mint Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 Do they need to be well-ripened or is it better to use them whilst they still have a bit of "give"?Thank you [:)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tancrède Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 I usually do mine quite ripe without any problem. If you have some which are doubtful setters - and some plums are, despite most of them setting like fury, then use them slightly less ripe.Do you know what variety they are ?(I am rather envious of you if you have a good crop - not a very good showing up here .) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mint Posted July 25, 2012 Author Share Posted July 25, 2012 [quote user="Gengulphus"]Do you know what variety they are ?(I am rather envious of you if you have a good crop - not a very good showing up here .)[/quote]No, don't know about variety: they are plum-coloured and are smallish, not quite so big as Victorias [:D]They are hanging off the trees like huge bunches of grapes!Trust them to need being made into jam when it's 34 degrees in the shade! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tancrède Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 [quote user="sweet 17"]Trust them to need being made into jam when it's 34 degrees in the shade![/quote]Sorry to hear that you are having such a cool time of it - it was 40° in Dijon this afternoon [:D]You could always freeze them, and do them later. This is what I do if I think that jam-making is going to give me heat-stroke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idun Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 I love plums, but do not like plum jam at all, find it fade.I would make up compote and freeze it. I use unsweetened compote to go in sweet and sour, I make less of that, as we don't eat so much sweet and sour. The sweetened is eaten with custard, goes on tarts, in pies, in crumbles, in yoghurt, even a layer in a cake with some cream, or just on it's own. Compote is a far less difficult thing to make. I wash and stone the fruit and put it in a pan without water, and let it do it's stuff on a very low heat. Switch it off, let it cool, bag or box it and bang it in the freezer. I make a sweet compote with mirabelles and apricots too. There are few fruits that I like as jams. Frais, framboise and cassis and that is it; I never make jam. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patf Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 I agree about preferring compote - it's so much quicker. I make it in the microwave.We've made plum jam, but I find it too sweet.We have yellow plums too, and I prefer them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mint Posted July 26, 2012 Author Share Posted July 26, 2012 Id and Pat, do you put any sugar into the compote?And, if you don't, isn't it very sour?Please tell me quickly as I think I might get the steps out later today and gather some plums.Was meant to have gone out for a long walk this morning ending with aperos but I couldn't face the heat and I felt quite ill last night and was unable to sleep. So, a bit of light work like gathering plums might just be the sort of activity to make me feel less feeble and slobbish [:)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pommier Posted July 26, 2012 Share Posted July 26, 2012 I'm a firm believer in not putting Bonne Maman out of business! Plus we only eat a jar of jam about every six months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idun Posted July 26, 2012 Share Posted July 26, 2012 For the sweetened compote, if you use one of those big fait toutz, I would wash and stone the plums and half fill the pan, and then add at least 250grs of sugar. I leave it covered on a tiny heat. As the liquid comes out and the sugar mixes in I taste and see and add more sugar if I need to. It's compote, it would be hard to over do it. Sometimes it takes more sugar, others it doesn't. I cook au pif a lot of the time with things like this. I do find compote far more versatile than jam. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patf Posted July 26, 2012 Share Posted July 26, 2012 Taste a plum first to see how sweet they are.I like fruit to be a bit "tart" - when I was pregnant I had a craving for raw Bramleys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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