Canning: Italian jars troublesome

[cinghiale]

I've got on the order of 40 old-growth cherry trees (read: 50 feet, not yr standard orchard tree). It's that time of year, and I'm trying to preserve the fruit (the low-hanging stuff that I can reach, anyway). The consorzi (ag coops), as well as the supermarkets here all seem to sell a really shitty canning arrangement: glass jar (duh) + integrated cap. I'm worried that it's faulty. Here's why:

Last summer in the U.S., I processed 500 lb. of tomatoes using Mason jars. When the jars went into the water bath, they happily gave up their air, tiny bubbles nesting around the jars. My understanding is that you need to drive out the air and create an anaerobic environment. The product held A1 over time.

With the Italian jars, I see niente on the bubble front. I'm wondering if they're working. You can't even really screw the lids down hard, like with a Mason or Ball jar. It's a quarter turn at most, then basta. I'm sterlizing the jars and then throwing the lids in for a couple of minutes to soften the ring. I'm doing hot pack for pitted cherries (fyi: 1.5 kg cleaned cherries yields 3 250-ml jars: saints preserve us!) and cold pack for whole cherries. The cold pack's already looking suspect.

Anyone had any experience with Italian jars?

[Maureen B. Fant]

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Anyone had any experience with Italian jars?

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I'm not a canner myself, but in our household we are big consumers of homemade jams made by other people, in exactly the jars you describe, which have never caused us a moment's concern, except occasionally getting them open. Surely the ladies at your local market or your neighbors will have some tips for you. Making jam sometimes seems a national sport.

[kellytree]

Yo Cingiale...

I once had some cherry trees just like yours.

Put the jars in water almost to the rim - boil for a bit (some claim that 90°C is enough - I usually let the water boil for about 20 minutes max- shut off the burner and then took them out about an hour later) - and then take them out and turn them lid side down....

In the morning (or when the are cool) flip 'em back over and the little bubble thing should go "pop" and if it doesn't push on the top of the cap and it should go pop and then you are golden..

If it doesn't go pop - stick them in the fridge and use asap.

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Anyone had any experience with Italian jars?

←

I'm not a canner myself, but in our household we are big consumers of homemade jams made by other people, in exactly the jars you describe, which have never caused us a moment's concern, except occasionally getting them open. Surely the ladies at your local market or your neighbors will have some tips for you. Making jam sometimes seems a national sport.

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[cinghiale]

I'm not getting the "pop" thing, which was why I asked. You test Mason jars like that, but if they go "pop" after they're cool, then the lid didn't set.

I was at a friend's house, and she was making cherry and apricot jams, using the same kind of jars, plus various collected commercial jam jars. She boiled the jars and lids, filled with hot jam, and flipped 'em upside down on the counter to set, just like k-tree describes. But she didn't process after filling/sealing the jars.

She was also about to start making -- what's the Italian name? -- elderberry jam. It was growing all over her property. She was were talking about how you can fry the flowers or or make wine with them (just like Elton John says). She also had some homemade laurel liquor, made using (diluted) 95% alcohol (certaintly can't get that in the U.S.).

[IrishAdventurer]

I am not a canning or jarring expert, but maybe I can make a contribution here: you seem to be describing the process of sterilising the jars in boiling water, and the lack of bubbles at this stage is what worries you, correct? If this is the situation, I wouldn't worry so much. You are trying to ensure that no bacteria, or air (which would cause oxidation) is present in the sterile jars, but I don't think the bubbles themselves matter: bubbles are formed in boiling liquids when there is some nucleation point for the bubbles to meet and escape, like some kind of minor variation in the glass, or indeed in a saucepan/pot of boiling water. The lack of bubbles on the glass (assuming the water is boiling) might mean it's very smooth, and thus can't provide any nucleation sites for the bubbles to escape.