On 2013-09-07 15:58:40 +0000, Pam Moore said:

On Sat, 7 Sep 2013 14:27:51 +0100, Janet wrote:

In article , says...

I was wondering, instead of wasting gas and electricity to sterilize the
jars, if citric acid and sodium bisulphite(as in winemaking sterilization)
would do the trick.

No, but you only need to have the oven on low for 20 mins so hardly a
vast expense.

Wash jars in hot soapy water, rinse, drain, pack the empty wet jars
standing upright in a roasting tin and put it in the oven. Turn oven on
to 120 C, once it's reached temp 10 mins should do it.

I've never bottled anything and only occasionally make jam.
When making small amounts of jam, I sterilised my jars ( washed,
rinsed and drained) by half-filling them with water and giving them a
few minutes boiling in the microwave. Is this good enough?

Pam in Bristol

A hot wash (& dry) in the hottest setting dishwasher is recommended by
quite a lot of jam makers. I haven't made jam or marmalde for ages but
I used to do that and have never yet poisoned anyone. To keep them at
a heat that wouldn't allow them to crack when filled with hot
marmalade, I put them on a baking tray in the bottom of the Aga but I'm
sure a warm setting on an oven would do the same job.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon