Liquid stevia can be used as an alternative sweetener in many home canning recipes.
- 1 What is stevia?
- 2 Why have a sweetener at all in home canning?
- 3 Why stevia for home canning?
- 4 I tried stevia and I didn’t like it
- 5 Why stevia in liquid form?
- 6 What is the best brand of liquid stevia to get?
- 7 Why didn’t you use honey as a sweetener in home canning?
- 8 What was the guideline used for replacing sugar with stevia in the canning recipes?
- 9 Is this stevia / sugar swapping endorsed by reputable canning sources?
- 10 More ‘academia’ about stevia and home canning
What is stevia?
Stevia is a natural sweetener from the leaves of a plant called “stevia.” Just as sugar is extracted from sugar beets or sugar cane, the sweetener stevia is extracted from the stevia leaves. For in-depth information, you may wish to see the CooksInfo.com entry on stevia.
Raw stevia leaves have a bitter after taste to them, unless they are processed in a way to filter those bitter compounds out.
Stevia is sold in three forms: powdered leaves, granular with added carbohydrates, and pure concentrated liquid. HealthyCanning.com has experience with using the liquid form.
It many ways, liquid stevia is just like vanilla extract. It’s a highly-concentrated flavouring liquid that you want to use only in very small quantities, such as a teaspoon at a time, because a little goes a long way. And aside from flavour, it impacts a canning recipe in no more a way than adding a bit of vanilla extract would. You are not changing the density, or the pH.
Why have a sweetener at all in home canning?
Many home canning procedures of course don’t require a sweetener at all — such as meat and veg. And jars of fruit are more versatile when you go to use them if you can them unsweetened.
Some items, though, such as pickles, relishes and chutneys, rely on a very high degree of acidity for food safety. Without some sweetener to help mask and balance some of the acidity, most people would find those products so sour and harsh that they would be unpalatable.
Why stevia for home canning?
Stevia does not change taste or lose sweetness when heated.
Penn State Extension says,
Stevia is stable to heat and could be used for canning fruit and other products where sugar is not critical to food safety or texture. Rebaudioside A, the active ingredient in Stevia, is 300 times sweeter than sugar. It has been listed as Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and therefore is exempt from food additive regulations.” [1] Penn State Extension. Sugars and Non-Nutritive Sweeteners in Food Preservation. 1 July 2012. Accesssed January 2015 at https://extension.psu.edu/food/preservation/news/2012/sugars-and-non-nutritive-sweeteners-in-food-preservation
The University of Kentucky Extension says,
Stevia-based sweeteners are heat stable and may be used in canning fruit.” [2] Bastin, Sandra and Debbie Clouthier. Home Canning Fruit. University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension service. FCS3-584. 2015. Page 2.
I tried stevia and I didn’t like it
You tried a form of stevia that didn’t filter out the bitter compounds.
See section below, “What’s the best brand to get.”
Why stevia in liquid form?
On HealthyCanning.com, we have used liquid stevia as our sweetener in canning recipes.
Liquid stevia:
- is available in at least one brand that has extracted all bitter aftertaste;
- is used in such minute quantities that it does not impact the the density or the pH of the product;
- is very easy to use, can be added at any stage of the recipe and last minute top-ups just a split second before bottling the food product can be done;
- does not cloud brines;
- other than sweetening, does not superimpose its own taste on the product;
- adds 0 calories.
Stevia is pricier than sugar, to be sure. But a bottle of it goes a very, very long way. And, you can compare the price of it to what you would pay otherwise for special store-bought sugar-free or sugar-reduced preserves. You can store your stevia in the fridge for a good, long shelf life.
What is the best brand of liquid stevia to get?
In our view and to our tastes, the makers of Better Stevia have succeeded in removing any and all bitterness.
We’re not in a position to say what the best brand is. At the start of our research, we hit upon one brand right at the start that worked and met all criteria, and so have used that one (because the mission was to explore its use in canning, rather than to explore the stevia market.) [Edit, 2018: in the intervening years, we have heard from people who have tried brands other than the one we recommended, and they have found them bitter.]
That brand is called “Better Stevia.” In our view and to our tastes, the makers of Better Stevia have succeeded in removing any and all bitterness.
It’s gluten-free, organic, GMO-free and certified kosher.
While you may still prefer the distinctive taste that real sugar adds to your coffee or tea, along with the sweetness, we’re hoping you will taste no difference in your preserving by using this brand of liquid stevia.
Your first instinct will be to taste it out directly out of the bottle and to mull over its taste. That is fine: but, no one in their right mind would eat white refined sugar in that way, just plain spoonfuls directly right out of the sugar bowl. In fact if you do that with white sugar, you might not find you like it that much. But, what’s important about a sweetener is how it tastes as ingredient in something else.
