Damsons being offered for picking

sunset66

Someone was offering Damsons to pick near Birmingham

Barny1979

Nice one, and?

coachman12

If they were offering them for free, then that is a nice gesture. But you haven't told B-ham members where to find this little free garden of heavenly delight

Smodlet

Random damsons, somewhere near Birmingham (here be damsons?) 

I vaguely remember damsons were really nice, small, dark, sweet, dense texture.  Haven't seen them for sale for decades.  Even if I knew where they were, not prepared to drive hundreds of miles in the hope of a random damson... Aw, shucks, I did that one already.

FBL1993

Any updates on Operation Damson?

coachman12

           Call in the Damson Busters

NaughtiusMaximus

Smodlet said:

Random damsons, somewhere near Birmingham (here be damsons?) 

I vaguely remember damsons were really nice, small, dark, sweet, dense texture.  Haven't seen them for sale for decades.  Even if I knew where they were, not prepared to drive hundreds of miles in the hope of a random damson... Aw, shucks, I did that one already.

I love them, much nicer than regular plums IMO, don't know why so few places sell them. 

I bought just under 4 kilos a few weeks ago from a farm shop near Kidderminster, half went into making damson vodka, the rest on jam and damson vinegar - nicer than it sounds, it's a rich sweet and (slightly) sour sauce which works great with lamb or duck.

Dorl66

How much is everyone paying for damsons? this year I'm giving them away but next year, I think I'll be charging!

Dorl66

NaughtiusMaximus said:

I bought just under 4 kilos a few weeks ago from a farm shop near Kidderminster, half went into making damson vodka, the rest on jam and damson vinegar - nicer than it sounds, it's a rich sweet and (slightly) sour sauce which works great with lamb or duck.

Can you share your recipe for damson vinegar please?

NaughtiusMaximus

Dorl66 said:

NaughtiusMaximus said:

I bought just under 4 kilos a few weeks ago from a farm shop near Kidderminster, half went into making damson vodka, the rest on jam and damson vinegar - nicer than it sounds, it's a rich sweet and (slightly) sour sauce which works great with lamb or duck.

Can you share your recipe for damson vinegar please?

400 grams of damsons
300 grams of sugar
440 ml of red wine vinegar or cider vinegar (there's a slight difference in taste when the damsons vinegar's ready but both are equally nice IMO)

1 - stab each damson all over a needle/cocktail stick or score each one lengthways on opposites sides with a knife
2 - Add the damsons, vinegar and sugar to a sterilised jar with a screw top lid and turn upside down a few times until the sugar mixes.
3 - Store the jar somewhere dark, kitchen cupboard will be fine.
4 - Check each day if the sugar has full dissolved, if it hasn't turn the jar again, repeat every day until sugar has all dissolved.
5 - Leave the jar for at least a month (I can't remember how long exactly, I taste it periodically and use my own judgement on when it's ready).
6 - Pour through cheesecloth into a sterilised bottle.

A handy tip for sterilising glass jars and bottles I found online a few years ago was to wash them as normal, put them in a COLD oven on a baking tray, then turn the oven on to 100 degrees, leave them about 15 minutes, take the baking tray out then leave the tray and jars to cool naturally. With the gradual change in temperature the glass will be perfectly fine, sudden changes in temperature, such as putting cold glass into a pre heated oven could cause them to crack.