Does anyone else make jam?

[DumbledoresGirl]

Or am I the only one?

What have you made lately?

This weekend, I picked nearly 20lbs of soft fruit and so far I have made:

5 jars of raspberry and redcurrant jam
7 jars of redcurrant jelly
5 jars of raspberry and blackcurrant jam
51/2 jars of raspberry jam

[MrsBadger]

you may be the only one who makes so much...

I make about a lb of rasp and 3lb of strawb a year...

[FioFioJane]

lots of grannies do too dg

[wurlywurly]

ooooh bet the raspberry jam is yummy.

Stupid question, but how long does it keep one its made??

[nailpolish]

i make strawberry with ones i pick myself

i still have some left over from last year and its fine to eat

as long as its sealed etc

[MrsBadger]

bout 6m?

the strawberry one I do is a no-cook one that has to be kept in the freezer so lasts a year or more.

[mistlethrush]

This time of year I sometimes make a low sugar peach marmalade - normally use nectarines (which I think are more reliable than peaches) and clementines (as usually better than oranges at this time of year). Doesn't keep more than 3 months, although it doesn't usually last that long.

[wurlywurly]

how do you make jam?? [thick emoticon], would love to attempt some.

[MarsLady]

Yes. Jam mainly as the children really like it.

Mistlethrush........ recipes please.

[hannahsaunt]

I don't need to make strawberry this year as I have jars from my mum but will be making raspberry & redcurrant and later in the year chutney from our apples (if we get any).

[Lilymaid]

I make plum jam and marmalade (but used to make more when I was a SAHM). When I was a child and went to pick your owns with my mother there was a distinct social order in picking: All picked strawberries including ladies with multiple children who carried potties around for the toddler; middle classes (especially WI types) picked raspberries; posh (Boden types nowadays) picked redcurrants whilst discussing their dinner parties.

[MrsBadger]

well I get 250g raspberries and 250g sugar, put them each in a pyrex dish in a 180C oven for 20min, then mix together and spooge into a jam jar. You do have to keep it in the fridge though.

[Slubberdegullion]

Jam knowers (DumbledoreG, MrsB, Mars)...please give me an honest answer is it difficult to make....do you need jam skill to make good jam?

I'm quite tempted to give it a try but I do not want to:
Buy the equipment (big funny pan & thermometer, jars, lids, sterilisation unit?)
Spend an afternoon bent double in a field picking the fruit
Risk high temperature burns or damage to my cooker (the instructions always warn you about jam spillage)

If all I'm going to end up with 30 jars of inedible burnt/overthink/ultra runny gloop.

Do I need to watch someone doing it first?

[wurlywurly]

MB is that all, I thought you had to boil the fruit and it would take forever to make. Will give that a go when ds's go away.

[nailpolish]

i dotn ahve a thermomemter or funny pan or sterilisation unit

you can buy the fruit ready picked at the farm shops

[Flibbertyjibbet]

I make damson jam from my grans old recipe and boil it up in her huge old jam pan which doubles as a cauldron at Halloween!
Also redcurrant jelly, and blackberry jelly. Unfortunately MIL moved from the house with plum tree and damson tree but the damson jam is good enough to warrant buying the fruit. When I can get free fruit I make tons, when I have to buy it I just make the damson.
Recipe available.
Havent made any yet though as the blackberries not out near us and the shop hasn't had any damsons in yet.

[MrsBadger]

Slubber I refer you to my raspberry recipe below!

This is my favoured strawberry one - it's only ever gone wrong once when I tried to double the quantities and it ended up v runny. In the end I took the strawberries out with a slotted spoon and jarred them by themselves to use as jam, then used up the spare syrup in yoghurt, icecream, cakes, smoothies etc so it wasn't a disaster.

[DumbledoresGirl]

Glad to see I am not alone (shame on you fiofio! )

Jam made with the full quantity of sugar (usually half fruit/half sugar) will last for years. It does go beyond its peak after a while but if it is properly made it will last for years. I have kept marmalade for at least 3 years and it was fine. That is the point of jam: it preserves the fruit, so it should be OK. Low sugar jams do only keep for a few months though.

I need to make loads as I have 4 children all of whom eat quite a bit of jam, plus I am old fashioned and make a few puddings and cakes etc which also use jam. Of all the jam I made last year, I only have 4 pots left, though I still have a cupboard full of marmalade and chutneys.

[DumbledoresGirl]

Jam is not that hard to make. Well, put it this way, some fruits are easier than others. You don't necessarily need the specialist equipment but you will need a large saucepan at the very least.

I have been making jam since I was a teenager (now 42) and my mother before me and her mother before her so I consider myself fairly expert. If you want to ask any specific questions, I would be happy to help.

[Slubberdegullion]

MrsB, what's certo? Never heard of it!

[Slubberdegullion]

Dumbledores Girl...what fruit would you recommend a novice start with?

[nailpolish]

i do half sugar/half fruit jams
i simmer it for about 45-60 mins scooping the scum off the top as and when
(i remember getting to spread the scum on toast when my mum made jam when i was wee!)
try to stir it as little as possible if yo like whole fruit in the jam

[MarsLady]

slubber......... it's easy. A couple of practise runs and you're away.

[Lilymaid]

Jam advice

1. Don't make strawberry unless you have extra pectin to add (Certo/jam sugar with added pectin/redcurrants).
   
2. You don't need a jam thermometer. Put saucers in fridge or freezer and use the "finger test" (put spoon of jam on saucer, let it cool, then run finger across it. If it wrinkles it is done).
   
3. I've never had problems with "jam spillage" but it is very hot so take care.
   
4. To sterilise jars, wash in very hot water (preferably dishwash) then before using them, place upright in oven on low setting for 15 mins or so.
   
5. Easiest jams are those with high pectin content. Plum is very easy - whereas strawberry is difficult to get right (strawberry freezer jam is much easier).
   
6. Jellies are wonderful but you need a muslin (use old but very sterlised baby muslins if you have them) tied to upside down legs of dining chair with a large bowl to catch drips). I have not yet got to this level of jam making.

[DumbledoresGirl]

raspberry is an easy one to start with. Get one pound of raspberries and simmer them to a pulp. Add one pound of sugar and make sure it all dissolves completely (otherwise you will end up with burnt jam - not fun to get off the bottom of the pan). When it is all dissolved, turn the heat up as high as you can get and let it boil - about 10 mins will suffice. You can check the jam is set by putting a teaspoonful on a cold plate (in the fridge) and leaving it to cool. If it then wrinkles when you push your finger through it, it is set. You then pour jam into hot jam jars and seal with those jam pot covers - hope you knwo what I mean by that!

[Slubberdegullion]

But Mars...the practice runs, do they go horribly wrong like the first pancake in the pan, or just wrong enough that your family would eat it, but you wouldn't serve it to your MIL wrong?

I get despondent quickly if things go all 'chuck in the bin' wrong