Homemade jam - is it worth it?

[IcouldstillbeJoseph]

Every year I think about making my own jam and getting more of a life.
Anyway, thinking about it again this year. Local farm has masses of cheap summer fruits. Was going to attempt blackcurrant and maybe raspberry.
Is it worth the faff?

my rhubarb has barely got started so far!!

Homemade jam is fabulous, pretty easy to make and so much tastier than anything you buy in the shops. BBC website has quite a few recipes I think. Lakeland stock preserving stuff, I got a lot of mine at my local ironmonger/kitchen shop. Let us know how you get on :)

Just made strawberry jam ( pick your own fruit £14 and sugar with ready added pectin £8 ) which made 19 jars of jam .
And nectarine jam ( nectarines £4 and same sugar £4 ) made 10 jars
Lovely jam .
Hot boiling sugar .
House smells wonderful .
and I'm a domestic goddess for a day

dh bright home a tesco bag crammed with peaches last year....peach jam is amazing with a splash of amaretto.

Hi again!

This is the recipe I used, it's useful to have a recipes with advice on varying amounts of different fruits.

I used 90% plums and 10% strawberries, then just before turning it off to cool slightly befire pouring it in to jars, I stirred in the seeds from one vanilla pod. You can also use a teaspoon or two of high quality vanilla extract that you can see the seeds in.

Angela's flexible jam recipe

I did crab apple jelly last year, using crab apples from the nearby hedgerow- abloodymazing! Always do my own chutney and mincemeat every year which is a piece of piss. Really need a preserving pan though as I end up using every pan I own and dodge the boiling sugar and every year I look at them and refuse to pay 40 quid from Lakeland even though I will use it forever. Am forking out this year though.

Rizzo- many thanks, am feeling very inspired!

Yes it is worth it, mostly.
We have tress that produce rather dull plumbs, they make brilliant jam.

However, I do need a way of getting bramble jelly to set!

Typos

I picked a load of rhubarb last weekend on the plot, and the plants in the back garden are rampant, so I was going to make some rhubarb and ginger over the weekend.

It's a great way to use up fruits. I usually end up with small amounts of raspberries, red and black currants, strawberries, ....and make a mixed fruit jam in the middle of winter from the various small bags in the freezer.

It's quite easy to do, just takes patience when it is cooking (you need to stay beside the cooker to watch it) - but as others have said, HM jam makes a great present!!

www.waitrose.com/home/recipes/recipe_directory/r/raspberry_jam.html

I used this recipe yesterday. So easy!

Definitely worth it, and a great way to make sure your allotment fruit all gets used! I love making jam, I find it calming and therapeutic! Plain raspberry is my favourite.

StarBallBunny have you tried using jam sugar? Tate and Lyle or Silver Spoon both do one - it has the powdered pectin mixed in. Per kilo of jam I found it cheaper than normal sugar + Certo and unlike Certo it is completely foolproof. I've never had a jam not set using it - in fact I've had a couple that have come out too firm if anything.

Otherwise bramble + apple works well as apples have a lot more pectin in them.

I second the jam sugar. Absolutely foolproof. I've just used it for the first time on the first crop of strawberries and made 4 perfect jars of strawberry and vanilla jam.

No recipe I'm afraid

There is a recipe on the packet of jam sugar that works every time.
Only issue I have is that it makes my jam very sweet, but that's because the fruit in my garden is very sweet, the raspberries are not very tart at all. Would live to try some new recipes though with some fruit other than raspberry or blackberry!