I have been making marmalade (and other jams) for quite a few years now, and, as my mother always did, I seal them with a wax paper disc and then a cellophane lid.

I have received conflicting opinions from my jam making neighbours here in CH (never really had any of those back in the UK so the subject never really came up) as to whether I should use screw lids, and if so, should I heat process the jars. One says screw lids and no heat processing, another says screw lids and heat process and a third says screw lids but using those 2 part screw lids only and heat process.

Confused.

I've just made 14 jars of marmalade which I hope will see us through until next Seville orange season ... how would you store it?

Thank you!

I make my own marmalade. Normally I use screw top jars, heat them in the oven to steralise them then put the marmalade in while both the jars and the marmalade is still hot. Doing it this way creates a seal, same as the pop up lid you get with store bought jars. I never did manage to find wax disks here but then I only looked for them when making mincemeat so maybe the wrong season.

Didn't the wax papers serve to keep the dirt out while the marmalade was cooling? Or were they placed on top to stop a skin forming? You could cut out circles of baking paper

.

Lou - so do you find that your marmalade lasts well like that? I am being told that if you want it to keep for more than 6 months without going mouldy you should heat treat it. Does marmalade in your house last for 6 months? It doesn't usually here but that is why I just cooked up an extra big batch ...

You might take a look through this thread:

Water Bath Canner?


I'm into my second jam season using the water bath caning method... and am still alive, not bouts of botulism yet.

It's quite easy - I follow the directions MathNut gave in the thread, so far so good.

Thanks Melancollie - didn't find that thread because didn't realise it was called a "canner"! Too fixated with jars I think ...

Incidentally, did you buy one in the end or are you still successfully using your big pan and improvised wire rack?

I've stuck with the big ol' spaghetti pot and improv rack.

I make jam out of my own berries, so I only do enough for 4-6 jars at a time. No need for anything fancier - yet.

Now if I could ever figure out how to get to the ripe berries before the birds do, then I'd have a large enough harvest to justify some fancier equipment.

One tip I was given was to turn jars upside down once lid is screwed to get a good seal. Seems to work. When I was a child here in CH, my mum used to pour hot liquid wax on top to create a fully sealed lid, then cover with wax paper and an elastic band to keep dust out. She used to wash and re-melt wax for re-use - which seems to be the Swiss method.

We just finished the last jar about 1 month ago and I made it this time last year. Never had any problems with mould and I have never heard of heat treating it after 6 months, that is a new one for me. I just picked up my oranges at lunchtime so will be starting a new batch tonight.

Screw lids, no processing (but hot pack!)

I only process pickled vegetables (chiles, or chiles plus other things).

Tom

We clean the jars very well, and then dry them thoroughly. Then, the jam goes in hot, no extra heat processing. Close the screw cap tightly and let cool. We didn't even turn them upside down. The trick was to fill up the jar as completely as possible. We got good seals, and the jam lasted for over a year. No mold, or mould, if you will.

I turn them upside down until they start to cool.

Tom

No need to heat treat just put in warm sterilized screwtop jars. I did about 40kg of chutney this year and even used some plastic top jars which worked ok, but I did eat them first. (The chutney not the jars!!) Interesting fact from the "only in Switzerland file" new empty clean screw top jars are more expensive in Migros than those annoying ones that come filled with jam!!

Hi,
I make my own marmalade, from my own home grown oranges, yes here in Zurich... I know there is always one Smart Alick.
But anyway, I do not use screw lids, unless desperate, I find they go rusty and look naff. I have a store of small Kilner jars - easily found in the Brockihouses for peanuts. New rubber seals are found every where. If I do use a screw lid I put wax circles on the marmalade - they can be bought with jam covering kits in most supermarkets.
BTW greaseproof paper is not good enough as it attracts water. Then I cover with a celophane cover & elastic band and store in the cellar (everyone has a cellar or cellar space here is CH) until needed. I still have 2 jars down there from 2009, no jam was made in 2010 as my tree nearly died and didn't produce fruit. Hopeful for 2011 though

Wow! Thanks for all your replies .. I just love this forum!

So the consensus seems to be no need to heat treat jams and marmalades, and using the screw lids and filling and sealing when the jam/marmalade is still hot works well, with optional extra of turning the jars upside down until they start to cool.

I was given a couple of boxes of new kilner style jars and the instructions enclosed definitely went into great (and rather alarming) detail about how to heat process/sterilise the jars once filled. Of course they didn't say what the contents should be when you did this, and going from this thread, I'm going to give it a miss for my jams and marmalades.


RTN ... I think that homemade jam is too precious for my ""run of the mill feeding the local children at Z'Veri time victoria sponge", so have worked up quite a stock of used jam jars by buying the readymade stuff to spread in my sponges. Just an idea ...

So what would you heat treat? Should I have done my pickled beetroots???

I don't do much pickled veges, just jams and chutneys, I have been meaning to have a crack at Marmalades just haven't got around to it. I have a few preserving books, the classic is Home preserves for the New Zealand kitchen (from a brocki in NZ written in the 60s) it is mind boggling what those crafty kiwis preserve or make jam out of.

I've read quite a few posts here and this is what I do. I always use screw top glass jars that 'spin' a couple times round and have a rubbery-ish seal on the underside of the lid--you can buy them for the express purpose of preserving and they are really quite inexpensive. Reusing a commercial pesto or pickle jar is okay-ish but I find they don't have enough screw/thread on them to reseal as tight as the jars mentioned above.

1) Make the chutney, kim-shi pickle, dill pickles, jams, sloe gin etc
2) Sterilise jars in a cool oven – 130°c for 15-20mins
3) Ladle hot contents into hot jars
4) Immediately use a thick damp tea towel to screw lids on tightly when contents are still piping hot
5) Allow the jars to cool and relax for 15mins or and then tighten until blue in the face
6) Squirrel away hoard and open them up when matured with a satisfying *pop* of suction

Preserves are my absolute favourite thing to do on a rainy day, all year round. My Mum used to do a fiddly, convoluted process which resembled nuclear fusion and disks of melted wax etc so it's a miracle I survived this 'era' and ditched it in favour of simplity, hygiene, full proof fun.