Fruit/bottling and jam making tips

[Pun]

If your thinking of making jam or bottling fruit ??

Heres a few tips that may help,

(1) if you buy a boiling bin from the local shops etc you,ll notice theres a hole in the lid, this is for two reasons, 1 for the steam to escape but 2 very important its also for the jam temperarure device to sit in the lid.

(2) Kilner jars, these are the jars with a meteal clasp device to seal in all the contents when boiling the fruit etc, a very good jar to use

But how do you open the jar when needed?

Ive been asked so many times by friends who we've given jam,s to "how the hell do you open these jars. Simple you buy a device that  is very simular to the old cornbeef tin openers,

Its a metal or plastic key device that you put the orange elastic tongue thats under the glass lid of the jar, you,ll find the tongue sticking out and the key device is put so the tongue pokes through the space of the key and then you just twist until all the air hisses out and then put the jar on a flat counter and open via the metal clip.

The idea to opening these jars is the same as the old corn-beef tin idea. Only label when the jars have cooled down, (date, item) store in a cool place

and enjoy the fruits of your labour when they can,t be bought in the shops.

Good gardening.

 

Hope this helps[I]

[Miggimeggi]

Thank you Pun for that posting.  I fancy making some blackberry jelly like my granny used to make a very long time ago, but I have not been able to find a jelly bag.  I have looked in the preserving departments at my local L'Clerc and also in the various bricos but if there are any there, I am not recognising them.  I think my gran used to use muslin but that was more than 50 years ago and I don't know if you can still get it.  Can anyone advise please?

[Tony F Dordogne]

Hi Anne

You can get jelly bags here but they're weird after the UK type, very wide mesh (comparatively) and have a wooden handle thing that you slide down it for pressure.

Relatively cheap - I bough one for E5 but they are very messy to use.

I'm buying the Lakeland one, comes with stand and getting a relative to send it over - it's cheaper that Lakelands postal rates.

[Miggimeggi]

Hi Tony,

Thanks for the reply.  Have you tried the French one yet, does it work OK? I seem to remember being told that to get a nice clear glowing jelly you have to let it all drip through for quite a long time without any pressure at all.  Perhaps I am going to have to risk visiting that reputedly dangerous (iro overspending the housekeeping) Lakeland website or else try to buy some muslin.  I have an extremely old, battered side table which, upside down will probably make a perfect stand.  Mmmm, suddenly I fancy some apple and mint jelly as well.[:)]

[Cassis]

Jude says have you tried fabric shops or chemists over here for your muslin?  She reckons you can get it there.

[Miggimeggi]

Thanks, I will try that when I go shopping on Thursday. 

[Haventgotone]

Hi all,

I struggled with a tea towel the first time I made redcurrant jelly - very messy and a little scary with all that hot liquid!

Then my sister-in-law told me that she had used one of those bags for hanging hams when she made her quince jelly.  

I'm thinking about trying to make cheese and may try using one of these bags they are sold in supermarkets for a few euros each and seems like a good idea to me.

Good luck

Val

[Danny]

I have made both cheese and jelly using left-over curtain material (thin, gauzy stuff from Ikea left after they had been cut to size) with no problems at all. For a clear jelly it is best not to squeeze as this makes it cloudy, but you do lose a fair bit of liquid if you don't squeeze it, even if left overnight. I always get out as much as possible and get more end product, albeit a bit cloudy. I imagine stockings/tights would be good too, for jelly, if you line a colander or something with them and place over a wide bowl. Perhaps not used ones, though!!! I just stick the used bits of material in the washing machine after and use them again and again. For cheese use something stronger than stockings though because you need to tie up the bundle tightly to form a mould - it would probably ooze out of very fine material.

Just had a thought, it is best not to go for any dyed material that you have hanging around unless it is colourfast - this might make for some strange coloured jellies/cheese!

Happy cooking,

Jane

[Rob Roy]

[quote user="Haventgotone"]

Hi all,

I struggled with a tea towel the first time I made redcurrant jelly - very messy and a little scary with all that hot liquid!

Then my sister-in-law told me that she had used one of those bags for hanging hams when she made her quince jelly.  

I'm thinking about trying to make cheese and may try using one of these bags they are sold in supermarkets for a few euros each and seems like a good idea to me.

Good luck

Val

[/quote]

I also have used the material sold for hams and it worked well for sloe and apple jelly, but my lovely M-in-L bought me a Lakeland jelly bag as part of my extra goodie bag last Christmas, so will be trying that this year. She is also arriving on Thursday for her annual visit with some muslin that I asked her to get as I have not found it here in any shops (she's a gem[:D]).

[dunroamin]

I just got an ordinary looking drip bag from champion and tied it round with string and hung it from a hook overnight worked a treat!!! and my elderberry jelly is as clear as anything , blackberry tomorrow and roasted green tom chutney

[Gastines]

Putting a reply on for Mrs G which can be a bit dangerous. My wife makes loads of jam which is very popular with the B&Bers, especially the French & Italians. Rhubarb always goes down well and our neighbour gave us a quantity of small peaches which are now Confiture de Maison. We did find that you couldn't get the normal waxed paper tops and found they use wax which is melted,bain-marie style and can be re-used.  This year we have rhubarb/peach/blackcurrant/raspberry/plum/bramble-jelly.

Happy jam making.

Regards. St.Malo. Very near.

[hoverfrog]

I have a jelly bag that was handed down to me... and I have made my own too. Both are made of linen.

You can make your own by sewing an offcut of linen into a bag, using french seams for extra strength and so you can use it inside-out too.

As has been said, if you squeeze the bag the jelly will probably be cloudy - although for blackberry it makes no difference as you can't see through it anyway!

If you don't care about cloudiness (and my kids don't) you can put it through a wire seive and get more pots per pound. If I'm using the juice for puddings I genersally use a seive as the kids don't care and it generally makes no odds.