Jam making help for first timer

greyteam1959

Your biggest cost is going to be your sugar I am afraid.
Up about 20% in price in the last year.

zippychick

We also have a jam first timer thread which should help

Ill merge this later on

Zip

culpepper

You don't need preserving sugar.
I never ever use it.
For the funnel, it doesn't have to be metal.
I use the plastic funnel that came with the dishwasher (for pouring salt into it) .
You can use circles of plastic bag for the lids instead of those little circles of cellophane.
Rubber bands hold them on and the postie drops them everywhere.
You can use jars with plastic screw on lids too.
I usually use a piece of clingfilm and then put the plastic lid over it just to make sure of air tightness.

ska_lover

sugar is dear these days, mr T have a £7.50 for a case of ten bags of sugar at the mo

JillS_2

ska_lover wrote: »

sugar is dear these days, mr T have a £7.50 for a case of ten bags of sugar at the mo

Last time I looked, Morrison's were still selling their 2kg bags of sugar for £1.34 - that's 67p per kg (normal bag size).

ilovecustard

Hi,

Really hoping you lovely people can help me. I'm about to go into production of jam etc to sell at a market, I have got pretty much everything in place and have done all my research.

However I'm still waiting on a reply from Trading Standards on the labelling issue, I have read many conflicting articles on what should be on the label.

Is anyone currently selling jam on a market stall that could tell me the minimum requirements please?

TIA

Scottp

We've just made two lots of wine jelly using apples and wine but both times the consistency is like treacle, not jelly. We did the setting point tests so not sure where we've gone wrong. Can anyone help?

vangirl_2

Hi, I'm sure this will have been covered before but couldn't find anything.

I've now had two failed attempts at making plum jam, it's sticking to the bottom of the pan before setting point is reached so the jam has a slightly burnt toffee taste to it.

The first try was the worst, it actually turned brownish in colour when I stirred it. The second time I made absolutely sure that the sugar was dissolved before I got it boiling and actually warmed the sugar in the oven first and used a thermometer to read the setting point but it still caught although not quite as bad.

The recipe I'm using doesn't say to add pectin and the jam is setting fine but I wondered if I did add a sachet of pectin if I would be able to reduce the boiling time or would this just make the jam too firm?

Any thoughts please? I've got enough plums for one more try.

Sambucus_Nigra

Is it a proper copper bottomed jam pan?

With plums, they do have enough pectin in to set themselves, but if this is happening, do what you can to get your set. Use a cold plate method, and take the pan off the heat whilst you test, and test often!

vangirl_2

Sambucus_Nigra wrote: »

Is it a proper copper bottomed jam pan?

With plums, they do have enough pectin in to set themselves, but if this is happening, do what you can to get your set. Use a cold plate method, and take the pan off the heat whilst you test, and test often!

I'm using a SS maslin pan. I tried the cold plate method on the first try and couldn't see any crinkling or whatever when I tested it and in the end just removed it when it started to smell of burning. I used a thermometer this time and it literally just started to stick as soon as it got over 100 degrees.

If I added a sachet of petcin how soon could I remove it from the heat after it starts to boil?