The Preserver's Year

sassyblue

Another question l must ask, are coffee jars okay to store chutneys in? l say no because of the plastic lids but a couple of people keep telling me yes, who's right?

floyd

Coffee jars wont form a tight vacuum when the chutney cools so the contents wont stay fresh long as air can get in. I'm sure you could for a week or so in the fridge but not if you intend to store them to mature.

jennyjelly

I'm getting back into preserving after a few years of not having time and have dug out my preserving pan, funnel etc. Unfortunately though my jam thermometer has been broken so I need to buy a new one.

All the ones I have looked at have temps printed on, and I have heard that it doesn't take long for the print to wear off, so I would like to get one with the numbers engraved rather than printed but can't find one.

Anybody seen one anywhere that they can recommend?

sassyblue

Thanks for that Floyd l thought it would be the plastic lids cracking over a long period from the 'seal' formed.

jenny try ebay? Trouble is waiting for it to finish auction and arrive...

jennyjelly

sassyblue wrote: »

jenny try ebay? Trouble is waiting for it to finish auction and arrive...

None of the listings specify whether the numbers are engraved or printed so I think I'll have to annoy all the sellers by emailing them (serves them right for not being specific!).:p

Same problem on Amazon.

Never mind, if I have no luck I'll wait till I go somewhere with a really good kitchen shop and try there.

Thanks anyway.
JJ

floyd

What about one of the thermometers that looks like a big spike with a wheel/dial on top? They are sold as candy thermometers in the U.S. so must be fit for the job.
Mine is from Lakeland and although it says on their reveiw section that the numbers come off, I just run mine under a very hot tap to dissolve any sugar and it stays clean and with numbers intact.

jennyjelly

I was wondering about the spike type ones, but being quite traditional I had sort of dismissed them before I even considered them IYSWIM, and because I had a nice one before I automatically looked to replace it witha the same sort of thing.

Perhaps I should be a little more open minded!

Chris25

sassyblue wrote: »

Another question l must ask, are coffee jars okay to store chutneys in? l say no because of the plastic lids but a couple of people keep telling me yes, who's right?

they might be talking about the Douwe Egberts coffee jars which have a rubbery/plastic seals between the jar & the glass lid

Confuzzled

i wanted to take a moment to report some preserving success!

i've got a friend here who promised to help me move, however he has been feeling quite poorly with a bad cold so for the last 2 days i've been loading him up with my hedgerow cordial (FULL of elderberries and rowans) and he's already had a remarkable improvement. he's still not 100% but he's feeling well enough to help out which is good cuz i'm feeling a little off myself though i've been able to fight off 90% probably due to my 2 tablespoons a day of my cordial

Patchwork_Quilt

Well done Confuzzled! I bet it tastes delicious too.

Made some apple and rhubarb puree and also apple and blackberry puree today. Then bottled and sterilised them. More cucumber pickle tomorrow, I think. However, I have to wait for my jar to come out of the dishwasher! It's so frustrating!

Edited to say that we tasted the first of this year's jam yesterday, when I made some jam tarts. Yum!