Jam for the UnJammed Tengu

[Tengu]

Now, I wont touch the stuff...

But I was given a quantity of that special Cornish treasure, the Kea plum.

Kea plums are not table plums; they are made into very expensive jam.

I have made plum chutney, and have put four big jars down into spiced vinegar, as pickled plums...

I have lots more!

I think I will make jam. Someone else will like it.

But to make jam you need equal fruit and sugar, yes? (I can get pectin from gnarly apples.)

Since I have no scales here, how would I measure??

Chutney, I find is an art, but jam making is an exact science...seldom done it, and to be honest, Im terrified...

 

[Toddy]

The easiest way is just to cover, (and no more, be mean with the water) the fruit with water in a pot and bring to a simmer until it softens and you can start picking out the stones. (i'm presuming that these are little plums ? the kinds that are a right footer to de-stone, as well as staining your hands really badly)
Then let it cool a little and use a mug or a jug to put the fruit/pulp into another pot or bowl. For every measure you add three quarters of that in sugar. Use the mix to make your jam.
Sorted

If you have pectin then some people do add a lot more water and really dilute down the fruit, but I like fruit rich jam, and I'm not a commercial business.

M

 

[Janne]

I use a large holed sieve. Quick to destone plums and damsons.
The sieve is normally used for Spatzle, an central European pasta version.

I make jam (despite being a very Macho guy ) without adding any water. Just fruit, liquid Pectine and sugar.
Much less sugar that books say, maybe 1/3 sugar and 2/3 fruit.
Very, very gentle boiling, or it burns.

Pour in sterilized jars, seal, then sterilize again. I keep them in a chilled room, 53 Fahrenheit cold.

Those plums, are they similar to the wild mini plums/damsons you can find in southern England ?

I did burn slightly one batch of Mango Jam. Not heavily burned, more 'browned' . Caramelized.
In fact more delicious than the unbur.. no, "uncaramellized" batch.

I wish I could give you some. The commercial Mango jams are vile.

 

[Tengu]

Yes, they are similar to damsons...A little bigger though.

Traditionaly harvested by shaking. These I picked and they are wrinkly and squishy.

I will put some down in gin too!

Dont talk to me about de stoning, Toddy. Even ovveripe they caused much disgust. A blend of slimy and sticky.

 

[Toddy]

Those thin, disposable, 'surgical' gloves are a very good thing

I don't end up blue with woad, I don't end up yellow with turmeric, and I don't end up dirty stained with plums, any more

Janne's suggestion is a good one though, just boil up the fruit and strain it through a colander, that'll let fruit through but not the stones

M

 

[Janne]

My wife hates it when I do some serious cooking. Likes the result usually though.
Colander is the name for it, thank you!

But it is important to check so all stones are gone, or your dentist will be happy.
I eat a bowl of preserved milk every evening. One jar is consumed at a time. Now I am almost finished with my Lime preserve. Soft set.
Next will be Starfruit butter ( instead of apples I used starfruit, very similar)

 

[Robson Valley]

I don't think that making jam is too tricky. Do a lot of reading and make some notes.
I like low sugar jam so I can taste the fruit. It never sets up very well without some citrus pectin help.
Never more than 1/2 the sugar that is called for (except the lime marmalade was 1+1 and still had serious pucker power.)

If it is really runny, consider brushing it all over a roasted chicken for a glaze, 20 minutes before the end.

I have a "bush cherry", very shrubby thing. 'Scarlet Jewel' variety.
The fruits are little and so are the seeds. Got to it before the birds did this year, 2.5kg.
But, my deep-fry basket is just the right size to catch the seeds.

Next up: raspberry jam, maybe enough fruit for 4 x 250ml jars. Bought 8 pounds of really sweet over-ripe plums.
Forgot to ask the kiosk guy which variety. Those go into my plum sauce which ought to be matured by 2019.

 

[Janne]

I guess you limes are not fully ripened, hence the sharpness. I let mine so they fall off the tree.
Sweet, mildly acidic.
Starfruit you buy are very unripe. Acidic, virtually tasteless. I letmine ripe fully on the tree. They turn orange when fully ripe.
Not the nicest fruit though, a bit bland. I let the birds and iguanas have most of them.

 

[Tengu]

Well, thanks for the help guys, my jam set with no trouble.

I now have 4 jars of Kea Plum jam. (not cheap to buy)

And I rubbed the stewed fruit through the collander; tiresome job but now no stones.I am using the stones and skins to try to make plum vinegar...no wastage here.

From my plum haul I have made;

4 big jars pickled plums
3 small jars plum chutney
1 small jar plums in gin
4 small jars jam
and I dont know how much vinegar I will get!

All that for something that was just being left to rot.

It goes to show it pays to keep your eyes open.

The apple pectin worked a treat. (and people pay for pectin? or expensive jamming sugar? I used cheapo white.)

 

[Janne]

I find that the 'colander rubbing' also makes the preserves have a nice consistency, with small bits perfect for stirring into milk products, on pancakes or bread!

Some old receipes I have state to keep the pips and boil with them, then removing.
Some kernels contain toxic stuff, cherry is one, so I do not know if this is good to do.

Commercial preserves always contain 'Pectin". I read it as "a little bit of the expensive fruit, and lots of Apples".

 

[Robson Valley]

A lot of pectin in North America is a by product from the citrus industry and it works very well.
Most stone fruit pits contain some cyanide. Don't break them. I would not make food with them.
My greatest worry is to bite down on a pit for dental damage that I don't need.

The fruit harvest in BC peaked a week or two ago. Anything that's a little over ripe and good for preserves is dirt cheap now.
I bought some deep purple plums for $2.29/lb a while back. Went back and bought all of the rest of his stock for $1.00/lb for plum sauce.

I think even the vinyards are picked off except for the ice wine crops. I've got one row to tidy up but all the rest of my grapes are off.
We guessed about 35lbs/vine. I expected a lot more. Might be 75% pollination to explain it.

 

[Janne]

I just remembered mother used to make a sour cherry jelly for her x-mas cakes decoration. Juice and pectine powder.
I used to help her by tasting.

 

[Janne]

Today I boiled some home grown limes and lemons in water.
Tomorrow after work I will continue making the marmelade. I will use Certo as a Pectine source.

 

[Toddy]

With lemons and limes ? you shouldn't need any pectin with those. We add lemon to strawberry jam to help it set.

I made lemon slices in syrup last week. It's put by for Christmas cake and biscuits, but I had extra syrup and just boiled it up and it set fine. Lemon marmalade Himself's already scoffed the lot

 

[Janne]

You are right. I eill see if it sets by itself first.
Thank you!

 

[Janne]

Done!
Only burnt myself a little bit. Got boiling water, not much thank Gods, into the Silicone protective mittenn when I lifted out one jar from the sterilisation bath.

Now we will see if it sets, as I did not add any Pectine!