Rowan berries

purpleimp

Hello folks,

Well I've got the Christmas spirit and am planning for jams and curds etc, which is all great but I've got hardly any jars so far.

The thing is there are loads of brambles arround where we work, these I'm going to pick and freeze till I have enough jars to warrant making the jam, the rowans however are eluding me there are up to a dozen rowan trees around here busting with berries and I'm desperate to make up a batch of jelly with these, the problem is the recipes I've seen say make sure they're not pulpy, they're not, but again I have the jar problem and I'm wandering if I can freeze these too? or if after they're frozen they'll be too pulpy to use? Any ideas?

The other thing that there is just now is mushrooms in their abundance there's a brae in a woody bit again just outside where I work bursting with these big(ish) mushrooms, they're like oysters but chunky and I don't have a book to compare if they're safe,obviously I'll leave these well alone if I can't figure them out but I was just wandering if you all had any ideas on this front either?

Thanks in advance.xxx

purpleimp

shameless bump!x

wizzkid_3

I don't know about the 'pulpy', but I remember my mum making Rowan Jelly and staining the mix through a cloth tied to the feet of an unside down stool.

Would be interested to know the answer myself, had forgotton all about the jelly, it was lovely.

Pink.

Hi purpleimp,

My guess is that you could freeze the rowan berries to make jelly later, but I haven't tried it. Why not ask your work colleagues if they would bring you in any old jam jars they have so that you could get started sooner rather than having to freeze them.

With the mushrooms I'd be very reluctant to pick and use them unless I knew exactly what I was doing. You might get some hints on where to find expert advice on these threads:

mushrooming!

Mushroom foraging



wizzkid, have a look at thriftlady's post here on making jellies. I've been following those instructions and have made loads over the last few weeks. Just be warned, it's addictive!

Pink

wendym

Freezing rowan berries does something odd to them. I found they went rather wet, and didn't want to behave in jelly.

Their pectin content is unpredictable, so I usually add apple.

This year I think the blackbirds have beaten me to it, and have eaten so many so quickly that they may well evolve into a flightless species!

Sazbo

I never knew you could eat rowan berries, so I've learnt something today!

purpleimp

Thank you all, like I say I wouldn't risk the mushrooms if I didn't know for sure they'd be safe, but I'm really keen to do rowan jelly and there's no way I've got enough jars at the minute (or likely to get enough soon enough) not to freeze them for now.(ooh and as for eating the rowans you can only eat them cooked, I believe they're poisonous if eaten raw, but apparently they make great gravy!)

thanks folks.xxx