| Strawberry jamming Again | | | | preparing). So something needs to be added. I |
| | | | usually add lemon juice, which doesn?t affect |
| More practical musings ? hints and tips on | | | | the flavour, you can also buy pectin in |
| making strawberry jam. | | | | packets. The more lemon juice you use , the |
| | | | more likely it is to set firm ? I like mine a |
| Sunshine for the rest of the year | | | | bit runny, so tend to juggle the lemon juice |
| | | | a bit. |
| So I?m preparing strawberries for jam, the | | | | |
| third evening this week. It is the most | | | | 1 kg prepared strawberries |
| productive week of the year as far as our | | | | |
| strawberries are concerned. The best are | | | | 750g sugar |
| already sold, fresh in punnets and the | | | | |
| seconds, some with scarcely a blemish, others | | | | 25ml-50ml lemon juice or more if it doesn?t |
| hideously deformed but still flavoursome, are | | | | set! |
| piled in heaps waiting to be hulled, halved, | | | | |
| weighed and jammed. | | | | Use a large thick based pan. The strawberries |
| | | | should only come to about half way up or they |
| Just taking part in this process, I feel a | | | | will boil merrily over, coating your stove |
| bond back through the centuries with all the | | | | with sticky foam. Let the strawberries soak |
| women, who preserved, jammed, pickled, | | | | with the sugar overnight. This brings out the |
| prolonging the goodness and abundance of the | | | | juice and keeps the fruit firmer so it |
| seasonal produce to last the whole year | | | | doesn?t dissolve into a mush when cooked. |
| through. In the days before fridges, | | | | Bring slowly to the boil, stirring |
| freezers, supermarkets, intercontinental fast | | | | occasionally to make sure the sugar dissolves |
| transport, each household would have relied | | | | before it boils. Then add the lemon juice. |
| on itself to survive the winter without | | | | Boil at a moderate pace, without stirring, |
| diseases caused by vitamin deficiency and | | | | for at least half an hour before testing. |
| lack of sunshine. Making jam wasn?t just a | | | | |
| luxury sweet, it was a way of preserving the | | | | The main thing is to keep your jam under |
| summer sunshine a little longer, of giving | | | | observation after the first half hour of |
| your children some vitamins to keep them | | | | boiling and sniff( to make sure it?s not |
| strong, when the only things growing in the | | | | burning on the bottom of the pan), test every |
| garden were cabbage or Brussels sprouts! I | | | | 5 minutes with a drop on a cold plate. Let it |
| wonder if those children ate them without | | | | cool for a couple of minutes. If it starts |
| fuss? Your preserves would have been eked out | | | | feeling syrupy and makes a string to your |
| to last until spring brought new fresh growth | | | | finger when you dip it, then that?s a good |
| with it. | | | | runny, syrupy jam. If a skin forms and |
| | | | wrinkles when you push your finger through |
| Our jam supplies usually just last through | | | | the drop of jam then it?s a firmer set. If |
| until the next strawberry season. I?m | | | | after an hour it still doesn?t get to either |
| generous to start with, giving it away as | | | | of those stages you might have to add more |
| presents to friends, selling it at the market | | | | lemon juice and boil it up again for another |
| for our school, then, strawberry season over, | | | | twenty minutes or so then start testing all |
| I count the jars and begin to get more | | | | over again. You can tell if it is getting |
| parsimonious. After all bought jam is now | | | | there as the bubbles start looking more |
| unheard of in the family, I?m the only one | | | | syrupy, a slower rolling boil. |
| who eats marmalade, which fills the winter | | | | |
| jam gap, so the strawberry and apricot jam | | | | Have your jars ready. 1kg of fruit makes |
| has got to last, come what may. | | | | about three medium sized jars. I usually |
| | | | sterilise mine by pouring boiling water into |
| My strawberry jam recipe for success? ( and | | | | clean, dry jars up to the top (they must be |
| please note that this is just how I make it? | | | | dry though, if there are drops of cold water |
| I?m not an expert and don?t even have a jam | | | | in they can crack). Then when the jam is |
| thermometer, but I guess they didn?t in the | | | | ready, pour out the hot water and ladle in |
| old days either. These are just hints and | | | | the jam, right to the top, put on a circle of |
| tips gathered from making my own mistakes and | | | | either waxed or baking paper and then the |
| from the advice of my sister-in-law.) | | | | lid. Tighten the lid now while it?s hot for a |
| | | | good seal. The spills of jam are easier to |
| Extremely simple ingredients, but results | | | | wipe off while it?s still hot too, hold with |
| vary wildly from the runny (running right off | | | | a cloth though, hot is really HOT! |
| your toast runny) to the thick (spoon stands | | | | |
| up in it) for no apparent reason ? well the | | | | If all this is sounding a bit laborious, you |
| length of time cooking together with the | | | | can always try waiting for the apricot |
| amount of pectin are the reasons but you | | | | season. Apricots are far less temperamental, |
| can?t always tell about the pectin in | | | | have plenty of pectin and set more easily?. |
| advance. Strawberries are very low in pectin, | | | | But hey.. strawberries are worth the effort |
| which is what makes jam set and the riper | | | | and it?s mainly patience you need, not |
| they are the less there is. If they are wet | | | | technique. There is a huge satisfaction from |
| that also dilutes the pectin (let them dry on | | | | seeing the jars lined up on the shelf, to see |
| kitchen towel or a dishcloth before | | | | you through the winter. Good luck! |