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?
