I was lucky to get one of those £1.50 Lidl veg boxes last week. It is produce that needs selling quickly before it deteriorates. Luckily everything was in reasonable condition. Mr S was happy as we got a cauliflower and so he could make some piccalilli. It is not something that we grow. There were two nets of satsumas in the box and so I looked into ways of making them last longer. I thought that I would try to bottle satsumas.
Satsumas are a real treat for us, and my grandson loves them. We buy food from the supermarket as little as possible and so we don’t get to eat them often. I did get a few from the community fridge last year. I have already put some into a box of fruit salad for the fridge, however, I wanted to have a go at bottling some so that ttheywe can enjoy some later. I have seen the Armish do it on line. I was bottling some other things today and so I saved energy by water bathing these at the same time. I only had enough satsumas for 2 jars.
1. Peel the satsumas making sure that all the white pith is removed.
2. Break the satsumas into segments. They can be bottled whole in a larger jar.
3. Water can be added here but I decided to use a light syrup. Apparently they are ok to cold pack if using a syrup. If using just water, I have heard it it better to hot pack ( put boiling water into the jars and then place the jars into boiling water. The jars should have been hot before putting in the contents).
4. My sugar syrup was already made and cooled as I am using it for several bottled fruit. It is kept in a bottle. I made it with 1.5 cups of sugar to 5.75 cups of water. (Put both in a pan and heat gently until almost boiling and turn off).
5. Pack the satsuma segments into the jars leaving 1 inch headroom free.
6. Spoon in the syrup until it covers the fruit (still leaving the 1 inch head room).
6. Gently bang the jars to get rid of any bubbles and slide a knife around the side of the jar.
7. Once any bubbles have gone, wipe the bottle necks with a clean cloth and put on the lids and rings (not too tight).
8. Place into the deep pan and fill with cold water (cold pack method). I have a trivet in the bottom of my pan but tea towels can be used.
9. Bring the pan to a rolling boil and then boil for 10 minutes for satsumas. All fruit has different timings. Turn the pan off and leave to stand for 10 minutes before removing the jars.
10. I broke all of the rules. As I had other bottles with fruits needing longer, I took the bottles of satsumas out of the pan as they were at a rolling boil. This is not a good idea as they can shatter, especially if the kitchen is cold. Mine was red hot from cooking.
11. Leave to stand for 24 hours and check the seals before storing.
I am practicing canning and bottling lots of food this year. I want to build my confidence and improve my skills. The UK energy does not meet our needs since trying to meet green targets. We werecthreatened with black outs last year. I want to know that if my freezer is off for a long, that I can save most of the food and bottle or can it. My freezers are full, and so bottling saves on freezer space as well. What are you bottling/ canning this year?
Right now we are canning so many peaches. Sliced, pie filling, salsa.
So I just wanted to clarify that hot or cold pack are both done with hot jars. Hot pack is were you bring the fruit and syrup to a boil for a few minutes and then pack into the jars. This removes some of the air from the fruit so you can pack more in the jars and the fruit is less likely to float. For cold pack you put unheated fruit and heated syrup into hot jars.
Also, a tip I have heard is that canning oranges w/ a couple grapefruit slices results in better oranges. Not sure if you ever have access to grapefruits but figured I’d mention it in case you do in the future.
Thanks for clarifying. I bet your peaches are lovely. Canned peaches are the only cheap tinned fruit that you can buy over here. Thanks again
Love this idea . Do you have to consider where & what temperature your bottle fruit is stored ? I’m thinking shelving in the garage but wondered if it was too bright . X
Yes it is supposed to be a cool dark place. You could store in boxes in the garage to keep them protected.
Sounds great. I can’t do bottling but we had a wonderful gift of a big box of clementines at Christmas, more than we could eat. I made some wonderful marmalade, my first go at it, though I have made jam. I also read that adding grapefruit (or lemon) is good.
Great idea to make marmalade or jam. We have 5 different jams and I make chocolate spread and so daren’t make any more 😁
Where is the best place to get those special jars? I see Amazon have them but some people are saying in feedback that the lids are prone to rust. Where did you get yours Toni? Thanks, Helen
I got mine from Amazon. This is their 3rd yeaar and no rust yet. If you are going to can frequently you are supposed to replace the lids any way. I haven’t yet. They might rust if vinegar is involved but I tend to make pickles in recycled jars for that reason.
I’ve bottled 30 jam jars of cherry tomatoes this year (in water and 1/2 TSP lemon juice in each jar) . I shouldn’t have to buy any tins of tomatoes for months. Hopefully, they’ll last right through until I start picking again next year. Waterbathed for 35 minutes. Having read your recipe, I really want to try some satsumas!
Brilliant. I am swimming in tomatooes still but ran out of jars and room to store. I am making puree and freezing it, which takes less room,and we are eating lots of tomato based food. I don’t use the lemon and the ones I made last year have all been fine. The tomatoes seem too be acidic enough.