gages... of whatever colour help!

merlin1

Hi all, its me again....

Gages, I have been out today collecting and have 4.5 kilos of them and many many more to come. About a mile up the road from us there is tree after tree, yellow, red, green plus the odd damsons its amazing, I have never seen so much fruit! :j

Thanks to the winds theres a carpet of them, but also plenty more still on the trees, so foraging should be good for a while yet.

So, oldstylers, just how to prep and freeze for long term jam and chutmey making? They seem to be pretty forgiving as far as freezing goes; whole, halved and desseded, or halved and deseeded and stewed, any way up really?

Whats the best way and in what sort of quantity per portion for jams and chutneys?

Also I have searched recipes for gage chutney, but they all seem to be with chilli or peppers? My mum is highly allergic to these, so if anyone can help with a chilli (and its relatives) free chutney would be much appreciated

Many thanks
Merlin xx

Seakay

any plum recipe is suitable for greengages
they can be frozen raw or cooked
half a pound of fruit makes aprox one pound of jam or just under - I generally like to use 12oz sugar to a 1lb fruit for jam but some people prefer 1lb to a 1lb
chilli is only a flavouring so if you don't like it just miss it out. make up the weight of sweet peppers with more onion or some celery or fennel

merlin1

excellent! thank you Seakay Im open tray freezing yesterdays lot whole, rapidly losing freezer space! :rotfl:

Gigervamp

Whenever I bag up fruit for the freezer, I put 500g in each bag.

merlin1

that sounds like a good amount... i have just made yellow gage cheese, it took 2 lbs of fruit to get a jar n half, sounds alot but they do weigh heavy!