Tefal jam maker.

[Tigger]

Has anyone got a Tefal electric jam maker? Being a bit of a gadget maniac, I'm easily tempted to buy all sorts of things that usually get used once and then gather dust. However, this appeals because it makes small amounts of jam pretty much by itself. When I make jam, I tend to make vast amounts, so I'm stood over the maslin pan for hours and then I have trouble getting the consistency right, ending up with runny jam or rubber jam.

[Chantal]

Can you not make jam in your bread maker Tigger? I can in mine, but don't bother 'cos I'm like you and make vats of the stuff.

[Tigger]

I suppose I could. The breadmaker's one of those things gathering dust as Lyndon finds it quicker to make bread by hand.

[Tigger]

Yippee! I love it when I get home from work to be met with a pressie, even if I've bought it myself. It arrived yesterday and I made 2 lots of jam. It only takes a kilo of fruit at a time, but then it made 3lbs of blackurrant jam in 7 minutes and 3lbs of gooseberry in 15 miinutes.

Now, what shall I make tonight?

[Primrose]

I like the idea of an automatic jam/marmalade maker but in our smallish kitchen there just isn't any more space for another gadget. However, we've been making jam and marmalade in our microwave for several years now and the joy of this method is that because the sugar doesn't burn, you don't have to be continually standing over it and stirring it. We have one of the larger sized microwaves and provided you have a really deep bowl, you can make up to 3 lbs at a time. Although I have my grandmother's large cast iron preserving pan which used to give sterling service in this regard in our loft, I would never go back to this old fashioned way of making preserves. Tigger, hope you get lots of use out of your new toy. For anybody who grows a lof of soft fruit and always ends up with a surplus, it sounds a really useful appliance.

[Tigger]

I know what you mean about space Primrose. My kitchen is very small and there's nowhere near enough room for all my stuff. Up until recently, I stacked it in boxes on shelves in the bottom of the barn where Lyndon works from home. Recently though, some special fairies came and converted part of the barn next to the house into a larder and a room for the freezers, so everything's conveniently next to the house.

I'm making tayberry jam this evening as we're awash with them, then strawberry tomorrow.