Price Points: Preserve starter kits

Kitchen Craft preserving starter set, 4 pieces: £10, hobbycraft
VonShef 9L Maslin pan jam preserving starter set bundle: £32.99, Amazon
5-Pieces preserve starter set by Kilner: £69.99, Wayfair

One of the things I love about the start of autumn is making jams, jellies, pickles, chutneys and all manner of other preserves. I made a batch of apple and chilli jelly this week… the first of the season.

Late summer is spent foraging for fruit such as wild raspberries, elderberries and blackberries. They’re added to the redcurrants that were harvested from our allotment in and are made into mixed fruit jelly.

You really should try it – it’s really easy, satisfying and far superior to most shop bought stuff. Get yourself one of these preserve starter kits and you’ll be quickly on your way to making your own.

Each has its own merits however, I’ve chosen #2 as the best of the preserve starter kits for a number of reasons. The most important component is the jam/maslin pan. It needs to be large, sturdy and made of the right material. It needs to be made of a non-reactive material such as stainless steel. Reactive metals such as aluminium and untreated cast iron can give a metallic taste to the food and can also cause discolouration. The pan also needs to be a good conductor of heat, for example, copper so that it achieves the high temperatures necessary in jam-making.

The next most important component is the thermometer. It’s not absolutely essential but, if you’re not entirely confident with using the cold saucer method, a thermometer is the foolproof way of knowing that the magic 105ºC/220ºF temperature has been reached.

A jam funnel is very useful if you’ve got shaky hands like mine, however buying the other components are less necessary. I have a huge store of different sized & shaped jars – I never put the finished jars of honey, mayonnaise, pesto etc into the recycling. With a little pre-planning, you shouldn’t need to buy jars specially for preserving. Just make sure ones you’re reusing have no chips or cracks and have their original airtight lids.

Having said all that – yes, both #2 and #3 come with jars as part of their kits. The former has the edge over the latter as the single 1-litre jar is much less practical than 6 smaller ones. If you store a litre of jam, jelly, chutney etc in a single jar you’ll have to eat all the contents within a couple of weeks of opening or it will go off. Also, you should store your preserves in the fridge once they’ve been opened. I usually have too much other stuff in the fridge to accommodate a litre-sized pot of jam.

In the years I’ve been preserving, I’ve never used a jar lifter (I use a pair of kitchen tongs), a jar wrench (just twist a dinner knife between the space between the lid and the jar) or a magnetic stick (again, I use kitchen tongs). So that’s 3 of the 4 Kitchen Craft items that would be neglected at the back of the cupboard. You could buy each preserve making component you think you’ll need singly – but it’s often cheaper to buy them as a bundle.

Lime marmalade

We often have tea & toast when we return home after our morning dog walk.

Over the past few months, we’ve been eating delicious home-made lime marmalade made by Justin’s sister-in-law (hello Flora if you’re reading this!).

We ran out 3 weeks ago – and Justin has been suffering from withdrawal symptoms ever since.

We’ve made lots of jams, jellies and preserves in the past, but this is the first batch of marmalade.

The basic method is quite similar, of course…

…an intense boil of fruit with sugar with an added ½ teaspoon of bicarbonate of soda to get rid of any bitterness.

Five limes makes three standard jam jars full – so that should keep us going for a while.

Get the toast on!

