"Janet Bostwick" > wrote in message
...
> On Thu, 22 Aug 2013 12:51:26 +0100, Janet > wrote:
>
> snip
>>
>> I don't understand why US recipes boil the filled jars.
>> In the UK we never do. We sterilise the jars before filling
>> (stand them in a roasting tin in the oven at 120). I still have some
>>marmalade from January 2012 and it hasn't gone off; it will last years
>>yet
>>
>> My 2013 red grapefruit and orange marmalade won a prize in the local
>>produce show last week.
>>
>> Janet UK
>
> That's the way that my mother did it. We are told that it is not safe
> to do that. It probably is safe for jam-type foods because of the
> high sugar content; but if you process the filled jars, you eliminate
> the possibility of losing stock as a result of mold around lid.
> Janet US
>
But if the jars are hot and the lids are sterilized in boiling water, the
addition of hot jam at a much higher temperature than 100C means that there
is no chance of any bug surviving.
Graham