The Preserver's Year

floss2

ChocolateMonkey wrote: »

This is a bit late I know but does anyone know if you can use baby jars with the lids for chutney?

I know I certainly used to, as did my mum before me. However, all my small jars got chucked when I moved house back to my mum's in 1999....

I now use mustard or relish jars (Maille mustard jars are a lovely shape) for my chutneys & sloe jelly - they are just the right size to give a selection as presents, as they hold just enough but not too much that the recipient will get fed up before they finish it!

floyd

Has anyone frozen any type of fruit juice and successfully made jellies at a later date? I have a ton of apples to process and not enough room to open freeze and I want to use them to make chilli jelly so I was wondering if I could freeze the juice after dripping overnight through muslin (made using cores and peel for maximum pectin) and make the jelly another day?

lbt_2

meerkatgirl wrote: »

I just made this: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/3113/redcurrant-and-red-onion-relish

It says keeps in the fridge for two to three weeks - does that mean once opened? or does it mean store in the fridge immediately?

I thought chutneys could be left in the cupboard for a few months and still be good to eat?

Mmmm, have just planted a redcurrant bush so I'll keep this recipe sounds lovely.

I have started trying some recipes with PYO fruit and veg before using my home grown stuff. I made delia's pickled beetroot and onion, and it soooo vinegary. I have more beetroot but I am not sure what to do with it now. I love beetroot but I normally buy the fresh ones that have been dipped in vinegar so you can taste the lovely beetroot too but I am not sure how to do that at home

ChocolateMonkey

floss2 wrote: »

I know I certainly used to, as did my mum before me. However, all my small jars got chucked when I moved house back to my mum's in 1999....

I now use mustard or relish jars (Maille mustard jars are a lovely shape) for my chutneys & sloe jelly - they are just the right size to give a selection as presents, as they hold just enough but not too much that the recipient will get fed up before they finish it!

Thanks, makes me feel much better.

meerkatgirl

Penelope_Penguin wrote: »

I don't keep HM chutney in the fridge They're kept in the pantry, and I've never, ever seen mould on them

Penny. x

Great - that's what I thought! It tasted great before maturing, hoping it'll taste better afterwards!

Next stop - mango chutney. Feel free to point me in the right direction of a good recipe!

Penelope_Penguin

meerkatgirl wrote: »

Next stop - mango chutney. Feel free to point me in the right direction of a good recipe!

Mango chutney recipes

foreign_correspondent

Does anyone on here bottle tomatoes?

I have done a search and cannot find anything definitive - I know there are concerns about botulism, but I have also read that tomatoes are acidic enough to be safe if bottled properly...

Both my grans used to bottle lots of tomatoes, just packing tomatoes into jars with salt and processing them in the oven, and they are both almost 95, so clearly they survived!

This page describes a method which sounds like the ones my grandmas both desribed - http://www.allotment.org.uk/allotment_foods/bottling-canning/Bottling-Canning-Methods.php

I am going to try bottling tomatoes tomorrow, and will let you know if I come down with anything nasty after I have eaten them!

ceridwen

I've found this:

http://www.aselfsufficientlife.com/canning-fruit-homemade-tinned-tomatoes.html

and its by far the clearest instructions I have come across to date - and not involving those pressure canners we dont have here in Britain.

The only question I have - after reading that - is where they say "put 1/2 tbsp lemon juice in every litre of tomatoes". I'm not quite sure whether they mean "half tbsp" or "1 to 2 tbsp". I'm hazarding a guess they mean "half tbsp".....would appreciate if anyone corrects me if I'm wrong on that...:D

EDIT: When I've got the answer to that teensy query - I'm planning on growing LOADS of tomatoes next year - to save myself money on buying canned tomatoes (you want to see the price of canned organic tomatoes - eeekkkk!!).

ceridwen

....errrr....and beginners thoughts here on bottling fruit by "hot water bath" (?) method. Lesson from yesterday's experience - I put layers of newspaper in the jam preserving pan I was using to can up my fruit in and then, at the end of it, emptied out the pan in the sink = cue for lots of scraps of newspaper floating around in my sink - and fingers crossed that none of them have gone down the kitchen wastepipe and I'll find its blocked at some point - DUH!!!!!!:o

Second thing I noticed - I spent absolutely AGES (30 minutes or so I think?) waiting for the water to reach a "rolling boil" and it never did - in the end I thought "it must be the case that it just doesnt do so when theres this padding in the saucepan" and started timing anyway thinking "well its simmering - and this is obviously the best it will get"....

On a "note for the future" front - if I've got enough jars in the pan that I think theres a danger of them knocking together I will pad them the Italian Mamma's way = tying rags round them with bits of string (no chance of the rags going down the plughole....:rolleyes:). Note to self "I mean REAL string - not that plastic-y stuff thats often sold as being string these days".

foreign_correspondent

right, I have done 6 jars of what this web page describes as 'Solid Pack' bottled tomatoes ( http://www.allotment.org.uk/allotmen...ng-Methods.php ) - I.E. blanched, peeled and quartered tomatoes, packed into jars with some salt, and popped in the oven for an hour and ten minutes with the lids open, but resting on top, then took out and tightened the lids on.

They have created a lot of clear liquid, and there is about an inch air gap at the top of each jar - maybe I could have acked them tighter - will try that next time. Will eat some of these in a week or two and see how they are!

I have also done an experimental jar of Whole Tomatoes (cherry toms in my case), a different method from my 1950's Radiation Cookbook! You pack the whole, small tomatoes (washed and stalks removed) into jars, add 1 tsp salt per pound of tomatoes, and pour in boiling water to within one inch of the rim of the jar, then process in the oven, lid on loosely again, at gas mark 1/2 for an hour. Mine are in the oven now, will let you know if anything interesting happens with them!

The whole tomatoes are a lot less work, but I guess you may well end up removing the skins before you eat them anyway... the solid pack ones are probably more handy for using straight into recipes etc...