Lime marmalade

Print recipe Pin recipe

Course Breakfast

Cuisine British

Servings 3 jars

Ingredients

5 limes
500 g granulated sugar
½ tsp bicarbonate of soda

Instructions

Wash the limes under a hot tap with a clean, plastic scourer to remove any wax coating
Slice the limes in half and squeeze well reserving the juice
In a tall, stainless steel saucepan (aluminium can cause discolouration), simmer the limes in 1 litre of water for an hour
Using tongs or a slotted spoon, remove the limes from the saucepan and allow to cool for 5 minutes
Using a spoon, scrape out the lime pith putting it into a jam strainer or square of muslin. Knot or tie it tightly with string before putting it back into the saucepan of lime liquor
Slice the cooled, cooked peels very finely, add them back to the pan and top up with extra water until well covered
Reboil for another hour until the peel becomes very soft
Using the tongs or slotted spoon, scoop the peel out of the saucepan into a bowl or measuring jug
Boil the cooked lime liquor, reserved lime juice and pith bag over a high heat until you have about 1 litre of liquid left
Squeeze the pith-filled bag with the tongs or back of the slotted spoon spoon as it boils
Remove the bag, add the sugar and bicarbonate of soda, stir until the sugar has dissolved and bring back up to a rolling boil
If you're using a jam thermometer allow the liquid to reach 105ºC/220ºF (this is the setting point for jam)
If you're not using a thermometer, put a saucer in the fridge
After the mixture has boiled for 10-15 minutes, put a teaspoonful of the boiling liquid onto the cold saucer, return it to the fridge and after 5 minutes do the
In the meantime, sterilise two 500ml jars & lids (or a number of smaller jars, enough to hold a kilo of marmalade)
Once the mixture has reached the setting stage, allow to cool for 15 minutes before decanting into the jars, screwing the lids on securely straight away

Adapted from Dan Lepard's lime marmalade recipe on the Guardian website

Keyword lime, marmalade, preserves

Charity Vintage: Kilner jars

_{(ends 23 Sep, 2014 20:07:23 BST)}

With all the jam, jelly and preserve making that I’ve been doing this summer, I’m almost clean out of jars. I always give away a lot of what I make to family & friends so the jars are never to be seen again. This collection of 16 vintage Kilner jars for sale by & in support of Wesley Community Furniture* would set me up nicely again.

Kilner jars are great for preserves but are also useful for storing dry foodstuffs like rice, pasta, peas, beans, lentils and dried fruit. And they’re so much prettier than the plastic bags they come in!

_{*Wesley Community Furniture aims to work in partnership with others to provide furniture and other household items at the lowest possible prices to those in greatest need in Manchester, to further relieve poverty by providing jobs, volunteering and training opportunities, and to recycle and re-use as much of the material they receive as possible.}

Preserved plums

Justin’s parents’ neighbours have a few different fruit trees in their garden. In the past couple of years, we’ve had some of the harvest. Last year we made spiced apple chutney, the year before apple cheese. This year, we picked almost 5 kilos of plums – the sweetest, ripest plums we’d ever tasted!

We both ate half a dozen each in a couple of days but we would never be able to work our way through many before before they began to get over-ripe. I’d already made jars upon jars of fruit jam & jelly this year, so I turned half into spiced plum chutney and half into plum jam.

I used recipes from the good old Cordon Bleu Preserving recipe book for both.

The job of stoning was a monotonous, boring job but the resulting preserves were well worth the toil!

When the chutney was cooking the house was filled with the most delicious smell – I wish I could bottle that alone!

Here’s the spiced plum chutney recipe:

1⅓kg/3lb plums
1tbs ground ginger
1tbs ground allspice
2tbs ground mustard seeds
2tbs dried chilli flakes
10 cloves
30g/1oz salt
425ml/¾pt white malt or white wine vinegar
450g/1lb soft brown sugar

Wash & stone the plums and put them in a pan with the ginger, allspice, mustard seeds and chilli flakes
Tie the cloves in a muslin bag and add to the pan
Add the salt and 300ml/½pt of the vinegar
Simmer gently until the plums are soft (about 3 hours)
Put the sugar into a large measuring jug/basin with the remaining vinegar and leave to dissolve. Add to the plums when cooked
Bring to the boil and allow to boil gently until thick (about another 2 hours)
Pour into warm, sterilised jars and screw down immediately
Leave for 4-5 weeks before using

And here’s the jam recipe…

2.75kg/6lb plums
300ml/½pt water
3kg/6½lb granulated or preserving sugar

Wash the plums, cut them in half and remove the stones
Tie half the stones in muslin
Place the fruit in a preserving pan with the water and cook gently until tender
Add the sugar and heat gently until dissolved
Add the bag of stones
Boil rapidly for about 25 minutes or until the jam sets when tested
Remove the bag of stones and pour the jam into warm, dry sterilised jars. Cover and tie down

It’s a deliciously sweet accompaniment to morning croissants.

H is for Home Harbinger

Tag: preserves

Price Points: Preserve starter kits

Lime marmalade

Lime marmalade

Ingredients

Instructions

Charity Vintage: Kilner jars

Preserved plums