Preparing for Winter V

[Deleted User]

I've got a working sourdough starter courtesy of a very good friend who cracked the 'how to' and I've a back up in the freezer but I might try dehydrating some and see how it reconstitutes after a couple of weeks.  I've a tray of mushrooms in at the moment to dry off and grind for mushroom powder to shake over risottos, I love the dried porcini dust you can buy in a tin with a shaker and when I've finished that I'll fill it with home done chestnut mushroom powder. We made the decision today that we're doing so much dehydrating we need a vacuum sealer or I'll be out of storage room and jars before the end of the season.

I shall have to make jam tomorrow too DD just gave me a couple of pounds of greengages from the tree in her garden which are sweet and just ready  so jam it will be and my potatoes were so successful she'd given me 3 bags from her veg box that she hasn't used to dry off for her tomorrow too.

Living_proof

The shelves with all my Kilner jars, etc. have started to bend hence the decision to vacuum longer term storage. If you then make the bag quite a lot bigger than required you can cut off the top bit with the seal above and keep re-sealing having taken out the quantities you need for your jars. 

greenbee

VJsmum said:

I think my tomatoes are not going to ripen - or not many of them anyway.  it's a good job i grew them just to make green tomato chutney! 

Do you get through all that chutney yourselves, Boazu?  or is a lot of it gifted?

I’m still using up green tomato chutney from 2007 so think carefully about how much you make!

We get through quite a bit of marmalade, but not much jam. And TBH I’m reluctant to make because of all the sugar. What fruit we do have is either eaten fresh or stewed or used in smoothies. But we try to eat mostly veg and very little fruit anyway.

MingVase

Am I the only person on the planet who has never tasted  (or wanted to!)  chutney? Or any of these jars of pickle stuff on supermarket shelves.

I like making jam but eating low carb there's no call for it now, we just ate all the  garden stawberries with cream.

Primrose

Chutneys are nice to accompany cold meats, salads, etc and to pep up sandwiches.  They are far sweeter than pickles which generally contain no sugar like chutneys and can be very sour to some tastes.  Caramalised onion is particularly nice my view with cheese and crackers or crispbreads. 

basketcase

MingVase said:

Am I the only person on the planet who has never tasted  (or wanted to!)  chutney? Or any of these jars of pickle stuff on supermarket shelves.

I like making jam but eating low carb there's no call for it now, we just ate all the  garden stawberries with cream.

    I've occasionally had chutney - quite like dipping poppadums in the mango chutney at restaurants.  Almost certainly not the right way to eat it, but it keeps me happy...

   I remember going to birthday parties where one of the sandwiches always seemed to be cheese and chutney, which I thought was revolting.  Put me off chutneys for life!  Odd really because brown sauce (which I do like) is basically Branston without the lumps.  Possibly less sugar? 

   I quite like piccalilli.  And pickled red cabbage.

[Deleted User]

I started work at 8 this morning and have 7 jars of plum jam and 2 of greengage jam cooling on the kitchen table, have cooked and peeled 3 bags of potatoes which I'll slice and dehydrate for DD when they're cold , have 3lbs of ripe tomatoes soaking in boiling water so I can skin and core them for some more chutney and a big batch of runner beans from the garden to sort and dehydrate later today.  Very hot in the kitchen but it will be worth it later on in the cold weather and if prices rise I'll have what I need in already.

annieb64

I don't  like chutney  or pickles. DH does eat them . He often gets given a couple of jars at Christmas  or we buy a jar at the Farmers  Market  so I don't  make them any more. 
I haven't  made jam for the last couple of years either. We rarely eat it. I have porridge or overnight oats for breakfast. DH has cereal or toast and marmalade-which I do make- so we only get through a few jars a year.

silvasava

Tomatoes have just started ripening and the cucumber plants I was given have really produced so I've been able to keep friends and family supplied. I wont be making any chutney this year, Ive got some Quince and Date from 2007 and Pear from 2015. we do eat it but only occasionally. My climbing beans are prolific so I've been blanching and freezing them so we'll have a stock over the winter, surplus tomatoes will be roasted and frozen ready for soups and casseroles etc. I've enough fruit in the freezer to do some jam if needed but I probably wont make any until the autumn. I'd like to plant some winter greens but DH doesnt like Kale or Chard so I'm at a bit of a loss for something that is relatively easy to grow. 

Nargleblast

It's fine making chutneys, pickles and jams if you have a big family that eats it all the time, or if you make small jars of stuff to give as gifts. It would not be practical for me as there's only two of us here. I used to make loads of crab apple jelly as we have a tree in the garden. One year I made a dozen jars of the stuff and still only used a quarter of the fruit on the tree. Those jars lasted years. I learnt my lesson then, just make a couple of jars or so and leave the remaining fruit for the birds.

I make the odd small bottle or two of liqueurs to give as Christmas presents, and I have a couple of Kilner  jars of Rumtopf on the go. Making chutneys and jams on a large scale involves a large financial outlay for sugar and vinegar, which is also offputting. Far better (for me) from a practical, financial and healthy eating point of view is to enjoy fruit and veg in season and maybe freeze some for the winter months.