I want to make brandied cherries tonight and I don’t have a pot big enough to seal the jars. I ordered a pot but it won’t arrive until tomorrow. Can I make the cherries tonight and seal the jars tomorrow? I know these would just keep in the fridge for a while but I’d rather seal them.
You can make/cook the cherries today, but don’t put them in the canning jars until you are ready to put them in a hot bath. The jars and lids should be sterilized in hot water just prior to putting your fruit inside. Just refrigerate the fruit for now.
I found this link hope it helps you.
I don’t worry there is any danger of food contamination by making the recipe today and then sealing tomorrow, but you risk jar breakage if you start with a cold/cool product in the jars to seal.
You could make the recipe tonight, then reheat the completed recipe tomorrow before putting it into the heated jars to seal tomorrow. You could also put the product in the jars and refrigerate in the jars overnight, then heat everything together in the canner tomorrow. Heating will cause the alcohol to evaporate in any case.
To me, cherries are fragile and don’t stand up to double cooking – which is what you’ll be doing in either case. Personally, I’d make the recipe tomorrow and can with a hot product as intended. Again, not for safety but for quality of the finished product.
I’m assuming this is a water bath canning recipe.
Yes, I’m going to use a water bath. The cherries aren’t cooked for this recipe. You make a syrup and pour it over the cherries. I haven’t worked with fresh cherries before so not sure if they’ll still be fresh enough tomorrow and I’m not sure when the mail will arrive tomorrow. I wish I’d have just gone out and bought a pot today.
When did you buy the cherries? Refrigerated fresh, they’ll be fine for a day or so.
I bought them this morning at the farmers market. I just really wanted to get the majority of the work done tonight because I probably won’t feel like doing it tomorrow, and I may have to work.
Sounds like you’ve already made up your mind. 
I’m sure all will be fine.
Tomorrow when you do the water bath part, set the cold jars into cool water in the canner. Don’t forget to use a rack to separate the jars from the bottom of the pot. If you don’t have a rack, you can tie some canning jar rings together to make one.
Heat the jars together with the water until you get a rolling boil. Start timing after the boil has started.
Bet they’ll be delicious – please let us know how they come out!
No, hadn’t made up my mind really. I was just hoping that with the alcohol content it would be safe. I don’t care if I make myself sick but I’m going to give some away and don’t want to endanger others. My mother taught food safety and I want to be safe.
I ordered a pot that comes with a rack.
One more question. Why would it be a bad thing to put them in the jars tonight?
It’s not the alcohol that makes your food safe. It’s the acid in the cherries and the sugar in the syrup. It’s important to understand the chemistry of canning in order to ensure it is safe.
Cherries have a pH of 3.2 - 4.5. You can safely water-bath can any fruit with a pH below 4.6.
Since I suggested you could do it that way, I don’t think it is a bad thing. The only bad thing is starting your boil with cold jars. They will explode.
If you start your water bath with cool water and allow the filled jars to come up to temperature gradually, no problem. But don’t start timing your boil until you actually reach a boil.
Hope that makes sense.
Yeah,I know that. I just thought it might help for 18 hours or so until I could seal them. I’m going to wait until tomorrow. Thanks for all the advice.
Thanks for all the advice. Moving on to making shortcake for the strawberries.