To start with, just try to the 2 oz (60 ml) size bottle. Just to make sure you like it. Then, you can upgrade to the larger bottles which work out much cheaper.
Make sure you get the original, regular, unflavoured kind. There are two versions of it: one that uses alcohol in the filtration process, and which is a bit thinner, and one which is alcohol free, which is a bit more syrupy. It makes no difference which version you get. Just don’t get the flavoured kinds (French Vanilla, English Taffy, Tropical Fruit, etc.) because they’d impact the flavour of the products you make. Nobody wants to sink their teeth into a French Vanilla Dill Pickle.
For example, here’s a 2 oz (60 ml) regular bottle (link valid as of August 2015):
Here’s the larger 8 oz (237 ml) regular bottle (link valid as of August 2015)
There may be other brands of liquid stevia that are as good as Better Stevia; we’ll try other liquid brands some day.
Why didn’t you use honey as a sweetener in home canning?
Honey has to be used in relatively large quantities to substitute for sugar. For every 1 cup (225 g / 8 oz weight) of sugar, you can replace with 150 ml (5 oz) of honey. Given that the pH of honey is unreliable and can range from 3.4 to 6.1, that’s a lot of added liquid potentially pushing your product up into the unsafe zone above 4.6 pH.
Beyond the safety aspects, from a cook’s point of view, honey would change flavour distinctly, and cloud pickling liquids.
Honey is also a form of sugar and adds a great deal of calories to a recipe.
That being said, the taste of honey is wonderful, and the site will certainly be including some tested recipes that use honey as a sweetener.
If you would like to see more honey-based recipes for home canning, you may wish to consider contacting some of the reputable sources and asking them to develop more of such recipes.
What was the guideline used for replacing sugar with stevia in the canning recipes?
Stevia is incredibly sweet, so as a rule of thumb, when adapting a recipe for sugar-free, we start by using 1 teaspoon (5 ml) of stevia for every 225 g ( 1 cup / 8 oz) of sugar called for in a recipe. Because there are no “dissolving” issues with liquid stevia as there are with sugar, you can add stevia even at the very end of a recipe if a last minute taste leaves you feeling you want a bit more sweetness.
We should add one thing: first, a recipe was examined to make sure that it didn’t rely on sugar to provide safety through reduced water activity. There are a very, very small handful of recipes like that. Recipes such as Corn Cob Jelly and Maple Walnut Syrup are both water-bathed (or steam-canned) recipes missing anything acidic in them at all — there isn’t even a bottle of lemon juiced waved in their general vicinity — so they clearly rely on the presence of sugar molecules to provide safety by binding up all the water thus depriving the nasties of any water to do anything. These recipes must be left as is.
Is this stevia / sugar swapping endorsed by reputable canning sources?
Absolutely not.
The research of reputable sources is showing that stevia is fine in home canning. And, academically it’s acknowledged that sugar in the quantities used in home canning rarely plays a safety role (aside from the handful of reduced water activity recipes).
That being said, for legal liability reasons they can never and will never endorse any changes, of sweetener or any kind, to the recipes they published. And who can blame them — there’s no upside for them in doing so.
In fact, if you look at the front of the Ball / Bernardin Complete Guide (2015), they put a disclaimer about even using their recipes exactly as published: “All recipes are used at the risk of the consumer. We cannot be responsible for any hazards, loss, or damage that may occur as the result of any recipe use.”
So while HealthyCanning.com has striven in every other aspect of home canning to be plus catholique que le pape, this aspect of swapping sugar for stevia is enough to make the site a heretic site in the eyes of the Safe Canning Police.
More ‘academia’ about stevia and home canning
Stevia is stable for heat greater than can be created in home canning. It is also pH and photo (light) stable, and it has good long-term shelf storage life. “Stevia extracts are extremely heat, photo and pH stable under a wide range of processing conditions and have exhibited excellent shelf stability.” [3] Stevia Faq. International Stevia Council. Brussels, Belgium. Accessed March 2015 at https://www.internationalsteviacouncil.org/index.php?id=30
The sweetness from stevia is in a molecule named “stevioside.” It’s unaffected by heat up to 120 C (248 F.) Most home pressure canning is done at 5 degrees C below that: 115 C (240 F), and water bath canning never gets about 100 C (212 F).
Only at 140 C (284 F) does the stevioside molecule start to noticeably degrade, and at 200 C (392 F) the molecule will completely decompose. But remember, this is referring to the internal temperature of the foods where the molecule is, not the ambient temperature of the water or steam around the food, or the air around the food in an oven. [4] A. Esmat Abou-Arab*, A. Azza Abou-Arab and M. Ferial Abu-Salem. Physico-chemical assessment of natural sweeteners
steviosides produced from Stevia rebaudiana bertoni plant. African Journal of Food Science Vol. 4(5) pp. 269- 281, May 2010. Accessed March 2015 at https://www.academicjournals.org/article/article1380720967_Abou-Arab%20et%20al.pdf
References
Lori Todd
I’m concerned about the fact that my brand of bottled stevia has 10% alcohol in it. Is it still safe for canning uses
Healthy Canning
Absolutely.
