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New to preserving? Follow our guide on how to sterilise your jars, so whether you're preparing Kilner® Jars for chutney, jam or pickling this first step is essential.
Sterilising your Kilner® Jars and Bottles is an important process in preserving. Sterilising is required to remove all bacteria, yeasts, fungi and organisms from the jar so that when you use it for preserving, the food will remain fresh within the vacuum. We recommend the water bath method of sterilising.
The first process of sterilisation is to check the jars or bottles thoroughly for damage such as cracks, breaks, and chips. If you find any of your jars or bottles are damaged you must discard them.
It is important that you only sterilise your jars, bottles and lids or seals a short time before you are ready to fill them to ensure they remain warm for the filling process.
Step 2 - Wash Your Jars
To remove any initial dirt of grime, wash your jars in warm soapy water and leave to dry.
Step 3 - Prepare The Waterbath
Remove the lids or rubber seals from your jars and put to one side. Place a heat resistant plate upside down in the bottom of your Kilner® Preserving Pan then place the jars inside.
Step 4 - Sterilise Your Jars With Boiling Water
Fill the pan with cold water until the jars are covered. Bring to the boil and keep at the maximum temperature for 10 minutes, turn the heat off and cover the pan to keep the jars warm until you are ready to fill them.
Do not attempt to sterilise your Kilner® Bottles and Kilner® Jars by pouring boiling water into them.
Step 5 - Sterilise Your Lids
Place vacuum seal lids or rubber seals in a small pan and fill with 4 inches of cold water, heat and simmer at 82 degrees for 10 minutes, turn the heat off and cover the pan until you are ready to seal the jars.
Step 6 - Leave Jars To Dry
Use your tongs to remove the jars, seals and lids from the boiling water. Place these on a clean jay cloth and leave them to dry. Your jars are now sterilised and ready to be filled!
Watch How To Sterilise your Kilner® Jars Before Use
Frequently Asked Questions
Can You Sterilise A Jar With Boiling Water?
Important: Do not attempt to sterilise your Kilner® Bottles and Kilner® Jars by pouring boiling water into them, always bring water to boil.
Always take care when sterilising and handling hot jars and lids. Please use the appropriate equipment such as Kilner® Jam Jar Tongs or oven gloves.
Can You Sterilise A Jar In The Oven?
Do not sterilise your jars using the oven method as ovens can harbour bacteria from food that is stuck on the oven. A conventional oven with a fan will circulate bacteria.
Can You Sterilise A Jar In The Microwave?
We don’t recommend sterilising our jars in the microwave. Sterilising jars in the microwave is an unreliable method because its internal pressure is difficult to measure.
Can You Sterilise A Jar In The Dishwasher?
You can sterilise jars in the dishwasher. Remove rubber seals and lids, place on the top rack and run on a hot wash. Only use hot water, do not put any cleaning solutions in your dishwasher. Make sure to time your dishwasher to finish when you’re ready to fill the jars.
We still highly recommend the water bath method as you do not know how clean the dishwasher is in the first instance and could be harbouring bacteria.
What Happens If You Don't Sterilise Jam Jars?
Sterilising your jars removes any potential bacteria that may be harbouring inside. Even if your jar looks clean, always sterilise before use to stop your homemade preserves from spoiling. Sterilising your jars expands the shelf life of the preserve too.
Do I Need To Sterilise New Jam Jars?
Yes, even packaged jars still need to be sterilised. You wouldn’t want your delicious homemade food spoiling quickly because the jars weren’t sterilised first.
For jars with a rubber ring seal, remove the seal before washing the jars and place in a small saucepan.Cover with water and boil for 2-3 minutes to sterilise.
As soon as the preserves are spooned or poured into the sterilised jars or bottles, they must be correctly sealed to prevent deterioration. Fill the hot dry jars right to the top – preserves shrink slightly on cooling and a full jar means less trapped condensation. Seal the jars while still hot.
Wash each canning jar or mason jar and lid with hot soapy water then rinse but don't dry them. Place each clean jar on a baking tray and place in the oven for 10 minutes. Soak the lids in boiling water for five minutes.
Wash the jars, lids and bands in hot, soapy water; rinse well. Put the jars on a rack in a pot of water. Boil 10 minutes, then reduce the heat and simmer until ready to use. Meanwhile, put the lids and bands in a separate saucepan of simmering water until ready to use (do not boil).
Wash your jars and the lids in hot soapy water, but do not dry them. Instead, leave them to stand upside down on a roasting tray while they're still wet. Pop the tray of clean, wet jars and lids in to a preheated oven at 160-180ºC for about 15 mins.
Once you have filled your jar with jam/chutney etc, cover the top with a waxed disc (wax side down) or a piece of parchment paper, whilst the jar is still hot. ...
Next, place the lid on the jar whilst the jam/chutney is still hot.
Once closed, store in a cool dark place or in a fridge if you prefer.
5. Do Not Stir Once Mixture Is Boiling. Once your jam/marmalade it has reached a rapid rolling boil do not stir it. Stirring it will alter the temperature of the jam/marmalade meaning it will take longer to reach the setting point.
I reuse glass jars with twist caps with good result. You can wash them with soap but then you have to put them in clean boiling water, jars and caps. Then you have to fill them with the boiling hot jam or whatever and close them immediately, so they don't get contaminated.
More liquid means more expansion and trust us, you are better SAFE than sorry! Seal the filled jars with a lid. We prefer to use two-piece lids. You can reuse lids over and over again for freezing, not just one time use like for canning.
Gather Your Equipment. To sterilize glass canning jars, you'll need a boiling water canner or a stockpot with a rack—the pot needs to be at least 2 inches taller than the jars you're processing. ...
Use soapy water to make sure that the jar is clean before sterilising. Take care to rinse off all the washing up liquid. Place in the microwave (while still wet) and turn on 'high' (usually around 1,000 watts) for 30-45 seconds. Place them upside-down on a piece of absorbent kitchen paper (like Plenty) to dry off.
Place lids on jars, screw on rings and lower jars back into the pot of boiling water. The water should cover the jars; if not, add more. Boil jars for 10 minutes. Transfer jars to a folded towel and allow to cool for 12 hours; you should hear them making a pinging sound as they seal.
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