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the perils of homemade jam!!

(73 Posts)
travelsafar Tue 03-Jul-18 19:11:35

I can't stop eating it!!! I made two small jars of raspberry and gooseberry jam last week. I gavce one to my sister and the other i kept. Once i had opened it on Sunday to try i havent been able to stop eating it, it is soo lovely. I have a slice of bread and butter occasionally with jam but now i am eating it everyday. I was thinking of making some more but now decided no, it is way to tempting.lol. smile

Jalima1108 Mon 09-Jul-18 11:58:58

Fennel I will bake some scones and buy some clotted cream grin

however, they will have to be virtual scones as I am not renowned for my scone-making
I just found some raspberry jam, raspberry and loganberry jam and mixed berry jam in the cupboard from last year.
All jammed out.

MamaCaz Sun 08-Jul-18 13:09:51

DH has now given my first batch the thumbs-up, so I have been out and picked a whole load more gooseberries, and have the same weight of raspberries thawing. Just hope I have enough jars left over after this for the pickled courgettes that I am planning to do asap!

Fennel Sun 08-Jul-18 12:54:57

mmmmm raspberry jam - Jalima - any chance of me coming to visit at the weekend?

Jalima1108 Sun 08-Jul-18 12:22:46

Yesterday's raspberry jam is very nice
I must resist the temptation now until next weekend ...
back to fruit and yogurt for breakfast.

Jalima1108 Sun 08-Jul-18 12:21:31

Anyone tried making jam in a slow cooker?
I wouldn't think that it would reach the required temperature, ie setting point.

I have made it in the microwave but refrigerated it afterwards.
Apparently you can make it in the breadmaker too but I've never tried it.

Fennel Sun 08-Jul-18 11:28:17

cavewoman wrote
"Anyone tried making jam in a slow cooker?"
I think you can make it in a microwave, but in smaller amounts.

POGS Sun 08-Jul-18 10:05:46

You are making me ashamed , I have never made jam in my life .

The elderflower jam sounds lovely.

travelsafar Sun 08-Jul-18 08:14:05

MamaCaz That is exactly what i did, strained out the seeds as there are many!!! I really hope you enjoy.

MamaCaz Sun 08-Jul-18 07:49:25

travelsafar

I just wanted to say thanks for starting this thread.

Although I do make jam, I had never thought of combining raspberries and gooseberries, and your post coincided with my having a glut of gooseberries and also finding a large bag of frozen raspberries in my freezer (just as this year's are starting to ripen!), so this jam was the obvious solution

DH is the jam-eater, but he isn't meant to eat seeds, so I just left the cooked fruits draining through my sieve yesterday while we went to help out with our gorgeous new granddaughter. I did the next stage later in the day, and now have several jars of delicious-looking raspberry and gooseberry jelly sitting on my work top just begging to be eaten smile

Nelliemoser Fri 06-Jul-18 13:06:14

Just an aside here. Where I live in Cheshire there appears to be a tradition of "the biggest Gooseberry competions"
There was a woman competitor near us who used to put a note on her front gate if she had any spare.
They were very big.

loopyloo Fri 06-Jul-18 12:35:43

No, does it great hot enough?

cavewoman Fri 06-Jul-18 12:25:00

Anyone tried making jam in a slow cooker?

sweetcakes Fri 06-Jul-18 11:20:52

chicken
Funny you say that about elderflower heads in muslin Hugh was making jam with gooseberrys and elderflower yesterday afternoon on the good food channel.

NfkDumpling Fri 06-Jul-18 07:01:26

Does gooseberry and raspberry work? I have both on the bushes and the raspberries are pathetic little things this year due to the drought.

Wheniwasyourage Thu 05-Jul-18 21:53:16

Barmeyoldbat, if you have or can get hold of Delia Smith's 3-part Cookery Course, try her recipes for jam and marmalade. I am a terrible cook, but even I can make reasonable jam with her recipes.

balloonlady Thu 05-Jul-18 21:49:18

Yes I know the feeling mmmmm.
I have just counted all the home made jam in the "jam cupboard" 56lbs. !! My DH has been diagnosed with high blood sugar so most of it will have to go to the WI sale, but it won't stop me makng it though. Current flavour is Tayberry- home grown and organic of course! Apart from this year's strawberry which I shall keep for scones. smile

kathsue Thu 05-Jul-18 21:20:30

I gave my jam pan to my nephew---He uses it to cook pasta confused. Don't make jam any more. If I have any fruit left over I freeze it.

emilie Thu 05-Jul-18 20:57:16

teetime,I have an old jam-pan to dispose of as well.

Barmeyoldbat Thu 05-Jul-18 19:41:08

I can't make jam to save my life, even bought one of those jam makers which make a lot of mess but after reading the posts I think I will just have to try again, should be able to do it after all I am a member of the WI

Jalima1108 Thu 05-Jul-18 18:22:37

Nelliemoser I have never seen wild damson trees around but we do have sloes, so am hoping that DS and DDIL will pick some and make sloe gin again this year!

Teetime I don't think I am anywhere near you but I would love to have a preserving pan - it's not worth it for the small amount that I make though.

granfromafar I have just made gooseberry jelly with all the gooseberries we couldn't be bothered to top and tail for the freezer, after giving away several containers full. I just cooked them with tops and tails then strained through muslin - 1 pint of juice to one pound of sugar and it sets quite well.
chicken I put some elderflower cordial in the gooseberry jam last year (reduce sugar accordingly though).

Bijou - yes we like that jam too, I don't know how they make it without sugar. It's quite expensive, though, for a small jar.

Granny23 blackcurrants make excellent jelly, just strain through muslin as described above. We prefer it to blackcurrant jam.
Too late for this year though, sorry - I hope you can find some happy recipients!

I remember pineapple jam

absent that sounds very frightening! I presume the recipe didn't make the book.

oldandbold Thu 05-Jul-18 18:15:41

Nona4ever, I love my homemade elderflower cordial. Love the idea of pink cordial!

nonnasusie Thu 05-Jul-18 17:49:48

I'm another jam maker!! This year we have no home grown peaches or apricots due to bad weather. The apricot tree was full of blossom then we got a late frost?! I love blackcurrant jam . Any spare send some my way!

Fennel Thu 05-Jul-18 17:29:58

We still have a few jars of the plum jam we made when in France.
My favourite (apart from raspberry) is apricot. We had a fairly large tree in the garden when we moved in, no sign of fruit, couldn't work out what it was.
Then one year I saw small golden globes all over it - an apricot tree smile. It didn't produce fruit every year, but when it did we made jam and compote. All finished now.

annodomini Thu 05-Jul-18 17:22:13

My best and favourite jam has been damson, though the aged tree at the end of the garden is about to give up the ghost and if it does bear fruit, they are usually hanging over the brook. The only drawback to damson jam is the little stones. No matter how long I stand over it with a slotted spoon, I almost invariably find a stone in at least one of the jars.

gerry86 Thu 05-Jul-18 16:26:28

I've only made jam twice, once it went so hard you needed a hammer and chisel to get any and the second it was so runny it didn't stay on the bread. I'd love to try as we have a couple of damson trees, so any words of wisdom would be welcome. I do have a bread maker that says you can make jam in it, has anyone made jam in one?