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Dessert

To Can Strawberries

A method for preserving strawberries in sealed cans by boiling them in water.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
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To Can Strawberries

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the fruit

  1. Wash strawberries carefully, a few at a time, before hulling them.

  2. Put strawberries in a porcelain or graniteware kettle with cold water.

  3. Bring to a boil, stirring gently with a wooden spoon to heat through.

Fill the cans

  1. Empty warm water from cans, adjust the rubber and fruit funnel, and fill cans half full with strawberries.

  2. Shake the fruit down, then fill to the top; remove the funnel.

  3. Insert a silver spoon handle down the side of the can to help air bubbles escape; add more juice or boiling water if needed.

  4. Stroke air bubbles from the top and screw on the cover.

Seal and store

  1. Invert the cans; if they do not leak, wipe with a damp towel and set aside to cool.

  2. Once cool, screw the tops down tightly and store in a cool, dark place.

  3. Check for fermentation signs a few days later.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

Strawberries
Provide the main fruit, whose flesh and juice fill the cans and set the flavour.

The step that matters

Removing air bubbles from the cans. Trapped air near the top can spoil the fruit over time, so tapping out bubbles and topping up with hot juice or water leaves less air for microbes and helps the seal hold.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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