your_comforting_company
06-05-2011, 11:27 PM
I'll leave the jam recipe details to the professionals.. I used a combination of the Ball Blue Book and the leaflet that comes with the pectin. Basically, you just sterilize your jars, pit the fruits, put in a boiler with pectin, bring to a boil, add sugar, boil again, then put in jars, put jars in boiler and roll (boil) for 10 minutes. let set for 24 hours.
Fresh plums picked yesterday evening:
http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg184/your_comforting_company/Natures%20Bounty%202011/DSCN6644.jpg
http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg184/your_comforting_company/Natures%20Bounty%202011/DSCN6645.jpg
cooked fruit, sugar, and pectin ready for jars:
http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg184/your_comforting_company/Natures%20Bounty%202011/DSCN6646.jpg
Filled jars being processed:
http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg184/your_comforting_company/Natures%20Bounty%202011/DSCN6647.jpg
The lot:
http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg184/your_comforting_company/Natures%20Bounty%202011/DSCN6649.jpg
The Gentleman who showed me how to make the pickled okra gave me some extra he didn't want to process, so I canned those today also
http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg184/your_comforting_company/Natures%20Bounty%202011/DSCN6662.jpg
The jelly is a little different. You cook the fruit to stop the enzymes and prevent bacteria, mold, yeast, etc, spoilage, and it helps to mellow the tartness of the juice. This is a pic of the pulpy cooked fruits being strained through cheesecloth.
http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg184/your_comforting_company/Natures%20Bounty%202011/DSCN6663.jpg
We Got about half a gallon of juice out of this and I really thought we should have gotten more, so we are going to try a different processing method for getting the juice. This seemed like a LOT of extra work and it was very time consuming. I can see that if I don't find a more efficient method of processing, I will only be making jams from now on!
Projects for next weekend will be canning peas, tomatos, squash, and "garden soup". Elderberries are putting on fruit up the road, so hopefully they'll be ready to pick this week and we'll make some elderberry jelly too. Thanks for looking!
Fresh plums picked yesterday evening:
http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg184/your_comforting_company/Natures%20Bounty%202011/DSCN6644.jpg
http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg184/your_comforting_company/Natures%20Bounty%202011/DSCN6645.jpg
cooked fruit, sugar, and pectin ready for jars:
http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg184/your_comforting_company/Natures%20Bounty%202011/DSCN6646.jpg
Filled jars being processed:
http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg184/your_comforting_company/Natures%20Bounty%202011/DSCN6647.jpg
The lot:
http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg184/your_comforting_company/Natures%20Bounty%202011/DSCN6649.jpg
The Gentleman who showed me how to make the pickled okra gave me some extra he didn't want to process, so I canned those today also
http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg184/your_comforting_company/Natures%20Bounty%202011/DSCN6662.jpg
The jelly is a little different. You cook the fruit to stop the enzymes and prevent bacteria, mold, yeast, etc, spoilage, and it helps to mellow the tartness of the juice. This is a pic of the pulpy cooked fruits being strained through cheesecloth.
http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg184/your_comforting_company/Natures%20Bounty%202011/DSCN6663.jpg
We Got about half a gallon of juice out of this and I really thought we should have gotten more, so we are going to try a different processing method for getting the juice. This seemed like a LOT of extra work and it was very time consuming. I can see that if I don't find a more efficient method of processing, I will only be making jams from now on!
Projects for next weekend will be canning peas, tomatos, squash, and "garden soup". Elderberries are putting on fruit up the road, so hopefully they'll be ready to pick this week and we'll make some elderberry jelly too. Thanks for looking!