A step by step tutorial to teach you how to bottle feijoas - the best way to preserve them so that you can enjoy them all year round!
Update September 2020: I now exclusively use the water bath method for canning/bottling everything as an extra layer of food safety. I will be updating instructions over the next few months to share how I do that. I have never had any problems bottling them this way but now prefer the water bath method in terms of ease and having a higher success rate with jars sealing. Laura
It's feijoa season in NZ at the moment and they are everywhere. You can buy them from the supermarket but I don't know anyone who has ever done that because if you don't have a tree, you probably know someone who does and those little suckers can produce! If you don't know what a feijoa is, I don't even know how to explain them. They are a little fruit in a tough skin that have a kind of grainy flesh with a jelly like inner. And the flavour is not like anything else. And going on that description, they sound terrible...but they're not!
There are a ton of things you can do with feijoas (also known as pineapple guavas in other parts of the world apparently). Scoop them out of the skins and eat them raw, stew them, make jam, bake cakes, make desserts, chutneys...the list goes on.
The problem is, they are so good that once you have a bag in front of you it is hard to stop eating them. I know at least 5 people who have had one season where they ate so many feijoas they made themselves sick and now can't stand them. I don't want to be that person. Please don't be that person! Let's be sensible. I like to eat a few, and then a few more, and then bottle the rest so that I can enjoy them all year round! So here is how to bottle feijoas - step by step, with pictures to help you!
All you need is:
Enough preserving jars to fit your feijoas and seals & screw top bands to go with them. You could also use old jam jars but I love using the Agee jars my mum used to use! They need to be sterilised before you use them so either run them through the dishwasher or wash them well in hot, soapy water.
Water, a bit of sugar and a big pile of feijoas.
Put water and sugar in a saucepan and bring it to the boil. You can pretty much use whatever ratio of sugar to water that you like, depending on how syrupy you like them. I like to reduce the sugar I add as much as possible so I use ½ cup of sugar to 3 cups of water.
In a separate saucepan cover the seals and screw top bands for the jars in water and bring to the boil. You want to keep both pots boiling until you use them.
Cut the feijoas in half and using a teaspoon, scoop out the flesh getting as close to the skin as you can. You could peel them and then cut in half but that is way more work than scooping.
Keep scooping until you have a big pile of fruit, ready to go in jars.
Make sure after sterilising the jars (very important!) you keep them full of hot water until you are ready to use them. You will be putting boiling liquid in the jars and cold jars + boiling liquid = a big mess. And we don't need that.
Fill the jars almost to the top with the liquid, then cook briefly in the microwave. 50-60 seconds for a small jar, 90 seconds for a big jar. If you are using jam jars, skip this step - I haven't tried it but I don't know that these jars aren't quite as tough as proper preserving jars. After cooking, run a knife around the inside of the jar to remove any air bubbles.
UPDATE 2018: I now bottle my feijoas on the stove. Once the sugar syrup is boiling add the feijoas and bring to the boil again. Cook for 2-3 minutes and then fill the jars with fruit & sugar syrup, run the knife around the inside of the jar to remove air bubbles and then continue on. There is nothing wrong with the microwave method, it still works perfectly well, I have just grown to prefer this method.
Fill the jar up so that it is almost overflowing. Make sure that all the fruit is out of the way of the edge of the jar - you don't want anything being trapped under the seal.
Putting the lids on the jar can be tricky and needs 2 hands. Using tongs remove a seal from the boiling water and place it on top of the jar. Take a screw band from the water and at the same time press down the seal and screw the band on tight. You may need to use a tea towel or cloth as the jars will be hot hot hot.
Wipe down the sides of the jar and leave to sit on the bench for about 24 hours to make sure it seals. If the fruit starts floating slightly that is generally a good sign that they have sealed.
Store in a cool dark place and open in the middle of winter to put in a feijoa & apple crumble on a cold night. Yum!
How to bottle feijoas
Ingredients
- 30-34 small/medium feijoas (less if the feijoas are large)
- 3 cups water
- ½ cup white sugar
Instructions
- Sterilise the jars you will be using. I used proper Agee preserving jars but you may also use pasta sauce or jam jars. Sterilise them by running them through the dishwasher or washing them thoroughly in hot soapy water. Making sure that the jars are sterilised is very important to ensure that they are free from bacteria and lingering smells that could taint the fruit. Keep the jars full of hot water until you are ready to use them as this keeps the jars warm and ready for you to put boiling liquid into.
- Put the water and sugar in a saucepan and bring to the boil. In a separate saucepan cover the seals and screw top bands for the jars in water and bring to the boil. This ensures that they are clean and sterile when it comes to putting them on the jars.
- Cut the feijoas in half and scoop out the flesh. Discard the skins. When you have enough fruit, pack it into a jar until it reaches the top.
