If you’re serious about canning, it’s good to make sure your jars are safe to keep food in for time to come. As you can imagine, that means putting them through a thorough clean! With that in mind, can you sterilize canning jars in the dishwasher – or are there other methods that provide better results in the long run?
In this guide, I’ll take you through what you need to know about sterilizing canning jars in the dishwasher, and when it’s most important to put your jars through the sterilization process.
Don’t have time to read my full guide? Here’s the straight answer – can you sterilize canning jars in the dishwasher?
Yes, you can sterilize canning jars in your dishwasher, but it will need to run at a very high temperature. Ideally, you’ll need a dishwasher that can rinse jars at 150 degrees Fahrenheit, which is around 66 degrees Celsius. This is hot enough to kill off bacteria and prepare your jars – providing you put them through the longest rinse your dishwasher has to offer.
Now you know the basic answer, let’s dig a little deeper into the canning jar sterilization process, and why it makes a big difference.
Why should I sterilize my canning jars?
While it may seem easy enough to go ahead and preserve just about any fruit, vegetable or other foodstuffs in a jar without any extra prep, sterilization is vital for the healthy preservation of said items. If you don’t sterilize your canning jars, anything you place in them will be at risk of bacterial growth, and will potentially develop yeast or mold, therefore spoiling.
Spoilage of food inside non-sterilized jars will likely occur fairly quickly, however, it’s still not a good idea to quickly can items without sterilization even if you intend to eat them in a few days’ time.
Sterilizing effectively removes the chance of bacteria, fungi, mold, and more from spoiling your food and therefore potentially making you ill. It’s a process that’s worth following purely for the sake of your health, not just the flavor of what you’re canning. Therefore, proper sterilization is a must.
Sterilizing is more than simply cleaning or sanitizing your jars. Sanitization merely reduces bacterial populations – whereas sterilization completely eradicates any organic growth. To keep your food well-preserved, be sure to choose a sterilization method that’s convenient for you.
TIP: Make sure to sterilize your jars straight after purchase, too. Yes, your jars should be clean from the factory, but there’s still ample chance for bacteria or other microbes to have built up a community in transit. Don’t ever skip sterilization. Unless…
When can I avoid having to sterilize my canning jars?
As the NCHFP states, the only occasions when you can avoid sterilizing canning jars will be if you’re working with a pressure canner, or if you are setting up a water bath (at boiling point) for at least 10 minutes. Any less than this amount of time, or canning by any other method, will require pre-sterilization.
By pressure canner, I’m referring to the specialist equipment you can buy that tracks the temperature during the canning process. If you’re tempted to use a pressure cooker, don’t – it won’t have the same effect.
My way of thinking is this – if in doubt, sterilize. It won’t take much time out of your day, and what’s more, it helps to keep your food tasting great, and anyone eating it can enjoy without getting ill.
Can I sterilize canning jars in the dishwasher?
Hypothetically, yes, you can sterilize your canning jars in your dishwasher. However, you’ll need to make sure that you can run at a high temperature and on a long cycle. This is to make sure that all bacteria is killed. You really can’t take any chances – believe me!
Bacteria will generally die at temperatures of around 150 degrees Fahrenheit, or what equates to 66 degrees Celsius. That means even if you’re used to washing your dishes at a much lower temperature, you must make an exception for your canning jars.
A simple wash won’t be enough to fully prepare your jars for canning. You’ll know if you haven’t sterilized your canning jars enough if your preserves start to develop mold, yeast, or other natural nastiness.
If your dishwasher can run at the temperatures listed, great – it’s simply a case of loading your jars upside-down, and the running at your chosen heat. Make sure to choose a drying cycle, and once finished, you can add hot food straight into the jars (if your jars are cold, there’s a risk of breaking glass). The same applies to adding cold food into hot jars – it’s the same science, and the same risks!
Can I sterilize canning jars in the oven?
Yes – it’s also possible to sterilize your canning jars effectively in the oven at a high enough temperature. Again, you’ll need to keep in mind that bacteria will die at 150 F – but our ovens normally heat up to much higher than this!
So, to begin with, make sure you preheat your oven to at least 275 F, or 130 C. This is the highest your canning jars will withstand before breakage can occur, so trust me – this is the limit to the heat!
You should then double up newspapers on each of the shelves of your oven cavity. Placing any on the floor of the oven isn’t a good idea – and if you’re using a model with an open flame, you should naturally place your newspaper far away from the source.
Prepare yourself a heatproof surface or mat to one side, as you’re going to need this for transferring canning jars over once they are completely sterilized.
Then comes the slightly tricky part – you’ll need to arrange your jars. Be sure to set them up evenly on your chosen shelf inside the oven, but don’t let them touch. You’re going to want to keep them sterilizing for 20 minutes, minimum – but try not to go too far beyond this.
Put on your oven gloves and carefully remove the jars one at a time. Place them onto your heatproof surface and fill with hot produce if it’s available.
Can I use boiling water to sterilize canning jars?
You can also sterilize jars using boiling water if you wish, though it may not be the most effective way to ensure your canning its completely germ-free.
To effectively boil your sterilize canning jars, make sure to perform a water bath. For this, you’ll need a canning rack and canner – or, alternative, a large pot. You must make sure your jars are stacked the right way up, and then fill your pot up to an inch of boiling water above them.
You will normally need to boil them for at least ten minutes for complete sterilization, but believe it or not, the altitude you live at can dictate having to add more minutes onto the boil time! If you live more than 1,000 feet above water level, you’re going to need to add an extra minute for every 1,000 feet above that. Strange but true – but the science speaks for itself!
Be sure to use a jar lifter or similar tool to safely get your jars out of the soak.
Other sterilization tips to consider
Sterilization is a breeze once you’ve got the knack of the process! However, there are a couple of further points you’ll need to be aware of before you get too deep into the cleaning process.
- There’s no need to worry about boiling or sterilizing your jar lids or even the rings. Providing your lids and rings are cleaned over with dish soap and warm water, they are safe to use.
- If you’re sterilizing your jars and aren’t ready to can just yet, wait until you are good to go – as the cooler your jars get, the riskier it will get placing hot food inside.
- Never place hot goods in cold jars, and cold goods in hot jars. That glass is highly sensitive – cold goes in cold, hot goes in hot – period!
- You can also sterilize canning jars in the microwave, but naturally, you’ll need to avoid using metal-rimmed models. Standard jars can be sterilized in under a minute in the microwave, but the oven and dishwasher methods are perhaps the most well-trusted.
Sterilizing jars in the dishwasher – final recap
To summarise, it’s absolutely safe to sterilize your canning jars in the dishwasher, and in many ways, it’s recommended. However, it’s crucial you make sure to run canning jars on a wash that’s at least 150 F. Otherwise, you’re at risk of the process doing very little at all.
Many canners recommend the oven sterilization method as heat can rise that little bit higher – meaning you’ve got extra confidence in bacteria being killed off. It really does pay to be safe rather than sorry when it comes to cleaning your canning jars properly.
I’d recommend you sterilize as many jars as you can when canning for the first time – even if it doesn’t seem as though you have much produce, it’s easier to work with too many jars than too few!
I hope you’ve found this guide informative and helpful – now get canning with confidence!
Originally posted 2022-05-25 21:52:08.