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Jam making help for first timer

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  • Does anyone have a easy recipe for blackberry jam? We picked 3 lb last week and froze them. Want to go again this weekend but use them to make jam


    :hello:
    I was hoping for a blackberry recipe too :D. I've picked tons of them this year. I'm a little unsure about the pectin issue with blackberries. I'm not sure whether to use the old-ish lemon in the fridge...wait for apples from my neighbour or buy some pectin??
  • doddsy wrote: »
    If you haven't got enough jars or time, freeze your fruit and make jam later. I have made 9lb of raspberry jam with last years picking.

    doddsy
    Thanks for this. I have a freezer full of free fruit and I was wondering if i could make jam later as i have 9 jars of damson jam which is lovely but i wont want anymore for quite a while.
    Anyone who lives within their means suffers from a lack of imagination:beer:

    Oscar Wilde
  • tiff
    tiff Posts: 6,608 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker Savvy Shopper!
    I'm pretty sure you can, I have a load of frozen elderberries for the same purpose. Wish I could find damsons though.
    “A budget is telling your money where to go instead of wondering where it went.” - Dave Ramsey
  • elantan
    elantan Posts: 21,022 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    can anyone tell me if homemade jam is as nice/nicer than shop bought and what the difference is with a preserve? my son likes a preserve ...can that be made at home? sorry for taking over the thread
  • moanymoany
    moanymoany Posts: 2,877 Forumite
    I have a big problem when I try to cook jam on the hob - I always burn it - the solution, cook it in the microwave. So I prepare the fruit on the hob and also melt the sugar into the fruit on the hob before cooking it in the microwave.

    This year I have made damson, and a batch of berry. The damsons I cooked and put through a seive. Those sneaky little stones, always manage to leave one behind and Dh once broke a tooth! Another think I do is to whizz the cooked fruit with the hand held blender.

    The mixed berry, I had raspberries from the allotment, some rhubarb, half an apple and blackberries. None of these are high in pectin, so I went and picked some sloes from a tree near me. I cooked 1lb of them and put them through a seive. I cooked the rest of the fruit and put that through the seive to get rid of the seeds. It came to 2 kilos. I washed out my big pan and heated the fruit, added the granulated sugar and stirred it until it melted.

    I have 2 large plastic bowls that fit in the microwave. I fill them third full and cover them with a plastic microwave lid. I put the mix in for 15 minutes on full before testing it. It took about that. It took me three goes before the batch was finished. All through this time the clean jars were in the oven at about 60 degrees ready for the hot jam.

    Because I removed the seeds the jam is a lovely clear deep wine red. It also tastes great.

    Technically, jam cooked this way is called a 'cheese' and my old book says they can be eaten with meat, rather like redcurrant jelly.

    PS all my fruit - except the sloes - were frozen
  • tiff
    tiff Posts: 6,608 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker Savvy Shopper!
    Someone has offered me 2 aluminium preserving pans for jam making, can anyone tell me if these are ok or am I better off waiting for stainless steel?
    “A budget is telling your money where to go instead of wondering where it went.” - Dave Ramsey
  • elantan
    elantan Posts: 21,022 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    can i just say thanks very much for the advice in here i have damson's and am now off to try and make some jam will let you know how i go ..thanks again everyone
  • elantan
    elantan Posts: 21,022 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    well i have 5 jars of something ...not quite sure what ..i think my lack of patience has to be worked at some more ...will let you know how it tastes though
  • Poet_2
    Poet_2 Posts: 258 Forumite
    I was curious as to whether one could sterilise jam jars in the microwave and found this site

    http://www.scienceyear.com/text_only/outthere/diner/microwave/13.html

    what does everyone think about this method of making jam and sterilising jam jars?
  • Poet_2
    Poet_2 Posts: 258 Forumite
    I have just had a revelation ! I've made jam for years but the degree of setness has always been a bit erratic. I do the thing with the saucer, but sometimes the jam is too runny and last year my lovely damson jam which I wanted runny to put in yoghurt (I've just bought an Easiyo and plan to drown in thick yog with damson jam, yummmmmm) was so set you had to chip it out of the jars. But this morning I splashed out £3.25 on a jam thermometer, and my troubles are over. I just thought i'd say because that thing with the saucer and a blob of jam with a wrinkly surface just doesn't work for me, whereas a thermometer makes it completely easy.
    I must now go and eat a lot of the lovely runny damson jam I made this afternoon while the rain poured down outside....how soothing !..........


    how does that work then? does it have markings on it for 'runny' and 'set'? How do you know when to take it off the heat for a runny result?
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