Packing Boutique Jam and Marmalades at Home in Glass Jars: – 5 Things to Know
Are you a product owner who is packing jam and
marmalades at home in glass jars and selling
commercially or someone who is planning to enter
this segment.
Please ensure you follow these five important steps
before you pack your jam in a glass jar.The process is
quite simple and straightforward, as explained below:
1. When the glass jars arrive at your doorstep packed
in shrink/cartons, the first important step is
inspection, that is, to open the box and then invert every
glass jar.
This step is necessary to find out the presence of any
foreign particle and dust as well as to check for any
breakage in the glass jars.
2. The second step deals with
washing the glass jar.
This process helps prevent the growth of bacteria or
food-borne botulism. You just need to wash these glass
jars in running warm water.
The next question that arises is that what should be
the temperature of the water?
The glass jars should be washed at room temperature
plus maximum 42 degree celsius. For example, if the
room temperature is 30 degree celsius, then glass jars
can be washed at a temperature of about 72 degree
celsius.
Please note that a sudden variation of 42 degrees or
more, either upwards or downwards can lead to micro
checks formed in the bottle, which will lead to
breakages afterwards.
3. The third step relates to
drying/removing extra water. You do not need any special, chemical cleaners or
fancy wipe tissues to wipe the glass jars.
Invert the glass jar to remove excess water and start
the filling. Please do not wait for the glass to dry
completely because if this is the case, then it might
break when you fill the jam.
4. Filling constitutes the fourth
important factor to take care of. Ensure that the jam
you are packing is at a temperature of at least 90
degrees, and the glass jar temperature is at least 50
degree at that time.
Further, as soon as the jam goes inside the clean jar,
cap it immediately.
When the jam cools down, you will see that cap
automatically sucked in by the vacuum thus created,
forming a strong seal. The jam is packed and good to
go.
Packing of jam at a right temperature is necessary to
increase the shelf life of a product. If the jam is
packed at a lower temperature, vacuum will not be
formed leading to fungal growth.
5. The fifth step deals with
avoiding a big mistake that
jam makers at home commit quite often, and that is
heating the glass jar after the jam is packed.
This can be a major reason for glass jar breakage,
leakage and raises questions on the quality of glass
jar.
There is absolutely no need to heat the glass jar
after it is packed with jam.
Please ensure that these steps should work like an assemble line. For instance if you are alone, then also first wash, invert, fill and cap in one go taking one bottle at a time.
That’s all there is to it.
Simple, isn’t it?
