Preserving, it has started

Mr_Singleton

As a person that loves to cook pretty much everything I eat from scratch I have to admit that I just don’t bake (I dont really like cake or biscuits) or preserving despite having around 15 books on the subject.

Have set myself the task of making myself a half batch of Tomato Kasundi from The Modern Preserver pg.45 by Kylee Newton. I have most of the ingredients but need to get some Birdseye chilli. I like a bit of heat but can anyone tell if the chilli content is going to make it very hot. Might try it with a half portion of chilli first.

The recipe happens to be online here towards the bottom.....

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/features/kylee-newtons-new-approach-to-conserving-the-importance-of-enthusiastic-experimentation-10491924.html

machasraven

7 jars of golden beetroot chutney made, the 8th jar cracked but it was over 40 years old!

My OH has bottled the rhubarb wine and now has beetroot, peach and apple and blackcurrant wine bubbling away. Peapod and mint wine steeping fingers crossed its going to be good. Think I have created a wine monster as he is thinking of every combination possible to make - why did I get an old country wine book?:eek: Could be drinking some very strange wine :rotfl:
2kg of peas podded today and a kg of onions sliced and frozen today with about another 2 kg of peas to come.

Primrose

Mir! wrote: »

Well, in the end I picked out the very sound ones, gave them a good wash and made the jam and chutney anyhoo. Ended up with 6 x jam and 7 x chutney. I know I probably shouldn't have as now I will be worrying about the jam and chutney possibly going mouldy in the jars, (will the boiling have killed off any nasties?)! The chutney has to mature till about Christmas so I will have a long time to wait to see if it is still edible. I normally give away most of my preserves but I don't think I will dare with this little batch

If you managed to salvage some reasonable fruit I think it should be ok as the boiling, vinegar and sugar should have preserved it . It, just with jam especially it,a better to have fruit that is slightly under ripe as the pectin content will be higher and that's what helps it set. If your jams has se, then it should be ok.

obviously better in future years, if people are providing fresh fruit to try and emphasise that it needs to be under ripe rather than over ripe otherwise you risk jam not setting although I realise youu cant look a gift horse in the mouth.

I,ve been slicing and preserving ripe peppers for the freezer today. My outdoor crop this summer, grown in pots on a sunny patio, has been embarrassing large and there are still plenty on the plants still to ripen. I loose freeze the slices first and then bag them up up so I can grab a handful for stews and sauces whenever I need them.

euronorris

Mr_Singleton wrote: »

As a person that loves to cook pretty much everything I eat from scratch I have to admit that I just don’t bake (I dont really like cake or biscuits) or preserving despite having around 15 books on the subject.

Have set myself the task of making myself a half batch of Tomato Kasundi from The Modern Preserver pg.45 by Kylee Newton. I have most of the ingredients but need to get some Birdseye chilli. I like a bit of heat but can anyone tell if the chilli content is going to make it very hot. Might try it with a half portion of chilli first.

The recipe happens to be online here towards the bottom.....

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/features/kylee-newtons-new-approach-to-conserving-the-importance-of-enthusiastic-experimentation-10491924.html

Birdseye chillies are fairly hot, but it's only using 10 for the recipe, making 5-6 jars. Roughly 2 per jar. So, I think it will be OK. It'll have a kick, but not a super hot one.


I've grown chillies this year. Not birdseye ones, and used 8 in a recent recipe for chilli jam which only made 2 jars. It's warm, but not super hot (and I'm someone who can feel the heat in a Tikka!).


DO wear gloves when prepping the chillies though. I didn't when I made the jam. BIG mistake. My hands were burning all evening, all night, and through until 10am the next day. Tried everything to get them to calm down, but nothing helped!

Primrose

I grow Hungarian Wax chillies because I don,t like them hot and these are comparatively mild. They're large as chillies go, miniature versions of the long Italian red pointy peppers. After several unfortunate accidental eye rubbing incidents whilst chopping and use chillies we now cook ours down into a paste and store this in small jars like chicken spread or paste jars in the freezer. We just keep an ongoing jar in the fridge and use a teaspoon of paste whenever we just what to heat food up a little.

euronorris

Yep. I learned my lesson the hard way! lol

Wraithlady

Mir! wrote: »

A few days ago a friend promised me 10 kilos of damsons and I planned to make jam and chutney with them. On receiving them this morning I was told that they had been picked several days ago and that they are very ripe. Upon emptying them out to rinse them I have noticed a rather strong alcoholic smell and some liquid seepage in the bottom of the buckets they were transported in.

The query's been resolved now,, but it may be worth asking your friend to pop them in the freezer next year if they aren't seeing you within a day or so of picking ( I suspect the damsons weren't refrigerated either, they don't keep that well once picked). You can make jam from defrosted damsons (we have a damson tree, which is how I know this) - in fact it's easier because the stones come out more readily.

Damsons set readily, unless they're all very over-ripe I've never had a problem with the jam not setting.

Primrose

Wraithlady wrote: »

The query's been resolved now,, but it may be worth asking your friend to pop them in the freezer next year if they aren't seeing you within a day or so of picking ( I suspect the damsons weren't refrigerated either, they don't keep that well once picked). You can make jam from defrosted damsons (we have a damson tree, which is how I know this) - in fact it's easier because the stones come out more readily.

Damsons set readily, unless they're all very over-ripe I've never had a problem with the jam not setting.

Definitely good advice. The the same applies to plums. I have somebody who often gives me plums but many of them are often too ripe for successful,preserve making. I suppose one could always add extra lemon juice but there,s always the anxiety of wasting a lot of sugar and not getting a good set.

Wizard_of_Id

This may be an obvious question to some but how do I tell if crab apples are ready to pick?

I have found a source of them and I want to try making jelly but I'm unsure when to pick them

Miró

Wraithlady wrote: »

The query's been resolved now,, but it may be worth asking your friend to pop them in the freezer next year if they aren't seeing you within a day or so of picking ( I suspect the damsons weren't refrigerated either, they don't keep that well once picked). You can make jam from defrosted damsons (we have a damson tree, which is how I know this) - in fact it's easier because the stones come out more readily.

Damsons set readily, unless they're all very over-ripe I've never had a problem with the jam not setting.

Actually, when I was promised the damsons 3 days earlier I didn't realise they had already been picked!! And you are right they hadn't been refrigerated either. Actually the chutney seems quite promising....I had a little try of a 'last-scrapings' taster pot and the texture and set looks very good, (I know it needs to mature for a few months tho). Also tried the taster pot of jam......I had a struggle to get it anything like 'set' and it has turned out more like a thick runny sauce. Like you I have never had a problem with damson jam setting before so it must have been the over-ripeness. Anyhoo...I dolloped some on top of Greek yogurt and it was jolly nice, so if it doesn't go mouldy in the jars I shall re-catergorise it as Damson Sauce and suggest people use it on ice cream, yogurt or rice pud!!