The Fowler's Vacola jar is a molded glass jar used in canning for food preservation. It is the most popular

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

system in Australia.

History

The system was developed in 1915 in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, Australia, by Joseph Fowler (28 February 1888 – 24 April 1972), who migrated from England in 1912, at his home in Hawthorn, Victoria, 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 or fruit jar, is a glass jar used in home canning to preserve food. It was named after American tinsmith John Landis Mason, who patented it in 1858. The jar's mouth has a screw thread on its outer perime ...

s first patented in 1858, except that the jars and lids are not threaded. During the canning process, while still hot (and presumably sterile), 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 or a temperature gradient (the degree of hotness or coldness of an object). A thermometer has two important elements: (1) a temperature sensor (e.g. the bulb of a mercury-in-glass thermometer ...

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

{{reflist

External links