Bottling fruits, to my way of thinking, is the most effective of all preserving methods. It’s certainly well worth the investment of time and any financial outlay in the purchasing of equipment, as all manner of fruits of the season can be held in suspended animation for years.
For decades we lived by the seaside. Frequent and extended power outages there taught me that while a freezer full of food will soon be ruined, the bottled fruits on the shelves sit (almost smugly), unaffected and unspoiled through the entire crisis.
For my part, many decades ago when I first began preserving by way of making jam, I had little regard for this seemingly tedious process of bottling fruits. However, my husband, an ardent fan of preserving this way, after years spent on a farm, purchased an old book called Home Preserving. Perhaps it was an epiphany for me, for as I read it I was struck by a particularly pertinent comment the American author made (I should note that in the United States, bottling is referred to as canning). ‘Eat what you can and can what you can’t’, she wrote.
And there you have it in a nutshell. While it’s great to eat fresh, seasonal fruits, it’s certainly beneficial on a whole range of fronts – nutritionally, economically and, arguably, socially – to capture the season’s bounty in a bottle. For what’s nicer than to entertain friends for dinner and present them with a peach crumble or gooseberry pie in the middle of winter, a hint of the summer past and a promise of the one to come? And a simple teacake can be made into a taste sensation at any time by topping it with preserved pears, apricots, plums or peaches before baking.
And so, my life as an enthusiastic bottler of seasonal fruits began. It’s a funny thing that once people know you have a preserver and a passion for the process, they bring you fruits from their trees, vines and bushes, and so there’s always the luxury of experimentation.
Do you need a preserving outfit? Well, technically no, as you can do the same thing with a large pot on the top of the stove and a thermometer, but the process is made much simpler if you do have one.
If you have an outfit that is thermostat-controlled, this is good of course, but occasionally we still use an old, battered version that sits on top of the fuel stove. You just need to tend the thermometer to keep the temperature consistent. However, best not to use an old version on a ceramic or similar cooktop, or it will surely scratch it.
Other than that, you really just need jars and lids, rings, too, for some bottles, and clips as well, in that case. There are, however, many varieties and variations available today – flip-topped, clip-topped or not, even screw-topped, a veritable smorgasbord of choices.
And so you are set to go. You just need to acquire the fruits.
Fruits for bottling are best when they’re just ripe. They look and present best in the bottle, and hold their shape well. The fruits need to be clean, of course, so give them a wash.
Stone fruits, such as peaches and apricots, need to have their stones removed. Well, that’s not strictly true – you can leave them in, but it means that you get less produce to the jar. Place the halves neatly into the bottle cut side down.
The stone-fruit exception to this is plums. If the stones are removed, the plums tend to collapse on themselves and don’t look at all attractive in the jars.
Other than gooseberries, I don’t bottle berries. They tend to collapse and look unattractive. It’s better to freeze or even dehydrate them.
You will need some type of liquid in there, too. Some people are averse to using a sugar syrup, and that is fine when using this method of preserving. Just use water if you want, or fruit juice. You can see how this would be highly beneficial for those on sugar-restricted diets.
However, I admit to liking a little sugar in there. You can make a heavy syrup – that is, equal parts sugar and water – or anything back from that, up to one part sugar, three parts water.
Making the syrup is a simple thing – I add just enough boiling water to dissolve the sugar, then mix in cold water to the strength of syrup I like. It’s then ready to use. I used to make it up in huge bucketfuls before I learned better sense and just made it 1 litre jugfuls at a time. There is far less, if any, wastage.
• Fill your jars of fruits to the brim with the preserving liquid of choice, and then place on the lids, or rubber rings and lids and clips, if you are using them. For screw-topped jars, screw lids on tight, then release a smidgen. Whichever jar you use, be guided by the jar manufacturer’s directions.
• Place the jars in the preserver, and fill to the lids with cold water. Put the lid on the preserving outfit, and bring the temperature up to what is recommended for the fruit, you have chosen. This needs to be done over the space of at least 50 minutes. If you have a thermostat-controlled preserver, just set the temperature and it will be done automatically for you.
• Now, some people preserve everything at 92°C or thereabouts – at a specified time for different-sized jars. However, I like to give each fruit a specific temperature of its own to maintain maximum nutrients and for best presentation. I’ve had so many fruits to experiment with over the past 40 years that I’ve had the luxury of working this out. This chapter concludes with a information about of the temperatures that I consider give best results.
• After the specified time, remove the bottles from the preserver. If you have used screw-topped jars, screw the lids on very firmly again. Be careful to protect your hands from the heat and the hot preserving liquid that may exude a little as you do this. Now leave the jars to stand on a wooden board for 24 hours before storing in the pantry.
• Remove clips as appropriate (follow manufacturer’s instruction for your jars).
• Check if the jars are sealed properly. If the lid is concave, then a good seal has formed. If not, you need to use the fruit immediately.
NOTE: The times given relate to a thermostat-controlled preserver, where the temperature is set on the gauge and the bottles of fruit left in there for the time specified in the chart.
If you do not have a thermostat-controlled unit (for example, if you have a stove-top unit) and hence need to watch a thermometer during processing, it should take at least 50 minutes to reach the specified temperature, then hold there for the remainder of the time.
For jars that hold more than 1.5kg, add an extra 20 minutes’ preserving time.
| Fruit | Time (hours) preserving liquid | Additive needed per 1 litre |
| At 85°C | ||
| Apples (sliced or diced) | 2 | - |
| Berries (whole) | 1¼ | - |
| Currants (whole) | 1¼ | - |
| At 88°C | ||
| Apricots (halved) | 1½ | - |
| Cherries (whole) | 1½ | - |
| Grapes (whole) | 1¾ | - |
| Kiwi fruit (sliced) | 1¾ | - |
| Peaches (halved) | 1¾ | - |
| Pineapple (sliced) | 1¾ | - |
| Rhubarb (sliced) | 1¾ | - |
| At 90°C | ||
| Feijoas (sliced) | 1¾ | 50ml lemon juice |
| Figs (sliced) | 2 | 40ml lemon juice |
| Mangoes (sliced) | 1½ | 40ml lemon juice |
| Pears (halved) | 1¾ | 40ml lemon juice |
| Plums (whole) | 2 | - |
| Nectarines (halved) | 1¾ | - |
| At 95°C | ||
| Quinces (sliced or diced) | 2 | - |
| Pawpaw (whole) | 1¾ | 50ml lemon juice |
| Boil | ||
| Tomatoes | 1¼ | ½ teaspoon citric acid to 500g tomatoes |