The Fowler's Vacola jar is a molded glass jar used in

canning Canning is a method of food preservation in which food is processed and sealed in an airtight container (jars like Mason jars, and steel and tin cans). Canning provides a shelf life that typically ranges from one to five years, although under ...

for

food preservation Food preservation includes processes that make food more resistant to microorganism growth and slow the redox, oxidation of fats. This slows down the decomposition and rancidification process. Food preservation may also include processes that in ...

. It is the most popular

home canning Home canning or bottling, also known colloquially as putting up or processing, is the process of Food preservation, preserving foods, in particular, fruits, vegetables, and meats, by packing them into glass jars and then heating the jars to crea ...

system in Australia.

History

The system was developed in 1915 in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Australia, by Joseph Fowler (28 February 1888 – 24 April 1972), who migrated from England in 1912, at his home in

Hawthorn, Victoria Hawthorn is an inner suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, east of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, central business district, located within the City of Boroondara Local government areas of Victoria, local government area. ...

, and became very popular.

The jar

The Fowler's Vacola system uses glass jars, single use rubber ring seals and pressed metal lids, much like American

Mason jar A Mason jar, also known as a canning jar, preserves jar or fruit jar, is a glass jar used in home canning to food preservation, preserve food. It was named after American tinsmith John Landis Mason, who patented it in 1858. The jar's mouth has a ...

s first patented in 1858, except that the jars and lids are not threaded. During the canning process, while still hot (and presumably

sterile Sterile or sterility may refer to: *Asepsis, a state of being free from biological contaminants * Sterile (archaeology), a sediment deposit which contains no evidence of human activity *Sterilization (microbiology), any process that eliminates or ...

), the lids are secured by metal tension clips which are removed once cooled and a vacuum seal has formed. Other equipment marketed by the company included a large electrically heated waterbath and "sterilizing thermometer", a glass

thermometer A thermometer is a device that measures temperature (the hotness or coldness of an object) or temperature gradient (the rates of change of temperature in space). A thermometer has two important elements: (1) a temperature sensor (e.g. the bulb ...

mounted on a concave stainless steel backing, graduated in both degrees Celsius and Fahrenheit.

Availability

Fowler's Vacola products are still produced by the original Fowlers Vacola company, and are available from some hardware stores, and directly from the company via their online store.fowlersvacola.com.au
/ref> Used equipment is frequently sold on online auction sites and in opportunity shops.

The company

Fowlers Vacola specialises in bottling jams and other foods at its manufacturing plant in Sydney.

References

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External links