Plum Jam! First I washed them all in the sink. Then a few of us cut a slit in each one. These went into two large pots. I added enough water to cover, brought to a boil, and simmered for about 5 minutes.
The result (this is not all of it though)...
I decided to try and smash them through a strainer ... this worked pretty well. We got all the stones out and it did not take too long, all things considered.
The smashed fruit went back into a large pot with seasonings (cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves). I use Pomona's Universal Pectin ... this allows for less sugar (a lot less). For 21 cups of jam I used 5 cups of sweetener [we did not have enough of any one sweetener, so I used a combination of things]; if anyone knows about making jam, they know that this is a significantly lower amount of sugar. I looked up Sure-Jell recipes online; their 'Triple Berry Jam' calls for 5 cups of prepared fruit and 7 cups of sugar. If I would have used Sure-Jell, I would have needed more than 28 cups of sugar for my 21 cups of prepared fruit!!! WOW.
So now what to do with all that liquid from the water and the fruit? JELLY! I put it all in a large pot, along with the stones (there was a little fruit left on the stones), and simmer for several hours.
It reduced a lot more than this, but this is the only picture we have of it reducing. I should have stirred it more often ... some of it burned to the bottom and produced a smoky flavor in the finished jelly :) no one minds though (it just tastes unique!). I added sweetener as well as a little almond and vanilla extract.
The reward for all our hard work ... 32+ pints of FREE jam and jelly!
Here's a picture from another angle - I wanted to show that you can use other jars and re-use lids several times. Notice the front two jars on the left; one is a bullion jar and one is a fancy canned fruit jar someone gave to me. I re-use canning lids 4 or more times; it just depends on if the seal is hard or not (if it's a little soft, it still has some life in it). I will caution however that it is NOT recommended to re-use lids, so don't blame it on me if you do this and your jars do not seal right ... although so far I have not had a problem with this.
Wow! Hard work pays off! Looks awesome.
ReplyDeleteGod Bless
Hi, I made some wild plum jam last year and turned some of it into spiced jam which is delicious with chicken or pork and actually good with peanut butter in sandwiches.
ReplyDeleteYou can turn your jam into spiced jam after it's canned too. I canned up a batch and didn't spice it because I wanted to experiment with the spices but I still have some of the original recipe to finish off.
The spices are:
1/4 tsp. powdered cloves
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. ground allspice
mix these up in a little bowl. put a can of your sweet jam or jelly in a little saucepan and heat 'till it melts and add the mixed spices a pinch at a time, mix and taste until it's as spicy as you like it. You don't have to cook the jam/jelly again, just pour it back into the jar after mixing in the spices (and vinegar) and put it into the refrigerator.
I also added vinegar a little bit at a time to give it a sweet/sour edge to the taste. Vinegar really makes the spice flavor 'pop'.
That little bit of spice mix is enough for several jars. Put the rest of the spice mix in a little jar and use it as you need it.
You can also change the proportions, some people don't like cloves and they get stronger once they sit in something for a while.
I want to try a little ginger when I make up a couple of new jars but ginger, if it's fresh, is hot so if you want to try adding ginger start out easy with it. Just a plain ginger/vinegar plum jam might be good too. I might make a jar of that also.
In any event, just add a bit of the spice mix at a time or it will get overpowering.
Your canned jam/jelly looks lovely I wanted to share my spice variation with you. I just put a big dolop of it on the plate when I make chicken or pork and 'dip' a fork of the chicken in it as I eat. My husband really likes it too.
I have an opened jar in my 'fridg now and if you try the recipe I hope you enjoy it if you try it.
Thank you for the recipe. We are working on pear butter today ... we use a lot of the same spices in it as the plum jam. I am thankful for the free fruit :) it's lots of work, but it sure is worth it.
ReplyDeleteMaybe I'll try a little vinegar ... I can see how that would be good. Thanks for the tip!