@C. Stacy, I want to do the same, did you water bath the jars?

Thanks for the tip.

@Angi Schneider, I can my hummingbird food. 1-1 then when I need some I just add 3parts water. It works great, just made more yesterday. Started doing this last summer, made enough to last tell this spring.

Those should really be stored in the refrigerator or freezer. There is no reliable recommendations for canning plain simple syrup.

I was wondering how long jarred sugar water lasts for, and if a weaker “syrup” will stay preserved? I like to pre-make my hummingbird feeder sugar water. (3 parts water to 1 part sugar)

I accidentally jarred some hummer hooch one day, and it made me curious. I had put it into the microwave to boil it so the sugar is good and dissolved as I usually do, but this particular time, I was storing them into larger approx 16oz + recycled jars, that we had originally bought with pasta sauce in them.

I put the lids onto each of the jars that were filled with the boiling liquid as they each came out of the microwave, and was later startled when they each made a loud pop, as the liquid cooled, and the jars were sealing themselves one by one, the lids each getting a concaved top. (Obviously I have zero experience in preserving by jarring)

Now I’m wondering if they will store like any other jarred food? Or do I still need to refrigerate, or freeze (loosening the lid first before going into the freezer, obviously) as I usually do?

It would be great if they could be stored at room temperature, so I can immediately fill the feeders without having to first defrost or wait til the liquid reaches room temperature, but I have no idea what makes it so the contents won’t spoil for jarring.

Do I need to have the sugar water boil for a specific amount of time to kill the bacteria, or is having it come just to a boil enough? Or does a 3:1 sugar water preserve this way at all? Thank you! 🙂