Jam making help for first timer

maypole

Valli wrote: »

re: Plums - no any old sugar will do, I just buy the cheapest white sugar.


Bring to the boil, let it boil for a little while (15 mins? ish?) then start to skim off the stones that come to the top, using a slotted spoon, or even a wooden spoon.



P.S for rhubarb (again, no stone) I believe you need to use Jam Sugar - I think the strawerry jam recipe would work fine with strawerries swapped for rhubarb! Maybe a little bit of ginger thrown in too - rhubarb and ginger jam is delicious!!

Re Plums - I count the plums in - then I count the stones out as they are hard to spot and my kids eat the jam.

I have posted elsewhere my recipe for Rhubarb jam - been making this for years with granulated sugar and have never had a jam fail. Equally i just used sterilised screw top (recycled) jars and have never had a jam go mouldy either - and I have kept it in the cupboard for up to 2 years!

happy jammin'

:T[/quote]

I do the screw top too, just fill the jam right to the top and screw them on tight. Never bother with fiddly jam pot covers and never had a mouldy jar yet.

Naomim

Oooh I'm itching to make jam but haven't got any blooming jars :mad: DH got carried away and they all went to the recycling last week.

I'll have to ask friends and neighbours to save theirs. I can't make anything until I get to Mr. T to do my shop at the end of the week anyway.

Naomi x

buxtonrabbitgreen

misspenny wrote: »

coke works really well at getting burnt stuff off of pans.

or boil up some clothes washing powder in the pan (bio if you have it)
this method also makes your kitchen smell lovley

Thankyou so much for this tip. I have had my best large very expensive stainless steel pan soaking in the garden for 2 weeks as I didn't know what else to try to get the burnt jam off. It is on it's third lot of boiling with bio washing powder and it is nearly all off now. You are a star.

billieboy_2

Why is jam sugar cheaper than ordinary sugar, 68p for 1Kg jam sugar and £1.62 for 2Kg ordinary granulated sugar (in Asda) ? I know there's not much in it, but it doesn't seem logical to me.

Next question, would it be okay to use jam sugar, as it's cheaper, for fruit with a lot of pectin in, or would it set like stone?

thriftlady_2

billieboy wrote: »

Why is jam sugar cheaper than ordinary sugar, 68p for 1Kg jam sugar and £1.62 for 2Kg ordinary granulated sugar (in Asda) ? I know there's not much in it, but it doesn't seem logical to me.

Next question, would it be okay to use jam sugar, as it's cheaper, for fruit with a lot of pectin in, or would it set like stone?

I didn't believe you, but I've just checked -it is indeed cheaper I was sure it was more expensive. How strange.

In answer to your question, I think if you use jam sugar with high pectin fruit you will get a very firm jam. However preserving sugar is only a penny a kilo more (I think) and that is just sugar with bigger crystals (for faster or slower dissolving- can't remember which) so you could use that and still save money;)

billieboy_2

thriftlady wrote: »

I didn't believe you, but I've just checked -it is indeed cheaper I was sure it was more expensive. How strange.

In answer to your question, I think if you use jam sugar with high pectin fruit you will get a very firm jam. However preserving sugar is only a penny a kilo more (I think) and that is just sugar with bigger crystals (for faster or slower dissolving- can't remember which) so you could use that and still save money;)

Actually in Asda the preserving sugar is £66p for 1Kg, even cheaper:j .

gingerkirsty

Had to make a dash to the local co-op for granulated sugar half way through jostaberry jam at 9pm tonight! The preserving sugar was £1.20 kg, and granulated 89p!!! Must buy some cheap sugar next time I am out.

Made 5 small jars of raspberry and 6 large jars, and 3 small jars of jostaberry today :j I bought some jars, and a jam funnel from lakeland and by goodness do I love that funnel :T

I am going to have to post on freecycle and ask everyone to keep jars for me though as the jostaberry bushes are still loaded with fruit and I haven't started on the blackcurrants yet.

I tried making strawberry jam with lemon juice rather than pectin earlier in the week - massive disaster so I now have jam sugar for my next attempt with the recipe here

Valli

Hi I just got a jam funnel from the Cookshop at Peak Village, Rowsley (£3+) and I have been jam making for over ten years!

But the REAL reason I am posting is...

WHAT IS A JOSTABERRY?

billieboy_2

Valli wrote: »

Hi I just got a jam funnel from the Cookshop at Peak Village, Rowsley (£3+) and I have been jam making for over ten years!

But the REAL reason I am posting is...

WHAT IS A JOSTABERRY?

I'd never heard of it before but a quick searched revealed this, a cross between a gooseberry and a blackcurrant.

Sunnyday

Hi everyone,
i`ve just made jam for the first time using FC`s great recipe. Thanks FC!!

I have a couple of questions to ask, i halved the recipe as i`d not got many strawberries but i only got a big jar and about a quarter of a small jar of jam.

What size jars are everyone else using? Should i have added something else to make it go further like water for example?

The big jar was an old jam jar and the small one was a small mayo jar.

The jam has set and the little button on the big jar lid has gone down so i presume there`s no air left in the jar but how do i make it do this on the partly filled jar please, or do i really need to do this?

I would like to try blackerry jam when the blackberries are out and i`m hoping to make quite a lot for christmas gifts so am i doing anything wrong:o
Thanks guys.
SD