Bottling Fruit

[Gaynor36]

I have bottled fruit for years ,using the overflow method, but this year I am having trouble getting jars to seal. I have redone some with not much luck. With heaps of fruit waiting to be bottled I am looking for  advice.   Has anyone else overcome this.   TIA.

[Oh_hunnihunni]

Have you tried turning the jars upside down to cool?

The only other thing I can think of is maybe not getting the screw tight enough, or getting fruit caught between seal and lip. I do know redoing the process is a bit dicey. We always put those failed jars in the fridge for immediate use.

These days I just cook and freeze, bottling sessions are a memory. I did get quite obsessive about it though at one stage. That year I bottled everything I could get my hands on, and the kitchen wall with brick and timber shelves, was covered in glass jewels. Makes me smile thinking of it. The madness of the young homemaker...

[Olive]

I think freezing is a much easier way of preserving fruit and veges, and it doesn't use so much sugar. I poach plums and nectarines with no water and a small quantity of sugar - maybe 2 tab per kg of fruit - then freeze.

I've never bottled fruit - I have memories of my poor mother struggling in the heat in late summer bottling endless jars of Golden Queen peaches from our orchard, and then having to think up ways of using them.

[harm_less]

Dehydrating is another option of preservation. We've done plums, apple & pear (slices), apricots and of course prunes. Another variation is to pulp fruit and then dehydrate to 'leather'.

[Oh_hunnihunni]

Having deliberately and slowly reduced my sugar intake considerably I find home made sugarfree much more to my taste. Fruit is already sweet, the only reason to add it is the preservation effect, which is why I like to freeze these days.

I do however recommend alcohol as a preservative. A bottle of vodka, a jar, and the best seasonal fruit stashed in a dark cupboard for a few months makes a superb winter tipple...

[Olive]

I went through a period of making fruit liqueurs. They were lovely, but I stopped doing it after a lovingly processed batch of quince ratafia was invaded by ants, which I hadn't realised until I got out the first bottle to pour for honoured guests.

[harm_less]

A friend in Tauranga had schnapps making skills back when I lived up that way. Turned a couple of 200L drums of gold kiwifruit into some pretty good hooch. Somewhere well north of 50% ABV with a high octane hint of kiwifruit. A part bottle of it still lurks in the cabinet to see off stubborn guests with.

[Oh_hunnihunni]

A friend/neighbour made peach schnapps, boy it was good. Creamy, soft on the tongue and completely lethal.

[Gaynor36]

A friend/neighbour made peach schnapps, boy it was good. Creamy, soft on the tongue and completely lethal.

Looks like they  will be going in the freezer  now. I was trying to save freezer room   but .....

[Oh_hunnihunni]

A little trick a friend told me about recently to save space is to use freezer bags rather than containers. If you freeze them flat they stack nicely and the waste space is minimal. It has made my small freezer drawers much more efficient.

[C_T_Russell]

I have bottled fruit for years ,using the overflow method, but this year I am having trouble getting jars to seal. I have redone some with not much luck. With heaps of fruit waiting to be bottled I am looking for  advice.   Has anyone else overcome this.   TIA.

I find that the newer type of preserving jars (the green band ones) actually are harder to seal then the gold band types.
Make sure the seal is nicely over the edge of the jar (I find that the edge of the dome seal can be jammed on the edge of the glass and doesnt allow the rubber to contact properly.

Once in place, carefully place the screw band down and apply pressure on the seal while tightening so that it doesnt move around while screwing it down.