Contents
Sterilization of jars is one of the most important stages in the process of preparing preservation. There are many methods of sterilization. Often ovens are used for this. This allows you to quickly and efficiently warm up several cans at once. Experienced housewives know how much time it takes to sterilize containers in water or over steam. How is such sterilization carried out and how long should jars be kept in the oven? This will be discussed below.
How to sterilize empty jars
Sterilization is simply necessary so that the jars can be stored for a long time. Without it, various bacteria will begin to multiply in the blanks. The toxins they release are very dangerous for human health and life. Using the oven, you can carry out high-quality sterilization. In addition, the containers will not need to be dried additionally, which often takes a lot of time.
The advantage of this method is also that you do not need to warm up each jar separately. Several of these containers will fit into the oven at once. In terms of capacity, the oven surpasses even the microwave, in which you can put no more than 5 cans. In the oven, you can sterilize both an empty container and a filled one. And it does not matter what exactly you roll. It can be various vegetable salads, as well as pickled cucumbers and tomatoes.
Before you start sterilizing empty containers, you should make sure that the dishes do not have any defects. Containers with cracks and chips can easily burst during heating. There should also be no stains on the banks.
Then the containers are turned over and left to dry. Now you can proceed to the sterilization itself. All containers are laid out in the oven upside down. If the banks are not yet completely dry, then they are placed upside down. For sterilization in the oven, set the temperature within 150 degrees. Half-liter jars are kept in the oven for at least 15 minutes, but three-liter containers will have to be heated for about 30 minutes.
Important nuances
You can only take jars out of the oven with special gloves or a kitchen towel. To prevent the jar from suddenly bursting, it is necessary to carefully place it on the surface with the neck down. To keep the jars cool slowly, you can cover them with a towel on top.
Be sure to hold the jar with both hands so that if something happens, it will not fall and injure you. Then the question may arise, what to do with the covers? It is undesirable to sterilize them in the oven. Lids, like jars, must be thoroughly rinsed, and then placed in a pot of water and boiled for 15 minutes. To remove the lids from the pan, it is better to first drain the water or use special tongs.
Sterilizing jars in an electric oven
Owners of electric ovens can also sterilize jars in this way. It does not matter at all what shape and size the oven itself is. The whole process goes like this:
- The jars are thoroughly washed using soda, as in the above method. Then the containers are laid out on a towel to dry.
- Do not forget that wet jars must be placed neck up, and the rest are turned upside down.
- Metal lids can also be sterilized in an electric oven. They are simply laid out next to the jars in the oven.
- Set the temperature to around 150°C. We heat three-liter containers for 20 minutes, and half-liter containers for about 10 minutes.
As you can see, the use of an electric oven can significantly speed up the sterilization process. You also need to take out the jars carefully, using potholders and towels. It is necessary to put sterile jars only on a clean, washed surface, otherwise all the work will be in vain and the bacteria will again fall into the container.
Attention! With a sharp jump in temperature, the jar may burst, so it is better to immediately cover the containers with a towel. So, the heat will be stored much longer.
How to sterilize jars with ready-made blanks
Using ovens for sterilization has many advantages. Such rolls are perfectly stored and almost never explode. Thanks to heating, the container is not only sterilized, but also dried. This saves time for additional drying of containers, as after processing over steam. In addition, your kitchen will not increase the level of humidity due to boiling liquid. This process does not cause any inconvenience. You don’t even have to fish hot jars out of boiling water.
In addition to empty containers, ready-made seams can also be sterilized in the oven. Doing this is pretty easy too. The process goes like this:
- The jar is filled with a blank and the container is placed in water. A lid is not needed at this stage.
- Set the temperature to 150 degrees. When the oven heats up to this level, we mark ten minutes for half-liter jars, 15 minutes for liter containers and 20 minutes for blanks with a volume of 3 or 2 liters.
- When the required time has elapsed, the jars are taken out of the oven in turn and rolled up with special lids.
- Next, the jars are turned upside down and left to cool completely. In order for the jars to cool slowly, you should cover the preservation with a blanket.
- After a day, when the jars are completely cool, you can transfer the containers to the cellar.
Conclusion
Even cooking does not stand still. Everything old is replaced by something newer and more practical. It’s good that with modern technology it is no longer necessary to boil huge pots of water, and then, at the risk of burning your fingers, hold cans of blanks over them. Using the oven for these purposes is much more convenient and faster. No steam, stuffiness and bursting cans, which often happens during the boiling process. Enumerate all the advantages of this method can be very long. But it is better not to talk about it, but to take it and try it. So if you have not had time to try this wonderful method, then do not wait for the next summer, try it as soon as possible.