Kitchen Garden Forum

Well, we had another 'Plum' session today, and I completely cheated....

'Elderly next door' gave me another 4lb. over-ripe plums again (!) so I put THEM in the preserving pan with a tiny bit of water, pulped them down, added equal weight of Jam Sugar, dissolved that thoroughly...
Then I added all the unset jam from the first batch, stirred it around to bring it to the same temperature.....
Am I boring you yet?!
THEN, the preserving pan was over-full, so I took half out to do later, and the remainder in the preserving pan got my jam thermometer added to it, and I brought the whole lot to a rapid boil until it reached JAM - did the wrinkle test on the cold plate, and hey presto !!!

Naturally, I won't take you through what I did with the second batch, because that'd be like watching grass grow or paint drying......

Thank you both. I appreciate your patience.
X

Well done! Nice when it all comes out right isn't it.
Now, who had to clear up the sticky mess left all over the kitchen!!!

John

Delighted you've snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. It was very brave of you to go for the double whammy, but it obviously worked. I suspect part of your problem may have been not boiling for long enough the first time, and secondly, using over-ripe fruit which has lost some of its natural pectic setting agent. Am not sure putting the stones in makes much difference.
I've been making jam & marmalade for a few years now. I always include the citrus pips in a little muslin when making marmalade but don't bother with stones in jam as I find some extra lemon juice always does the trick.
Enjoy your plum jam on hot crumpets when the January rain is howling. Reckon you've earned it!

John - That would definitely be me, coz Trousers is always too busy watching the telly when it comes to 'doing things' !!

Primrose - You're too too kind ! I shall most certainly be enjoying Plum Jam (on just about everything during the next 6 months!) and definitely on crumpets, I adore them, and will have a go at making my own this year I reckon....
Thank you both.

Paul Hollywood has a good crumpet recipe. Lyndon and I are big PH fans - for completely different reasons, of course!

But his crumpet recipe isn't in his 100 Great Breads book wot I got, which is a shame. If you've not got that one of his, I'll swop you the crumpet recipe for his Brie and Brioche Parcels recipe?!

He's already made those - yum, yum.

I'll get him to sort out the crumpet recipe and post it here later.

Tigger, that's probably why Trousers and me have gained those little extra pounds, because of Paul Holliwood.... He's dead good, and he's so lovely to watch on The Jenny Barnet Show (a.k.a. Good Food Bites) !!

Got your DENNIS COTTER 'Paradiso Seasons' Cookbook yet? You'll be in for a lot of chopping and slicing and stuff !...... but I reckon it's a fantastic use of produce. All you've got to do is find the time to just DO all that prep work...! And then FREEZE IT. If you can get the Irish Cheeses to use as well, it makes it doubly yummy.