Ellie Heier
Hi. I read your article and the notes from other people. Various people mentioned that they didn’t like the Stevia taste. I have used the NOW Better Stevia for years and must say it’s the best thing ever. I began just using the regular Original Better Stevia but it always left a bitter taste on my tongue if I used a drop or two too much.
Afew months or so after using Stevia, I was online shopping at one of my favourite health food stores, I was running short of Stevia, so decided to buy online this time instead of at my local health food store. I discovered online that Better Stevia also sells an ORGANIC type as well. I purchased that and am happy to say that there is NO BITTER taste no matter how many drops I put it.
So I’m just putting it out there. Use the Organic Better Stevia and I can almost guarantee 100% that most people will like the taste.
Healthy Canning
We swear by the brand too, so we second what you say! Thanks for letting people know!
Diane
Hi there:
Is there a book available anywhere on Water Bath Canning & Preserving Using Stevia? I have looked and can’t seem to find one.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thank you with kind regards,
Healthy Canning
Not that we know of, sorry.
KellyJo Griffin
What about using stevia glycerate instead of stevia extract? I use Now foods Better Stevia brand.
Mack
I’m using stevia instead of sugar to canned elderberries, I need a recipe for it. Also trying to canned kumquats too. Both of these are new for me considering I’m a diabetic now. Do have a recipe or a link I can go to learn how to make it.
Trish
Can I use Truvia Brown Sugar for canning peach chutney? My husband is diabetic and I’m trying to keep the sugar level down. The peaches are sweet but would like to add a little of the truvia brown sugar because the recipe calls for it.
Healthy Canning
Use a tested recipe, which will provide you with a safe pH level and safe heat processing times. As you know, the Truvia Brown Sugar is actually a mix that has brown sugar in it, so by using it you are simply reducing the sugar level in the recipe. The sugar provides sweetness, some volume, some thickness, and acts as a preservative in terms of colour and texture. Stevia is heat stable for canning, as the University of Pennsylvania points out. The Truvia Brown Sugar contains some Erythritol sweetener in addition to the stevia; we’ve not been able to find out any information on whether its taste stays stable in home canning. There’s this from Oregon Extension but they just say try it and see if you like it: https://ask.extension.org/questions/210825
Stephanie
I have looked everywhere for a recipe with powdered stevia extract. Have you tried this method? I’m thinking 1tsp per cup of sugar would work? Any information on using the powdered extract would be helpful. Thank you!!
Kim
I’m canning pickled beets in s few weeks and would like to know if I can use stevia in that recipe instead of the cup of sugar. Any thoughts on that?
Healthy Canning
Yes, you may. See these directions for pickled beets.
Patricia Doman
I can tomatoes 18-20 quarts at a time. Can I replace sugar with liquid stevia and how much would I use per quart. I am diabetic and I want to can pasta sauce in jars. Would it have a long shelf life? I don’t want to get botulism I need it to preserve. Also does it need to be liquid or can I use powered or stevia in the raw?
Healthy Canning
You don’t need to add any sweetener when canning tomatoes at all. You could but it’s best to can them plain for maximum flexibility at time of use. See here for tomato canning directions. See here for pasta sauce recipes. See here for shelf life information. One of the most common complaints about stevia can be the bitter taste. We found the liquid version we worked with to have no discernible bitter taste at all to our taste buds, so we worked with that – also it didn’t increase density or affect pH.
Annie Mac
So if liquid stevia needs to be stored in the refrigerator to protect its shelf life, how then, are canned products “shelf stable”? I have used liquid stevia and know that it can loose its sweetness if left at room temp, but this does not happen in the jar?
Healthy Canning
When sealed hermetically in a jar, it is protected from air.
Kathy Knerr
How to convert measurements for Stevia liquid in canning ???
Healthy Canning
The ratio I go by is 1 cup / 250 g white sugar = 1 teaspoon liquid stevia. In some recipes, you may want to, out of personal taste, add an extra teaspoon for the pot. What canning recipes were you thinking of using it for?
Teresa
How much powdered stevia in place of 1 cup sugar?
Linda
Could I use Stevia in the Raw?
It is in powder form in green packets.
Healthy Canning
Hi Linda, you can try it. You would need to work out the equivalency ratios for sweetening. We’re aware of that form of stevia, and actually have some.
