Despite the not exactly mid-summer weather in many regions, the current garden year brings plentiful yields. If you look around a little more thoroughly on the relevant gardening blogs or in Facebook groups of hobby gardeners with a large number of members, you can sometimes get a little jealous. Especially for those who have to cover their fruit and vegetable requirements exclusively from the supermarket range, which is sometimes quite well traveled, far away from regional production.
Nothing beats homemade jam
Waking up the rich harvest from the garden as a precaution in winter is not only worthwhile because of the excellent freshness, but also from a financial point of view. And if you already have a full freezer, you can simply copy what Rudolph Rempel applied for a patent at the end of the 19th century and Johann Weck developed for the masses - Einwecken… .
However, preserving food in a jar has one major disadvantage compared to other preservation methods: unlike pasteurization (short-term heating at a maximum of 74° C), heating to over 100° C causes some of the vitamins and flavorings to be destroyed, and the nutrient content and appearance are reduced like taste suffer from the heat.
Cooking times for common types of fruit and vegetables
The following figures are guide values that can be reduced by pre-cooking (10 -15 minutes or 20 - 30 minutes for fruit or vegetables).
| Cooking time in minutes | Cooking temperature in °C | |
|---|---|---|
| soft fruit | 20 to 30 | 80 |
| stone fruit | 25 to 30 | 80 |
| pome fruit | 30 to 40 | 90 |
| beans and peas | 120 | 98 |
| cauliflower and kohlrabi | 90 | 98 |
| tomatoes | 20 to 30 | 98 |
| root vegetable | 60 to 90 | 98 |
| mushrooms | 60 | 98 |
What needs to be considered when cooking
- Process only freshly harvested, undamaged fruit and vegetables;
- Make sure the jars, lids and preserving vessels are absolutely clean;
- Fill the glasses up to two centimeters below the rim, then top up with liquid;
- Allow jars to cool down slowly after preserving and then store in the cellar in a cool, dry place protected from light;
- Check canned food regularly for mold and discard if necessary;
- Consume opened jars as soon as possible