Is it easy to make jam in a saucepan or is it easier to waste £79.99 buying an electric jam maker from Lakeland?

[PhantomOfTheChocolateCake]

I'd like to try making jam. Is there a traditional method that will save me £79.99?

I want this

I made jam this year, raspberries from the garden, in an ordinary saucepan, only 'special' equipment was a sugar thermometer. Was lovely - but had so much I gave it away to friends! I also got some cheap strawberries from the market and made strawberry. Don't buy the jam maker, it is really easy to make in a pan. Also - how easy is the machine to clean?

Oh someone gave me the apple corer thing, I think its fab,although you do have to push quite hard.Must be Lakeland target customer.

and this

I f you make jam with 'free' fruit, either blackberries from the hedgerow or garden/allotment then it is definitely cheaper than buying a good quality jam.

But £79.99 for a jam-maker is ridiculous when all you need is a big saucepan (and I'm a huge Lakeland fan)

If you are serious about making jam/marmalade/chutney following standard recipes you need a preserving pan. However, if you only want to make a jar or two occasionally there are plenty of recipes (or you can adjust recipes) to make a couple of jars only. Both the Tefal pan and the ordinary preserving pan will spend 99.99% of the year in the kitchen cupboard.

"how many of us have sliced bizarre shaped wedges of bread?"

lol - how many of us have cared, that's the real question. I love this sort of copy.

tr\actor cake pan for £25.

Like, how many tractor cakes can one person make?

You could buy all your kid'ds birthday presents for £25.

You don't need a big pan- you can make a small pot of jam at a time eg 2 cups of rasps, stawberries or whatever (freeze the rest),1/2 a cup of sugar and some lemon juice.
It does not take long to cook either.

I have this and I won't hear a word said against it Agree you do not need an electric jam maker though, unless you will be making industrial quantities.

"The best thing is sliced bread... but how many of us struggle when cutting it!"

har! How's about, guys and gals, you use a sharp knife. STruggle my arse.

what about all this sterilising of jars and wax disc and stuff - no, i've not good a dishwasher. i do have a lot of old jam jars and still have tons of apples.

pour boiling water into them to sterilise

I think Delia says to sterilise them in a low oven.

May have been mentioned, but asda and other places sell 'siverspoon' jam sugar 2 kinds for different fruits. No thermometer or anything and I've made loads of jam all of which set. Full instructions on packet. I have jars with a rubber seal from john lewis and I sterilise them in the dishwasher, but boiling them in a pan would work too- wouldn't it? You can make jam in my bread machine, but I've never tried as it's easier to wash a big pan.

I think the cake tins are fab! They would be a bit of a one hit wonder though.

A market is a good place for cheap fruit, especially on a Saturday afternoon.

Thanks for all the tips. I'll let you know how we do.

I never struggle when cutting bread by the way, they do it for me in the shop. And it's free!!!

You don't need special jam sugar unless you are making a jam from a fruit that is very low in pectin. Ordinary granulated is absolutely fine. You don't need a thermometer either. Just cool some saucers in the fridge or freezer and place a teaspoon of jam on one. Leave it a minute to cool. The jam is ready when you can run a finger over the surface of this and it wrinkles.
If you don't have a dishwasher you can sterilise clean jars by putting them on a tray in a very low oven for 15 minutes.

cake tins - hire from local party shop!!!

Ohh, thanks How do you know which fruits are low/high in pectin?

money spent in Lakeland is never ever wasted

I'll see how my potato bag goes before I spend any more. The christmas food treats are sooooo expensive though

Is there any need for a banana guard?

The main fruits that you are likely to use for jam that are low in pectin are strawberries and cherries. Most others eg raspberries, apricots and plums have enough pectin.

But you can mix them rather than have low pectin ones? Strawberry and rasberry?

Yum! Sounds lovely. Spread on nice, just baked, warm bread. Yum!!

Strawberry and gooseberry is very good and gooseberries are very high in pectin. I've always had problems with making strawberry jam using just strawberries - it doesn't seem to be setting, so I boil it more and end up with a sticky mess that no one would want to eat.

Mmmmm. Strawberry and cherry jam. Mmmmm