (see Failures and What to Do in this chapter). Carefully clean away any stickiness from the glasses/jars, giving extra attention to the tops around the closures where outside mold can attack the seal. Label each container with the kind and the date; it’s a good idea to indicate the batch number if you made more than one lot of the same sort that day. And if you used a method or recipe different from your usual one, note this fact too: it could help to pinpoint reasons for trouble, as well as for outstanding successes.
Storage in a “cool, dark, dry place” is the same as for canned goods: ideally 32–50 F (Zero–10 C)—certainly not where the contents will freeze (which can break seals), certainly not at normal room temperature (which encourages growth of spoilers). Dark, because the pretty colors can turn brown or fade in the light; otherwise you put them in cartons or wrap them in paper or cover the whole shebang with an old blanket or the like. And dry, because humidity