Jam making help for first timer

kippers

Seakay wrote: »

I've never heard of jams continuing to set myself, and always taste my jams as soon as they are cool because I never seem to get all full jars, so there is always a small or half jar to eat at once, as well as the cooks perks of whatever has been skimmed off!

Lol that always happens to me too and it's definately a cooks perk to taste it first.:rotfl:

marmiterulesok

foreign_correspondent wrote: »

Hi Gailey - low sugar jam is ok if eaten straight away - the sugar is what preserves it. For real strawberry jam, this recipe is a doddle, we are still eating some I made two years ago, and it is lovely - http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.html?p=34670575&postcount=41

As a general rule of thumb, if fruit has lots of stones or pips in you dont need jam sugar - so cherried, redcurrants, gooseberries are fine with normal sugar and set ok.

Strawberry is a !!!!!! to get to set without pectin, and the advantage of using jam sugar is that the fruit only has to boil for 4 minutes which keeps the lovely fresh strawberry flavour, rather than it tasting too stewed.

Hi,
I'm very new to jam making and have a few more questions.I made my first lot yesterday:cherry jam,using 3 parts fruit to 1 part sugar.How long would this keep do you think,being low in sugar?One year at the most,or less than that?

This might be a silly question,but you wrote that stoned fruit usually sets with ordinary sugar,but presumably you remove the stones anyway?

Anyway,I'm on a bit of a roll here.I've just made some low sugar apricot jam(3:1) and still have some left over to try 1:1 type jam,plus some 1:1 cherry jam.

Thanks

Gigervamp

It's the sugar that preserves, so with such a low sugar content, it won't keep for very long at all and should probably be stored in the fridge.

marmiterulesok

Gigervamp wrote: »

It's the sugar that preserves, so with such a low sugar content, it won't keep for very long at all and should probably be stored in the fridge.

BLIMEY!!!!!!Thanks.If I'd thought of it like that,I don't think I would have chosen to do low-sugar jams.It seemed a healthier option,to use less sugar......Just as well that I have a big fridge!

mardatha

I picked 1lb of blackberries at a friends smallholding today and will try my first ever jam tomorrow... gulp !

annie123

mardatha wrote: »

I picked 1lb of blackberries at a friends smallholding today and will try my first ever jam tomorrow... gulp !

I beat you to it, made my first jar today:D

I was inspired by your 'really old style' thread, and thought if she can make yogurt (I'm trying that tomorrow;)) then I can make jam.

Bl**dy expensive jar of jam mind, brought 2 tubs of MrS basic strawberries and some jam sugar, just so I could have a go and know what to do ahead of blackberry picking next month.
Was much easier than I thought, used microwave recipe as only a small amount, but really chuffed it looked right and tasted great ( I licked the spoon:o)

Good luck tomorrow

adelight

scotsaver wrote: »

Thanks for all the replies about how long Jam will keep, really pleased that it will keep that long so plan to give some Jars as Xmas pressies - so glad that none of the fruit will go to waste.;)

There are unopened jars of jam in my parents house from 2 years ago that will keep for ages still! If you're good about sterilizing and sealing jars it will last for years.


Last year we made plum, raisin, nut and rum jam that, whilst delicious, never set fully and gets mouldy very quickly. I have to move it from larger containers in the garage to small (old pesto jars) in the fridge and be extremely careful, even dipping the knife back into the jar has made it go mouldy before.
I want to make some more this year, but not sure how to make sure it sets properly. Do I need more sugar because of the alcohol?

mardatha

Annie the yoghurt was dead easy, it makes itself .

BUXTONRABBIT

lillydrip wrote: »

in the river cottage cookbook, it says that you can sterilise your jars by simply putting them through a cycle in your dishwasher.

That is what I do and I have jam that is still in perfect condition from last year.

mardatha

Do I need to pull off all the tiny wee stubs off the blackberries when making jam ? Not the stalk end - the other end. I have the oven on and the jars warming etc but this is going to take me all day if I have to remove them ...:(