How to sterilize jars at home correctly: 10 easy ways

Both cucumbers and tomatoes are rolled up in glass containers for long-term storage. It washes well, but beats on impact, bursts when filled with hot water. Women who preserve vegetables decide on their own how best to sterilize the jars so that the glass does not crack and the blanks do not deteriorate for a long time. There are several ways of heat treatment of dishes, each of them has its own nuances.

Why sterilize canning jars?

Even with thorough washing of dishes, not all fungi and bacteria die.Left in closed jars, microorganisms begin to multiply. The brine becomes cloudy, mold appears on the surface. Sterilize containers and lids to destroy germs, extend the shelf life of compotes and jams from fruits, canned vegetables. Regardless of the heat treatment method chosen, open jars are washed not with chemicals, but with mustard powder or soda.

Is it a must?

Sterilization of containers takes a lot of time, but allows you to destroy all microorganisms, increase the shelf life of blanks. You can replace boiling in hot water by thoroughly washing the jars, heating them in the oven or over steam. Some housewives fill a clean container with canned vegetables twice or thrice with boiling water, then fill it with brine or marinade, after seaming, turn it upside down and wrap it with a dense material.

Preparation of jars before starting the process

Glass is fragile, so each container must be checked for cracks or chips. It is undesirable to use covers that have already been rolled up, even if they are even and not rusty. Banks need to be washed with soda, mustard. Fairy-type chemicals are not suitable for this purpose, since they are not completely rinsed out, you can use laundry soap, which does not contain synthetic additives and flavors.

Methods for sterilizing jars at home

Both empty containers and containers filled with vegetables, mushrooms or fruits are heated. In both cases, there are certain sterilization rules, and the method depends on the choice of household device. Cans can be heated by steam, in an air grill, in a microwave and even in a dishwasher.

In the oven

Before sterilization, the washed container is dried on a towel.If a large number of products are preserved, empty jars with lids without rubber bands are placed in the oven. When the temperature rises to 200 ° C, the dishes are heated for 10 minutes, turned off, and removed not immediately, but after cooling. The glass will not crack, and the microbes will die. A simple method of sterilization is convenient in that you can heat more than one jar on the grill, but several. Rubber bands are dipped in boiling water.

Electrical

The oven is not turned on in advance. Wet containers are placed upside down, dry containers are placed on the neck, and lids are placed next to them to seal the preservation. In an electric oven, it is enough to set the temperature to 150 ° C and sterilize jars with a volume of 3 liters - 20 minutes, 0.5 - 10. Remove the dishes when they cool down, cover with a towel.

In the gas station

The container heated in such an oven does not form a concentrate on the walls, does not crack, and the blanks in it do not deteriorate for a long time, retain freshness and aroma. Sterilization involves several steps:

Jars without chips and cracks are washed in hot water with soda and rinsed in cool water.
Put neck down on the grill.
Turn on the oven, gradually increasing the temperature to 150-160°C.
At the maximum setting, small containers warm up for a quarter of an hour, three-liter ones - from 25 to 20 minutes.

In order not to get burned, they pull out a hot container, putting on mittens. Put on a towel upside down.

Microwave

You can quickly sterilize glassware by sending it to a powerful microwave oven. How many containers will fit depends on the volume of the device to do everything right:

Pour water into jars to cover the bottom by 20 mm.
Send the container to the microwave for 5 minutes.
Remove with an oven mitt and dry on a towel.

In order not to break the tightness of the microwave oven, the metal lids in it are not disinfected, but you can warm them up in a conventional oven.

In a pot of boiling water

Despite the emergence of modern household devices, many women sterilize containers, as grandmothers did. Jars and lids are washed with mustard or soda and placed in a large pot or bucket filled with water so that it reaches the neck. Small containers boil on the stove for 6 or 7 minutes, it will take half an hour to sterilize 3-liter jars. To prevent the glass from bursting, the bottom of the pan is covered with a towel in advance.

Over the ferry

Bacteria and fungi die not only in boiling water, it destroys pathogenic microorganisms, disinfects the container with exposure to hot steam. The pan is filled with water, a washed, dried glass container is placed on a sieve or grate so that the neck remains below. Three-liter containers are kept over steam for half an hour, then removed and shifted to the other side on a towel.

Above the teapot

Water boils for a long time in a large pot. To speed up the sterilization process, empty small jars are placed in the hole of the kettle, put it on the stove.

Disinfect glass containers for vegetable preparations until water drops form on the inner walls. A liter container in the kettle is sterilized for 10 minutes.

In a double boiler

Banks without cracks and chips are washed with soda in advance, the lids are thoroughly cleaned with a brush and heated in a water bath, sent to a double boiler for this. After the liquid boils, the container is sterilized for a quarter of an hour, removed from the bowl with a dry cloth or gloves and put on a towel with the neck down.

In the slow cooker

Before you roll up a salad or preserve vegetables, you need to prepare and disinfect the jars where the snacks will be stored. Women who have a slow cooker in the kitchen:

Pour 2 or 3 cups of water into the bowl.
Put on the bottom of the lid.
The basket is installed, glass containers are placed on it.
Select the boiling mode and time.

Easier to sterilize small jars this way. Cool and dry them on a towel.

In the dishwasher

It is not necessary to rub the container for blanks with soda or mustard powder if you use household appliances for disinfection, which provides for a sterilization mode. Glass jars with lids simply load into the dishwasher, but do not add powder.

In airfryer

Hot air is no worse than steam or boiling water, copes with bacteria and fungi. To disinfect dishes in which canned vegetables, caviar or salad are put, an air grill is used.

The device is freed from unnecessary gratings, clean jars are put into it. Select a mode with a temperature of at least 150 ° C. They take out the containers after a quarter of an hour, fill them with preservation, tighten the lids, which are boiled separately in water.

How to sterilize jars with blanks?

To keep canned tomatoes, pickled and baked eggplants, vegetable salads longer, they are transferred to clean and dry glass jars, which are covered, placed on an oven tray and sterilized. Heat the containers slowly to 100 or 120 ° C, disinfect for as many minutes as indicated in the recipe.

Temperature and sterilization time

Disinfect containers in different ways. If you use a gas or electric oven, jars of 0.5, 0.75 liters at a temperature of 150-180 ° C are sterilized for only 10 minutes, the same amount - over steam and in a pot of boiling water.

It will take a long time to disinfect a three-liter container, it will take at least half an hour to warm up.

Why wrap cans of blanks?

Sometimes, during conservation, cucumbers or tomatoes are poured twice or thrice with water, vinegar is added, but they are not immediately placed in the pantry, they are not taken to the basement, but wrapped in a blanket, blanket or thick towel. In a hot brine or marinade, vegetables are sterilized, and not just steamed, which increases the shelf life of snacks, containers with such preservation practically do not explode.

Why do jars burst during sterilization?

Glass is a brittle material that can crack from a slight impact, from temperature changes. If you wash and rinse the jars with cold water, they burst in boiling water. Glassware explodes when removed from a hot oven into a cool room.

Storage of sterilized containers

High temperature, boiling water and steam destroy microorganisms. Bacteria and fungi die in the microwave, and in the dishwasher, and in the air grill, however, as the jars cool, the sterility decreases. It is recommended to disinfect containers for blanks immediately before conservation, and not for future use.