Jam making Help

[Headfry]

Thanks Alison, that helps....so I was kinda on the right track. The ripeness makes a lot of sense too.
Do you make lots of jam?

[Alison]

Thanks Alison, that helps....so I was kinda on the right track. The ripeness makes a lot of sense too.
Do you make lots of jam?

Varies, have only made strawberry and rhubarb and ginger so far this year but am thinking of doing some blackberry and apple in the autumn (our blackberry plant has gone mad this year and I have a friend with a large apple tree!). We don't use that much but I tend to make a few hampers up at Christmas for aunties and the like and the odd jar or too of homemade jam or chutney usually goes down well.

[MaureenHall]

Making blackcurrant jam

I haven't had any problems making blackcurrrant jam, and always use the same method as my mum used to use years ago.

Weigh the fruit and add exactly the same weight of water. Cook until the fruit is soft. Weigh again (I weigh the pan first then weigh the pan and contents, take away the weight of the pan so that you get the weight of the fruit and water after cooking - hope you understand what I mean there!!!). Add exactly the same weight of sugar, simmer till all sugar is disolved then rapid boil till setting point is reached - I use a sugar thermometer, takes about 15 minutes to get to 114 degrees. Skim off the froth, bottle into sterilised jars.

I've done this even with just 300g of fruit and it still works. Doesn't work for fruits such as strawberries or other fruits with little or no pectin

[swampie sue]

Hi

I have made loads but just get fed up when it goes wrong. I have reboiled it quite often, but it defiantly drops by a few jars. I had one batch of slow gin jelly that just would not set, then when all hard

Been thinking of getting one of those jam makers but a lot depends on how much you can do in it and how it compares to a breadmaker. I can watch a demo online of the jam maker on the lakeland website but it does not give a finished amount. Mind you I would not want to slop it into the jars and put the lid on like she does

[swampie sue]

Right that's it, broke another thermometer yesterday,Had to chuck 3 lb of grape jelly down the sink I have ordered my jam maker, They are out of stock at the moment but they are going to reserve one for me and let me know when it comes in. Can't wait

[Sheila Dodds]

you could try using jam sugar, I do as up until I discovered it I had the same problem, now the only one I have is that sometimes it's too good a set, but I dont.think that matters much do you? The french jam is always runny anyway, so don't wory too much about it

[SarzWix]

I use the Jam Sugar for practically everything too; you only need to boil it for about 4 minutes to get a good set, which preserves more of the original colour and flavour of the fruit as well. The only time I don't use it is if I'm doing something with a lot of apples in it.
As for the Jam Making Machine... Just to make 3 jars of jam at a time?! If you only want to make small quantities, surely a bread machine would do it, and at least it'd make bread as well to justify the cost!

[Alison]

Never used jam sugar, find that so long as you get the temperature high enough (always check with the thermometer although you do have to make sure that it doesn't touch the bottom of your pan or it can break) it's fine. Mind you, find it a lot easier since I inherited the family jam pan (honestly, we have one!) as it's got a VERY thick base which distributes the heat well without any risk of burning.

[swampie sue]

Hi I only make a small quantity of jam at a time, as I hate wastage and am afraid it will go wrong as did the Grape jelly.

I do have a bread maker, but have never tried making jam in it.( will have to dig out the instructions. I watched the demo on the Lakelands website and the recipe seems to be aprox. what I would use in a preserving pan anyway.

It will be worth the money if I use small jars.

When you say jam sugar, do you mean the type with added pectin. I do tend to use that if I am using low pectin fruits or if I want it to set quickly.

[Munch]

I haven't had any problems making blackcurrrant jam, and always use the same method as my mum used to use years ago.

Weigh the fruit and add exactly the same weight of water. Cook until the fruit is soft. Weigh again (I weigh the pan first then weigh the pan and contents, take away the weight of the pan so that you get the weight of the fruit and water after cooking - hope you understand what I mean there!!!). Add exactly the same weight of sugar, simmer till all sugar is disolved then rapid boil till setting point is reached - I use a sugar thermometer, takes about 15 minutes to get to 114 degrees. Skim off the froth, bottle into sterilised jars.

I've done this even with just 300g of fruit and it still works. Doesn't work for fruits such as strawberries or other fruits with little or no pectin

Maureen, will this method work with goosberries too?

[chris]

I just made gooseberry jam munch.. found it very simple - 600g gooseberries, 300ml of water, (worked out 50ml of water / 100 g of fruit) 600g of preserving sugar (the one with the low pectin, but large sugar crystals).

the full recipe was for elderflower too - I adding some in in a muslin cloth, took it out before the rapid boil. Normal recipe for it was 1Kg fruit, 500ml water, 5/6 I think elderflower heads, 1Kg sugar. I only used preserving sugar as we didn't have enough normal sugar

They're high in pectin, so set easy. I just blogged about it - different taste, but quite nice

edited: corrected quanitities! forgot we made a bit less..

[binley100]

Chris......if you haven't any elderflowers to hand then use slderflower cordial instead of water........also if you simmer your fruit on a low heat first till soft before adding the sugar it helps to release any natural pectin.....

[MaureenAB]

gooseberry jam gone really wrong

Hi
I noticed I used double the amount of water to make gooseberry as I followed recipe for blackcurrant. I didn't notice until after I bottled jam. Thought it looked ok on plate when testing but now it is cold it is so runny. It is the first time I have made jam today and I do not know how to remedy this. Can anyone help please? Please do not say throw it away.

[scarey55]

Hello Maureen, and welcome to the Vine You could try re-boiling it. I don't know if it would work with twice the amount of water but it's worth a try.

[MaureenAB]

I will try that. Do you think adding certo would help? I really am a novice in jam making but have read that can help but not sure if it would for the reason mine went wrong.
Thank you for such a quick response to my question.