The only reason we went with the liquid is that we we sure in the quantities used, it would be pH and density neutral. And, the liquid has the bitterness filtered out.
Margaret
Thank you so much. I have been looking for a sight like this and just happened upon it as Blackberries are ripening and thought Pie filling. Loved the Stevia information as I have diabetics in my family and also like to keep my own calories down.
Sonia
Since sugar adds preservative qualities to canning – how much shorter is the shelf life when using stevia instead?
Healthy Canning
Hi Sonia, good question!
I have relishes, jams, chutneys, pickles over two years old using liquid stevia as the sweetener, and the quality is still amazing — almost certainly because I followed tested recipes and tested USDA canning procedures for those recipes. Of course, anecdotal evidence from one person is not equivalent to full, rigorous lab testing, I have to acknowledge that intellectually. But *that* being said, the USDA likely wouldn’t test to see just how many years sugar-free stuff is good for on the shelf, if only because they won’t certify shelf life for *any* canned goods over 1 year. Their stance is, use within one year for best quality. https://www.healthycanning.com/the-shelf-life-of-home-canned-goods/ . And I don’t blame them. Otherwise, they’d get people complaining that stuff wasn’t any good 20 years later.
If you have followed recommended, tested canning procedures from the USDA or other trusted sources such as Ball or Bernardin, you will for sure get your 1 year storage life out of your home canned sugar free goods. I’d like to emphasize that if you are canning sugar-free, it’s triply important that you follow modern, tested canning procedures. Those procedures sterilize the inside contents of your sealed jar.
I have unopened sugar-laden jars of jams from friends who did not follow USDA procedures for processing their jars of jams, and the unopened jars are full of blue and green mould. Sugar did not save the contents. Only proper processing methods will.
Where the preservative qualities of sugar come into play is after opening the product. Then, the water-reduction ability of sugar plays a role when the jar has lost its protective seal and is exposed again to the elements. In something with a very high acid content such as ketchup, relishes, pickles, that doesn’t matter — the acid seems to act as somewhat of a preservative after opening (though it can depend on what moulds happen to be floating in the air on a given day, many moulds don’t mind acidity.) It does seem to matter in jams though. Commercial sugar-free jams opened, then stored covered in the fridge, have been good for at least 6 months in my experience. After a year, though, I’ve had a few opened jars in the fridge develop a mould in them. That’s commercial, such as the Weight Watcher brands, and home-canned jams made with Ball or Bernardin pectin, all of which have additional preserving agents added.
For home-canned sugar-free jams made with preservative-free pectin such as Pomona, you are looking at 6 weeks after opening, even though a cover is tightly screwed on and they are refrigerated. It’s important to discard any jars which develop moulds: don’t scrape the mould off, it’s not safe. Thus, for sugar-free or reduced-sugar jams, it’s recommended by the Pomona Pectin people to do small jars, so that opened jars can get used up in a reasonable time span. The max size they seem to recommend in their jam recipes is 250 ml (1 cup / 8 oz.)
Again, though, you can get longer after-opening storage life with the Ball or Bernardin no-sugar needed pectins, as they have those extra preservatives added. I would expect with other big name sugar-free brands too such as Certo, etc.
Here are some closely related topics that might help to provide additional factors for you to research:
https://www.healthycanning.com/water-activity/
https://www.healthycanning.com/sugars-role-in-home-canning/
Hope this helps, Sonia.
Cheers.
Corra Ward
I’ve been looking for days online to try to find this information you just mentioned. You said, “In something with a very high acid content such as ketchup, relishes, pickles, that doesn’t matter — the acid seems to act as a preservative after opening. It does seem to matter in jams though.”
I am diabetic and want to make a tomato, pepper, onion relish like Harry and David makes, except I want to use Stevia to sweeten it. I would like to freeze it is small containers, like in ½ cup plastic instead of canning. I’ve been concerned about the shelf life after I would take one of them out of the freezer and put it in the fridge. I am deducting from what you said above, that because this recipe calls for vinegar, the relish would be acid and have a shelf life of at least a month?, most likely, not holding you to this. Is that about the ballpark for a shelf life?. Thank you for posting.
Healthy Canning
I would think that, after thawing, expecting 3 to 4 weeks life span in the fridge is not unreasonable. I think what helps is not leaving the jars sitting out on the counter for hours with the lid off, inviting moulds to come and see what they can do (as I’ve been prone to do when I’m busy and scatter-brained :} ) We’re so used to doing that with commercial stuff, which has masses of preservatives added, that old habits are hard to break sometimes. But yes, just watch for mould and after a few jars you’ll have seen if it can go longer. Don’t scrape moulds off, discard the contents.
Vicky
Hi is erythritol and monk fruit sugar substitute safe for canning jams??