Help - my 10 jars of tomato chutney are too runny.

bigpaws23

I've told dh the same - he has been looking longingly (at my now perfect textured chutney - thank you again!) at the jars and I've told him he is waiting until Christmas

lolarentt

bigpaws23 wrote: »

It doesn't have a high fruit content - it's marrow with onions, tomatoes and apples. Does anyone have any rescue tips for me. Having read through the thread I think I've tried everything............

Marrow is largely water so not surprising it had a lot of liquid, but it'll simmer down to a suitable chutney consistency in the end. PP is right about the taste as well, don't think of tasting in for a couple of months - the longer you leave it the better it gets!

We're still working our way through a 2006 batch of 'allotment chutney' (so named because it used only ingredients from our allotment - plums, apples, onions..) The useage gets lower as later batches compete; it's having competition currently from last years 'pear and ginger', 'Chilli-Apple' and 'Red Raj Relish' from earlier this year!!

buxtonrabbitgreen

I have made tomato chutney today. I got 2kg of over ripe toms for 10p so thought I would make chutney. Now I am more of a jam maker. I did have to alter the recipe a bit as nowhere in the villiage had Allspice but more or less followed it apart from that. The thing is that it is not very thick, though I simmered it for about an hour. Does it thicken on keeping? thanks to any chutney experts.

Pink.

Hi buxtonrabbitgreen,

It doesn't thicken much more once it's cooled so might need to be simmered gently for a bit longer to let some of the excess liquid evaporate. The first time I made chutney it was like this and I had to tip it all back into the preserving pan and cook it for a bit longer...it worked eventually and was lovely.

There's an earlier thread with more suggestions:

Help - my 10 jars of tomato chutney are too runny.

I'll add your thread to that one later to keep the ideas together.

Pink

buxtonrabbitgreen

Thanks Pink. You always know the answer. I am tired now so will have a look in the morning.

Butterfly_Brain

I always do the cold saucer test just like jam and if it isn't thick enough I keep boiling until it is

AussieLass

Most of my relish/chutney recipes has thickened agents like flour or cornflour. I'd make up a paste with 1 tbsp to start with and increase if it doesn't thicken.

kazwookie

I agree add some cornflour

buxtonrabbitgreen

I put it back into cook some more this morning and now it is fine. There is a lot less of it though. 4 and a half pounds of tomatoes made 2 pounds of chutney. Still it cost very little as I had most of the ingredients and improvised on what I hadn'd got. May try cornflower if it happens again.
I had 2 more clean jars so at least didn't have to sterelise more in a hurry.

Seakay

Also, it will always take longer to make a preserve in a saucepan than in a preserving pan because the surface area is smaller.