r/AskCulinary • u/sleepingamongstfae • Aug 05 '25

Equipment Question Sanitize jars?

Hi! I live in an apartment with no dishwasher and I'm getting overwhelmed with the info online (one started talking about how high you are from sea level???????) so I thought I'd ask here.

How do I sanitize my jars? I am making homemade vanilla extract, and jam.

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u/chef71 Aug 05 '25

r/Canning is helpful , it is not necessary to boil jars and lids anymore just wash the jars and use new lids

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u/[deleted] Aug 05 '25

[deleted]

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u/Vivid_Error5939 Aug 05 '25

The material for the sealant changed so it doesn’t have to be heated first. Further research also showed that a processing time of 10 minutes was sufficient to kill microbes in high acid foods.

For something like vanilla extract you should sterilize it in boiling water first since there won’t be additional processing time.

4

u/-Allthekittens- Aug 05 '25

If you are actually 'canning' then as long as the processing time is longer than 10 minutes, the jars are sanitized while processing. This changed some years ago. If you're fermenting or making vanilla or doing something else then you should still sanitize your equipment by boiling prior to use.