Has anyone made jam in a bread maker?

[headfairy]

We have a jam setting on ours and I'm quite tempted to try it, we went raspberry picking yesterday and we've got 5lbs of raspberries to use up!

Sorry meant to add, is the jam any good when made in the bread maker?

Yes I made some last week for the first time. It's very yummy and more fruity than jam in shops which is more jelly like iyswim.

Go for it!

Wow! Really? Jam in a breadmaker??

I have thought about getting a breadmaker now and again but had NO idea jam was a possibility. Might move the breadmaker further up the wishlist now.

Thanks for the info.

Yes I have and it's very easy to make and tastes divine. And as Westcountry says it is more fruity.

Breadmakers are very versatile and I loves mine. You can make all sorts of things not just a loaf. Got from eBay for £12!

Oh I'm glad to hear that westcountry I'll definitely give it a go then.

marjorie after years of our bread maker sitting on the side unused and unloved I'm just rediscovering it. It makes excellent pizza dough. Yesterday I just chucked all the ingredients in and set the timer and when I came back with the dcs we had a batch of lovely fresh pizza dough. It makes lovely bread rolls too. I'm quite tempted to try some of the cake recipes in the book too!

Love my breadmaker, it was a wedding present and is used weekly at least once or twice!

I have tried cakes and they turn out well but are not 'cake' shaped and still have the paddle hole in it. I prefer doing cakes in the oven, but will try again.

Can I make jam in a breadmaker that does not have a specific jam setting?

Ebay is a good idea, jamnan. Maybe I'll find a bargain breadmaker. It's the kind of thing some people might sell when they are having a clearout, especially if they haven't got into the habit of using the thing.

Mine has a specific jam setting so not sure how you make it without that setting.

Yes I've done it too, worked really well although when I followed the instructions in the manual it only gave info to make quite a small amount [greedy] . My breadmaker is great - I use it all the time too. We make 2 loaves of bread a week and also use it for pizza dough bases and have made cakes in it too

I was never very impressed with the bread out of my breadmaker so it only really got used for jam.

But mine only makes quite small quantities, which is great for the odd bag of blackberries brought home from the park but not so good if you've got 5lbs of raspberries.

Oh. My. God. What delicious jam!!! Right that's everyone's Christmas presents sorted!

headfairy

MarjorieAntrobus
It's so nice to see that you are back here on Radio Earth with us. We've missed you a lot!

Hehe, jamnan, good old Marjorie was a brick wasn't she? I liked her.

She would be making bread and jam from scratch without any electrical gizmos, and giving people wise advice at the same time.

Headfairy, is there a hideous sticky mess to clean up now? Within the workings of the bread maker I mean.

How many jars have you made?

No hideous sticky mess because the pan is non stick, it all slithered out really easily, then I filled it with hot water and hey presto - done! I made one 500g Kilner and one large Hellmans jar full, but the second batch I did almost 1lb of raspberries rather than the 11oz I used on the first batch.

Ah, am trying to convert that into jam jars. It's quite small quantities really? Perhaps a couple of regular jars each go. Good to hear that it cleans up so well.

I have had a look on eBay. I shall wait for the right one to be right on my doorstep at the right price.

In terms of jam jars it's not that much. I had an old 400g Hellmans jar and one batch in the breadmaker just about filled it. But our jam setting is only an hour long, so it's quite easy to do quite a few in an evening for example.

One lesson I have learnt from all this though; don't sterilise your jam jars in a super hot over and then put them on a damp wooden chopping board because they will crack :o Let the jam jars cool down before you put anything in them. I managed to get through four jars yesterday. Thank goodness my jam jar collection is extensive!

My breadmaker will make about two jars of jam (think those Bonne Maman 324ml jars). One kilo of fruit is all you need.

Oh poor headfairy. I've done that too!. Now I wash the jam jars in the dishwasher, then leave them upside-down in a low oven to steralise them.

yeah, that was my fatal error. I whacked the oven up to it's highest level. Oops!

Ah yes, more haste less speed etc etc.

Thank you for all your useful tips, lovely people!

If I get a bread maker (and I am now watching a couple on eBay) I shall come back to this thread and report back.

I think there is now more bread making than regular baking going on in the nation. I was looking for plain flour (for yet another batch of biscuits) in my local supermarket this morning and couldn't see it at first amongst all the strong flour.

Bread making is the new fondue don't cha know...?

Good luck Marjorie!

I don't use the breadmaker that much for making bread, but when I do it's for more specialist varieties. I'm a sucker for walnut bread and tomato and basil bread which I do in the breadmaker. You're right about the proliferation of flours though Marjorie. Millions of 'em!

I love love love my breadmaker, but actually prefer to use it for bread. I tried jam in it last year, and it was alright-ish - but its much easier (and less messy imo) to make jam in a saucepan. And you can make more that way, too.

Just chuck the raspberries in a pan with an equal weight of jam sugar and the juice of 1 lemon, and keep over an incredibly low heat (just be patient and do something else) until the sugar melts. Bring to the boil, and then check for setting point from about 5 mins (stick a saucer in the freezer, drop a drop of boiling jam on it, leave it for 1 minute, then push....if it wrinkles, you're at setting point).

Maybe its just me, but I really didn't like my breadmaker getting massively sticky and messy....and I couldn't make as much jam as I wanted, nor could I get it into jars etc as easily afterwards.

Enjoy :)