- Using a ladle, fill the jars with the sugar syrup until almost to the top. Place the jar in the microwave and cook on high for 50-60 seconds for a small (500ml) jar, or 90 seconds for a big (1L) jar. (If you are using regular glass jars you can skip this step as they will not tolerate the microwave). (See recipe notes for alternative method)
- Remove from the microwave and run a butter knife around the inside of the jar to ensure there are no air bubbles in the liquid. Top up the jars with more liquid until they are just overflowing. Using tongs remove a seal (or the lid) from the boiling water, and making sure that there is no fruit underneath the seal, place it on top of the jar. Now take a screw band (still using tongs) and at the same time and you press down the seal onto the jar, screw the band on tightly. You may need to use a tea towel as the jars will be very hot.
- Wipe down the jar and leave sitting on the bench for about 24 hours. Remove the screw band and check that the jars have sealed. If the jar hasn't sealed properly you will be able to lift off the seal. If you can't then you're good to go! Store in a cool dark place. If they don't seal, put them in the fridge and eat within a few days or put in a ziplock bag and freeze.
- Sealed jars will store in the pantry for at least 1 year.
Notes
Nutrition
Thankyou so much for this recipe.
I'm really looking forward to you updating the recipe to include the water bath method.
Also at the same time could you please include an indication of the 'weight' of feijoas, in addition to the count you currently provide.
ngā mihi
could i use substitue sugar for artificial sugar.
Hi Dawn, I have not used artificial sugar in anything so I would be hesitant to try. You could replace the sugar with honey, or just cut down the amount though.
Simple easy and fast thank you.
Simple recipe to follow, I used honey and we will see how it turns out.
Hi Laura, if you do the water bath do you still follow the above steps and then do the water bath for 20 mins?
Thanks
Yes exactly! I have written up a full method on preserving peaches using a water bath, you can follow this! https://www.thekiwicountrygirl.com/how-to-bottle-peaches-water-bath-method/
My husband & I had an orchard of many varieties of trees, you do not need to use any sugar at all when preserving - I am a diabetic and so it was common practise to not use sugar. It does not have anything to do with how long the fruit keeps in the jar. I have used the "overflow" method for 50 years, never had one jar not keep for a few years.
Hi Maz! That's perfect for you! I have tried preserving with no sugar too, I have found they just don't keep as long in the fridge once opened without sugar but that's not usually a problem as we eat them fast anyway!
My grandma always used to flip the sealed jars upside down to ensure they are vacuum sealed and no bacteria develops around the top brim of the jar. I love the recipe! I was looking for one that will allow to preserve whole pieces of feijoa rather than cooking them down into jam. I want to try and add some rind to the liquid to add extra aroma.
Thanks for the recipe
im going to add a little stem ginger to the syrup
Making me hungry already😊
Dear Laura,
I used your recipe and method yesterday and now have 10 jars of lovely Feijoas to put away in the cupboard. I have always used your method for preserving and had success. Thank you Judy.
Thanks for the online instructions for preserving whole feijoas! Can I just ask if there is any reason you don't do the typical water bath for sealing the bottles? I've never seen a recipe like this that suggests bottles will seal without going through the water bath. Thanks!
Hi Rhoda, when I wrote this post I had never even heard of the water bath method! It is now actually what I use for everything, including feijoas. I water bath the jars for 20 minutes 🙂
The very easiest way to scoop feijoa flesh out is to use an apple corer.
Hi my feijoas are over ripe so going light brown, can I still preserve. If no do u have a recipe to do with over ripe. Any recipe, just don't want to throw out
Hi Kim, overripe is no good for bottling, with these ones I stew and freeze 🙂
Can you use less sugar than 1/2 cup:3 cups water?
Sounds like a quick and easy recipe;-)
I like that you don’t have to peel the feijoas and it’s ok to just scoop them;-)
Hi! You can, I know of people who don't use sugar at all, however I prefer the taste and I do believe they last longer with the sugar as it helps to preserve them 🙂
Easy and fast thank you.
Hi you do not need to sterilise the bands!
Hi Richard, you are right! I always thought you did but over the last couple of years as I have learnt more I now know that this is not necessary! Thank you for adding this comment, I'm sure it will be helpful and I will update the post content 🙂 Laura
...but it is best they are hot to avoid thermal shock.
Hi can I preserve feijoas without using sugar?
Hi Angie, I have a friend who swears by using no sugar however in my experience, the fruit stores better (and tastes better once opened) using even a small amount of sugar. You could cut the amount down in the recipe if you wanted to try that. Laura
Please please PLEASE still have a jar of these left when I get home. I didn't realise how much I have missed feijoas until I saw this post! I love feijoas!
I'll try!!
I honestly have never even heard of these before, but they look so cool! I love learning about new produce from other countries!
I love it too - one of my favourite things when I'm travelling is to go to the supermarket believe it or not...so interesting! I hope you get a chance to try a feijoa one day!
Me too!