Making Jam
Making your own jams is one of the best ways to deal with an over supply of fruit in summer. It means you can enjoy fruits of your labour all year round. The best thing is that's pretty easy too. With any more surplus fruits and berries you can always freezze them and make jam with them any time you please.
Ingredients
- 500g of fruit
- 500g of Sugar
- Pectin (you can but this in most supermarkets)
An alternative to pectin is to use apple slices.
Equipment
- 1 large non metallic pan
- Jam jars
- Lids
- Rings
- 1 pan of boiling water
- 1 Funnel
We're Jammin'
Wash the fruit and remove any stems. Crush the fruit a little and add to the pan. Add the sugar and pectin/apple. Slowly bring it to a boil and keep stirring or it may burn. The mixture should start to congeal after about 5 to 10 minutes. It should have smooth consistency.
You'll get some foam forming on top of the mix. Skim this off. You can add a knob of butter or margarine at the start. This can reduce the amount of foam created.
Whilst your cooking the jam take a large pan full of water and bring to the boil. Put the lids in. They need to be sterilised.
Take the jam off the heat and test its consistency. One way to do this is to keep a tea spoon in some ice water. Scoop out some jam and let it cool to room temperature. Are you happy with the consistency? If it's too runny you can add some more pectin to the mix.
Wash you jars in the hot, soapy water or in the dishwasher. The jars will need to be hot when you add the jam. If you go for the soapy water method, rinse thoroughly and put in a warm oven at about 130-150 degrees. If you have sterilised correctly some people say the jam can last for years! I'd recommened to eat within 6 to 12 months.
Spoon the jam into jars. Fill the jars to about 1/4 inch of the top. Put the lids on and add the rings if you have them. If not don'tt worry the jam will not last quite as long. Now you need to put the sealed jars into a large pot of boiling water for 5 minutes.
Take and leave to cool. Make sure you label and date. Then you are done!
Happy days!
