Help with jam making please!!!

Allexie · 4 July 2005 at 11:07AM

Miserable day here so going to make jam. Never quite got the hang of it properly so can anyone help me with a few quick questions before I start?

Do you always wash fruit? I washed the strawberries last night and left them to dry overnight on tea towels but am wondering what to do about raspberries...should I wash them or just pick them over? They have been grown organically and well away from any urban pollution. I would imagine they would retain quite a lot of water if washed and I'm wondering if this would hinder the setting process?

What to do about the scummy stuff...I've read somewhere about putting a nob of butter in to help with this...is it a good idea and at which stage do you add it?

Can you make jam with wild strawberries? If so, do you use all wild ones or a mix of wild and ordinary?

Oh heck, I'm sure there will be loads of other questions.....Any other hints or tips would be very welcome. I'm determined that one day I will produce the perfect jar of jam!

Thanks X

elona · 4 July 2005 at 11:27AM

I have just started making jam in my breadmaker and it is gorgeous - comes out as a conserve - but if you give it 20 mins extra time then it is more like English jam.

I tried making jam in microwave but worried about it boiling over and over cooked it so it went brown and yeuch!

squeaky · 4 July 2005 at 11:31AM

There's a thread on making jam Here which might answer some of your questions.

Allexie · 4 July 2005 at 11:50AM

elona wrote:

I have just started making jam in my breadmaker and it is gorgeous - comes out as a conserve - but if you give it 20 mins extra time then it is more like English jam.

I tried making jam in microwave but worried about it boiling over and over cooked it so it went brown and yeuch!

I haven't got a breadmaker

so can't try that.... and I don't feel very confident about the microwave method for some reason. My strawb jam was more like strawb glue last year!

Anyway me first batch of strawb jam is is the pots and if anything it is undercooked rather than overcooked this year! Now for the Raspberry!!

Allexie · 4 July 2005 at 11:56AM

squeaky wrote:

There's a thread on making jam Here which might answer some of your questions.

Thanks squeaks

I had already had a squiz through it but couldn't find the answers to my specific questions.....ho hum....to wash or not to wash...that is the question...!!

squeaky · 4 July 2005 at 12:11PM

I'd say wash. And remember the tip about adding sugar after the berries have started boiling to help keep the skin soft, unless you intend straining the jam.

Loadsabob · 4 July 2005 at 12:51PM

Allexie wrote:

Anyway me first batch of strawb jam is is the pots and if anything it is undercooked rather than overcooked this year! Now for the Raspberry!!

Wow - 43 minutes after your first post this morning, and the first batch is done!!! I'm very impressed, you don't hang around, do you?!! I've been about three months getting around to getting the sugar so far!!!

Mado · 4 July 2005 at 9:49PM

Yeah that' jam in a flash...
I wouldn't really worry about washing raspberries...
even if there are bugs left on them ... bacteria will be thoroughly killed at boiling sugar temperature and any foreign body (including the other type of bugs) will most likely float in the scum. And if they don't that's extra protein in the jam.
Any other possible bit (mud?) is likely to provide you with a few more essential minerals (don't we all need a bit of extra iron, calcium, zinc and son on?)

And I am very jealous that you should have enough wild strawberries to consider putting them in the jam...

KTFrugal · 5 July 2005 at 6:21PM

Give your fruit the merest whisper of a rinse to get the dust off them, then add to the sugar. If you leave 'em to dry overnight on towels, you'll lose alot of juice. Rasps are notorious for leaking away like this.

You can leave the fruit and sugar mix in the fridge until you've got time to make your jam. I like to do it in the morning, before I get too hot and bothered. The juice-soaked sugar will then take less time to dissolve on the heat.

Re the scummy stuff, you can skim if off it it looks really bad, but a knob of butter (a teaspoon really) at the rolling boil stage will knock alot of it down.

If you have masses of wild strawbs you can make teeny weeny pots of special jam which you can pass of as a gourmet treat as cheapo gifts, you lucky thing. Test a few of them raw though, as some have not much flavour.

One last strawberry jam tip, after the setting point is reached and you've turned the heat off, leave the jam in the preserving pan for 20-30 mins to settle, otherwise, when you pot it up, all the whole strawbs can float up to the top of the jar, giving you a layer of fruit topping and a layer of runny sauce.

Allexie · 5 July 2005 at 6:58PM

Yay! Road-tested the jam today and it's the best I've made in years!

Didn't wash the rasps in the end just inspected them carefully. Seemed to 'jam' much quicker for being dryer (10 mins) and not much scum. I dared to declare it ready when the cold plate/wrinkle was quite slight instead of waiting til it needed a good shove as in the past. So it is actually jam and not toffee!

The strawb was much quicker to do as well this time (15mins) and I put that down to the dryer fruit and smaller quantities than my usual industrial ones. Both seems to have good consistency - not slopping about when the jars are tipped and not rock hard either.

Will probably make some more later in the season but in the meantime got some loganberries ripening fast now and loads of wild strawbs ...if only I had the patience to pick them.

Many thanks for all the tips :T

squeaky · 5 July 2005 at 7:05PM

.

I'm turning green with envy.

PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING

Help with jam making please!!!

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