How to sterilize jars in the microwave: dry and with water, photo and video

Preparing pickles and jams for the winter is not an easy task, and every housewife knows that the guarantee that the preparations will be successful, and the jars will not explode or become cloudy, is thorough sterilization. Anyone who has ever sterilized jars in a pot of boiling water and a hot oven understands that this is a tedious and threatening task. But there is a much simpler and more reliable way, and it will be useful for every lover of blanks to learn how to quickly sterilize jars in the microwave

Advantages and disadvantages of sterilizing jars in the microwave

The microwave oven helps to simply complete the process, which used to take a lot of time and effort, and disinfect the dishes needed for preparations in a few minutes. But the method also has a number of disadvantages that are worth mentioning.

Benefits of microwave sterilization:

no need to boil a huge pot of water and arrange something like a steam room in the kitchen;
no danger of getting burned from hot steam or breaking a jar when taking it out of boiling water, it does not require good skill, which not everyone has;
Sterilization is more efficient with microwaves in addition to temperature.

Disadvantages of oven use:

microwave sterilization is an energy-intensive process and the electricity bill will be hefty;
lids still have to be processed the old fashioned way, microwave waves are incompatible with metal objects;
The volume of the oven only allows you to place one three-liter jar at a time, and you will have to repeat the procedure with each individual jar.

But even with limited volume, microwave sterilization takes much less time and effort than traditional methods.

Preparing empty glass jars

Before igniting jars, it is important to prepare them carefully. There are no trifles in the process, any flaw can waste all the work, and it’s very disappointing to find cloudy cucumbers or fermented jam, or, even worse, an exploding compote on your shelf.

Sequence of actions:

First, inspect for damage, cracks and chips. Such defects will not allow the jar to be stored for a long time, pressure fluctuations occur under the influence of temperature changes and, if even a small crack is caught, all contents will be lost;
Secondly, rinse the jars well, remove all impurities. It is better to use laundry soap and soda when washing, detergent residues can remain on the walls and affect the taste and quality of pickles;
third, it is better to prepare the lids in advance, rinse, inspect and sterilize in boiling water.

Methods and step-by-step instructions for sterilization in an oven

There are two ways to sterilize jars in the microwave:

with steam;
dry, or more correctly called it combined, since steam is still present.

Both methods are equally reliable, and you can choose the one that will be more convenient to use. Each hostess has her own favorite method, but it is also important to understand whether a dry jar is needed or it is acceptable to use a wet one.

Steer sterilize

This is the easiest and most effective way:

a small amount of water is poured into the jar, no more than two fingers from the bottom;
the container is placed in the oven (if the jars are small, several can be placed at once);
in time, the oven turns on for about 3 minutes, with a power of 800 watts, you can additionally navigate by the water level;
3-litre jars can be folded on their side with a clean towel or paper towel to prevent jars from rolling around during processing;
the jars are taken out of the oven, always with good potholders on their hands, excess water is poured out, and the jars are placed on a clean towel before pouring the blanks.

Important! Do not pour cold liquid into a hot jar - glass will probably crack from a sharp temperature drop. It is recommended to pour hot marinade into a warm container, and into a cooled one - already cooler.

Water is better to take without impurities to avoid scale formation at the bottom.

Dry sterilized

For this method, you will additionally need a glass, water is poured into it by 2/3 of the volume so that it does not spill when boiling. The jars and glass are placed in a microwave oven and it starts at a power of 700-800 watts. In order to correctly determine how many minutes it takes to process, you need to monitor the water level. After complete boiling, the treatment can be considered complete

Microwave waves and hot steam will completely destroy bacteria on the surface of the container.

Features of microwave sterilization of cans with preservation

Sometimes it is necessary to process jars along with blanks, so that the products themselves are also rid of excess bacteria. In this case, we place the products prepared for conservation in clean containers and sterilize in the same way, with the addition of a small amount of water.

Due to the short processing time, the products do not have time to cook, and the cucumbers will not lose their hardness and crunch, and the berries will retain their shape and texture.

With s alty foods

S alt, by itself, is a disinfectant for preparations and preservation, but it always makes sense to further process containers and products for better protection.

This is especially important when it comes to meat products and mushrooms. Botulism is a dreaded and sometimes fatal disease, and careful handling of food during preservation is extremely important.

Jars already filled with mushrooms or other preservation, and a small container of water must be placed in a microwave oven, after waiting for the water to boil, let it boil for about three minutes, after which they can be removed, poured with marinade, and quickly covered with sterile lids using a seamer.

Ready-made jars are best left to cool, wrapped in a blanket so that the temperature drops more slowly. And put it upside down for a couple of days to make sure there are no bubbles. If bubbles still appear, the jar will have to be reprocessed, sterilized and rolled up.

With raw berries and fruits

For raw fruits and berries, sterilization is also very important. All fruits contain bacteria that promote fermentation. And if you do not want the jar to explode unexpectedly under the influence of accumulated gases, it must be thoroughly disinfected.

Here, putting fruit in a prepared jar and adding a little syrup, put it in the oven for a short time, let it boil for 3-5 minutes, take it out, pour it with boiled syrup and seal it with a lid. It is important not to overexpose the fruits under the influence of temperature, otherwise they will lose their properties and will look far from being so beautiful.

With jam

Some housewives neglect the need to pasteurize jam, hoping that a large amount of sugar will not allow the product to deteriorate.

But it is worth recalling that the jam very often begins to ferment or becomes moldy, which will be an extremely unpleasant surprise. Therefore, it is better to spend five minutes and avoid the disastrous consequences of a careless attitude.

Jars of jam are sterilized within 4-5 minutes at a typical power of 700-800 watts, after which you can no longer worry about the state of stocks all winter.

Important! When sterilizing, it is necessary to avoid getting contamination into the container during the process of transferring and rolling cans.

If, nevertheless, by negligence, a foreign object gets into the jar, it will be easier to re-sterilize than to wait for the inevitable spoilage of the products after a while.

Modern household appliances make the life of housewives much easier, and with minimal effort, an excellent result is obtained. Although it is important here to know the subtleties and nuances of its application, and sometimes unexpected possibilities.

And, of course, the most important thing is the result. After the effort, nothing compares to the pleasure of tasting a jar of your favorite jam or compote on a winter evening that has preserved the memories of a sunny summer.