I water bath canned some applesauce for the first time the other day, and I'll be doing it again today. Do I preheat my jars in the same water/pot that I will be doing the processing in? And should I fill the jars with water during the preheat/sterilization?
Additionally, i used canning rings as my rack, but from sitting in the water they got a tiny bit rusty. is it okay to use those as my rack again if I'm filling the jars with the same water?
Overall I think my first batch went well and I'm excited to snag some apples from my neighbors tree and try again! (I know my headspace is a bit big, will be correcting it this time)
by Chipnanimus
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I usually preheat/sterilize my jars in the dishwasher, especially if they are new to me jars
You don’t have to sterilize them if you’re processing for 10+ minutes, so I just wash mine in hot soapy water and then stick them in the water bath as the water heats up. Pull them out & fill, and then back in the water bath to process.
I just wash them and stick them in the canner to warm up, immersed in the water, just at a low simmer. You don’t neex to boil at this point because you just want the water to be at a low simmer when you fill the jars and put them back in, and then you bring it up to a boil.
If the recipe calls for a processing time of less than 10 minutes, then you would want to boil the jars to sterilize them. Anything 10 or over, no sterilization needed.
I put mine in the oven, in a baking dish on low heat.
I boil a kettle and fill each jar with boiling water on the counter as I also bring the canner to a boil. As a fill my jars with product I dump the hot water into the canner and place the filled jar in the canner. Rinse and repeat until full and then bring the whole shebang to a boil and start the clock.