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I prepared the Gulab jamuns few days back. Now there is a lot of sugar syrup remaining, what's the way of preserving it without using the fridge?

One way is to boil it daily, but that'll consume a lot of gas. So, any other way out?

Aquarius_Girl
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3 Answers3

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Sugar is a natural preservative and provided you store it in a dark, dry, cool place it should keep for a long time. You should store it in a sterilised glass jar or bottle.

To sterilise, place the empty, open jar in a pan of cold water and bring to the boil, boiling for ten minutes. Remove, pour in the syrup, then place the lid on and return to the boiling water for another ten minutes. Dry with a clean towel and store.

ElendilTheTall
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  • Thanks for responding, won't the glass break on boiling? Is glass necessary? I have the high quality plastic bottles: http://www.pearlpet.com/ Won't they do? – Aquarius_Girl May 17 '11 at 08:04
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    I've edited the answer actually - I'd neglected to say you should place the jar in the water when it's cold and then bring it to the boil: this means the glass shouldn't shatter with heat stress. I'm not sure how the plastic bottles would behave so can't say, but I wouldn't risk it. – ElendilTheTall May 17 '11 at 08:13
  • and why did you mention "sterilised", BTW? Is it compulsory? If I use a "new" glass jar, will the sterilization be still necessary? – Aquarius_Girl May 18 '11 at 03:01
  • Because the longer you store something, the more likely it is to grow bacteria. If you use a brand new jar you may be ok. – ElendilTheTall May 18 '11 at 06:58
  • But then, that jar will get old in a few days, then what, how many times am I supposed to purchase new jars? And now I realize I was talking to YOU in the photography section too. ;) Secondly, if you don't write @Anisha at the begining of the comments, I won't get the notifications, like in this case. – Aquarius_Girl Jun 23 '11 at 02:36
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    @anisha Yes, apparently I'm some kind of guru :D As long as you use a clean spoon (or just pour the syrup) and don't leave the lid off the jar, the syrup should last for a decent amount of time. If and when it does go bad you can simply clean it out and use it again. – ElendilTheTall Jun 23 '11 at 07:23
  • I had preserved the sugar syrup in the plastic jar, a week ago and I opened it today only to find out that it is smelling like the wine :mad: – Aquarius_Girl Jun 26 '11 at 03:49
  • I'll try it again today, by boiling the plastic jar :D – Aquarius_Girl Jun 26 '11 at 10:15
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    @Anisha: You can also try heating the sealed jar with the syrup in it, fully immersed in a pot of water. Give it a half hour or so at a rolling boil. This should kill most bacteria, but because of risks of botulism, I would not use syrup stored more than a month. Adding a touch of lime juice or an ounce or two of vodka may also help extend shelf life. – BobMcGee Jun 26 '11 at 16:21
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    "To sterilise, place the empty, open jar in a pan of cold water and bring to the boil, boiling for ten minutes. Remove, pour in the syrup, then place the lid on and return to the boiling water for another ten minutes." – ElendilTheTall Jun 26 '11 at 16:35
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Make sure that the syrup is concentrated enough, and store it with a reasonable airtight seal so that it doesn't attract moisture from the atmosphere.

I've got around 1.5 litres of syrup that I've used to pull moisture from apple pieces that I was candying, boiled to 110C (a strength just before it will start crystallising at room temperature) and in a demijohn with screw cap. From experience, I'd expect it to last for at least several months: degradation if stored in the light will be more of a problem than bacteria.

There's a long tradition of dressing wounds with honey, which has a natural antiseptic effect due to its tendency to pull moisture out of bacteria etc. An adequately-strong syrup will tend to sterilise glassware, not the other way round.

Some months later: the syrup was boiled up in November or perhaps October, and now- late June the following year- is beginning to look a bit scummy and bubbly. So it's certainly lasted more than six months without cooling or the use of a preservative, and probably would have lasted longer if I'd brought it up to boiling on occasion to get rid of any moisture or microorganisms that had got in when I was dispensing some.

Mark Morgan Lloyd
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You can can/bottle it. google for some good canning/bottling instructions. You can then use the jars at your leisure. They should store for a long time in your cupboard.

Taryn East
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