Is it worth the outlay cost?

Angel_Jenny

tessasmum wrote: »

Angel_Jenny

Jam making can be enormously satisfying, but I would take your time in setting up all the equipment: I have two jam pans, which I use for making jam and chutneys, and neither of them were bought new - one came from a charity shop and the other was gifted to me by someone who felt too old to continue making jam. I recycle my jars all the time, and keep them from one year to the next. They still do the job fine after a hot wash and being put in the oven upside down for 15 minutes on 100C to sterilise them - other people can recommend their methods too, I am sure.

If you have friends and relatives who have fruit to spare (strawberries, raspberries, gooseberries, plums, for example) as I do, you will find that your major expense is sugar - so keep your eyes open for sales, discounts and bargains; don't just look in the supermarkets but other places as well like the pound shops sometimes sell sugar. Sugar keeps for ages so if you see a good sale, stock up as much as you are able.

This self-sufficiency/make it yourself is great, but we can't do it all, all the time! It's actually quite time consuming and hard work - but I do love it! I cook from scratch, make some bread, pickles, chutneys, jams, etc as well as growing veg and keeping chooks. Good luck, but don't get too excited about buying a lot of new expensive equipment too soon - try things out first.

That is useful to know about the jars - I thought they might lose their seal-ability after a while. The last thing I want to do is go to the effort of making jam and then it going mouldy!

Does the jam have to be kept somewhere special so it keeps? Just thinking there isn't much room in the kitchen but the outhouse could possibly be re-organised a bit (not my rubbish in there!) to give a preserved food shelf.

I like the hard work side of it - baking bread by hand as I love the kneading!

None of my family is really into gardening or anything that I am interested in - they all think I am some mad throwback to a previous generation!

Not allowed chickens here and even if we were I think the Jack Russell may eat them.

freezspirit

Dad reuses the jams jars that friends and family have given us.

Linda32

Angel_Jenny wrote: »

Much cheaper!! Wonder why there is such a price difference.

Possibly because one is from Lakeland and one is from Wilkinsons Slightly tongue-in-cheek there but I'm sure you get the idea.

The Lakeland one is no doubt very good for jam making on a mega scale but for the home cook I'm sure a £20 one will do.

I tried to decide last year whether to buy one or not, in the end I went for it and bought the pan. You do need a very big pan for jam making, as saucepan will not do as the boiling jam rises :eek:

As a double duty I use the jam pan for cooking big batches of mince and onion type dinners when I do batch cooking. So its not just for making jam once a year.

Also you could look on your home made jam as pretty frugal breakfasts (as long as you can get hold of cheap/free fruit) a nice breakfast for the price of two rounds of bread.

Angel_Jenny

Linda32 wrote: »

Possibly because one is from Lakeland and one is from Wilkinsons Slightly tongue-in-cheek there but I'm sure you get the idea.

The Lakeland one is no doubt very good for jam making on a mega scale but for the home cook I'm sure a £20 one will do.

I tried to decide last year whether to buy one or not, in the end I went for it and bought the pan. You do need a very big pan for jam making, as saucepan will not do as the boiling jam rises :eek:

As a double duty I use the jam pan for cooking big batches of mince and onion type dinners when I do batch cooking. So its not just for making jam once a year.

Also you could look on your home made jam as pretty frugal breakfasts (as long as you can get hold of cheap/free fruit) a nice breakfast for the price of two rounds of bread.

We don't have a Wilkinsons here! Wondered if there was that much of a difference in quality - or if it was just the Lakeland name.

A big pan will be an essential then. I can't imagine that covering the oven in jam would make me popular!

The Lakeland pan is advertised for jam and cheese - I don't think we have any big pans so I would probably need one from somewhere.

I think I need to do some reading up! Like on were to by unhomogenised milk for one thing and where to get cheaper fruit / sugar for another.

GreyQueen

riversidegirl wrote: »

Hi I have an aluminium preserving pan I was given about 20 years ago. I have always been scared to use it for preserving or pickles as I heard aluminium was unsafe to use. Can anyone shed any light on this or can I use my proper pan for preserving?

It's not recommended to use aluminium pans for acidic foods as they are supposed to dissolve minute amounts of the aluminium into the foods. I'm sure I've read something somewhere about this being implicated in Alzheimer's but research is still ongoing.....

Acids would be all fruits and rhubarb and anything with vinegar in it (i.e. chutneys). You can clean an alu pan which has developed interior staining by boiling dilute vinegar or another acidic thing such as lemon peel, and it comes up bright and shiny. I don't think modern preserving pans are made from alu but there are plenty of older ones floating about; I have a pal who is happy to lend me one but I wouldn't cook in it. HTH.

floss2

Linda32 wrote: »

Possibly because one is from Lakeland and one is from Wilkinsons Slightly tongue-in-cheek there but I'm sure you get the idea.

The Lakeland one is no doubt very good for jam making on a mega scale but for the home cook I'm sure a £20 one will do.....

Funnily enough, its the same as this Tala one sold by Amazon for £23 / £28...

Angel_Jenny wrote: »

We don't have a Wilkinsons here! Wondered if there was that much of a difference in quality - or if it was just the Lakeland name.

A big pan will be an essential then. I can't imagine that covering the oven in jam would make me popular!

The Lakeland pan is advertised for jam and cheese - I don't think we have any big pans so I would probably need one from somewhere.....

The Tala one is stainless steel and holds 9 litres - the Lakeland one is only 8.5 litres. It's available on Amazon for less than the £43 Lakeland want for a smaller pan. This is their website.

Farway

Angel_Jenny wrote: »

Does the jam have to be kept somewhere special so it keeps? Just thinking there isn't much room in the kitchen but the outhouse could possibly be re-organised a bit (not my rubbish in there!) to give a preserved food shelf.

Just a coolish dark place, like a cupboard or pantry, or even under the stairs

The outhouse or a garage may be ideal, depends on summer temperature really because although the jam is sterilised & sealed my guess is weeks on end at 80F will not do it any good at all

Thge dark is to prevent the jam loosing it's colour, may go muddy brown otherwise

Tish_P

Here are two of the easiest jam recipes I know, to see if you like the process - good luck! The first one doesn't even need a saucepan as it's done in the oven with overnproof dishes. Neither of them will keep as long as "properly" made jam, but they always get eaten before they have a chance to go mouldy. I make the bramble jelly at least once a year when the fruits are free - the season starts very soon!

http://fishfingersfortea.co.uk/2010/07/19/hands-free-raspberry-jam/
http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/main-ingredient/fruit-/quick-bramble-jelly.html

Angel_Jenny

Interesting about the pans .... will have to write a list of essentials and work out how much they will all cost. Space is probably the biggest issue though!

Been round all the supermarkets in town looking for unhonogenised milk - no luck! Would have to be the milkman or on line.

The outhouse is quite cool as it is brick and only has a small window. Maybe a big box to keep the jars in and the light out.

Those jams sound gorgeous and much easier than I expected! Will have to go on a walkabout to find bramble bushes!!

fester

I had a look on Amazon for pressure cookers but it seems that all the less expensive ones are aluminium. Though there is one - Prestige Smartplus stainless steel 6 litre on sale at £48, down from £80.