Bottling/canning to increase shelf-life?

**Maccabee** · 05-06-2011, 01:08 PM

Bumping as i'd like to know too

**Sanjo** · 09-06-2011, 12:13 PM

You could ask Pigletwillie or perhaps checking out the sticky above this thread might help. I bottle my own fruit as well as that gathered from the wild. I pickled my own cucumbers last year and I am still eating them and so far I have survived. How were you thinking of canning/bottlling. ie hot or cold method. I personally would have thought hot produce into hot jars and sealed immediately would have worked, it's how I bottle - but then others worry (not unjustifiably!) about the risks of botulism etc.
I've been preserving this way for nearly 40 years and I'm still here to tell the tale. To be truthful, I was taught to bottle by the old lady who then lived next door and botulism was never mentioned and i didn't suspect it was a possibility until I saw it here on the vine.
Silly question but have you tried googling by asking the exact question?
It works for me - much to my husband's amazement!! He can't believe that somebody has already asked the daft questions I sometimes want answers to.

**taff** · 09-06-2011, 03:55 PM

if you hot bottle the sauce it'll keep for ages. I don't know how long, but I do know I've got sweet chilli dipping sauce that's lasted over a year [ I made far too much of it

]

**zazen999** · 09-06-2011, 04:06 PM

Probably - it would help to see your recipe so that we can work out why it would only last 3 months....

**Alison** · 09-06-2011, 08:17 PM

I make a sweet chilli dipping sauce every autumn which is basically tomatoes, chillies, vinegar, water and sugar and it keeps quite happily for a year but it's got sufficient vinegar and sugar to preserve it in the same way that chutneys etc will stay OK when stored in steralised jars. I've also made pasta sauces which don't have sufficient ingredients to keep them OK and they need to be properly bottled. I've only done things with a high acid content (ie fruits) like this but do keep thinking of splashing out and getting a pressure canner from the US (you don't seem to be able to get them here) so that I can bottle veggies too and save my freezer space.

**Two_Sheds** · 10-06-2011, 06:59 AM

Originally posted by Alison View Post

it's got sufficient vinegar and sugar to preserve it

Alison's right - jams need to be high in sugar to keep, and savouries need to have lots of vinegar (or salt, like salt beef, salted beans etc)

There are 100s of our recipes on here, you must be able to find one you like

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Bottling/canning to increase shelf-life?

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