Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Jam Session's Over For Today

I am SO tired...

The freezer has been emptied of it's crushed strawberries, and juiced raspberries and Mongolian cherries.

The gooseberries are gone from the fridge.

Randall had to pick up 2 more cases of little jars and 3 boxes of Certo for me on his way home for supper.

I just have to do the final clean-up... and then hit the sack.

Final tally?

-4 batches of strawberry jam: 2 regular, 1 light and 1 no-sugar-added

-2 batches of raspberry jelly: 1 regular, 1 no-sugar-added

-1 batch of no-sugar-added raspberry syrup

-1 batch of no-sugar-added black cherry syrup

-2 batches of no-sugar-added gooseberry jam

Grand total: 32 pints of jam, jelly and syrup.

I think that's all.

I'm sure it's enough for today.

Next I'd like to make a batch of low sugar rhubarb chutney, and there are some sweet cherries in the freezer yet... maybe some no-sugar-added jam... or just a pie...

4 comments:

  1. See, I read the title and thought you'd been grooving on down making music. That's a happy picture - but so's a cupboard full of jam.

    I've got some mutant giant rhubarb that wants to take over my garden - want me to send it your way ?

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  2. question... when you do low/no sugar for your jams or syrups, do you have to add anything else to ensure proper preservation?

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  3. When I did low sugar jam (because I bought Certo "light" by mistake) I made the jam as per usual. There's still enough sugar, I guess, to help with preservation. The jars and lids, of course, must be properly sterilized.

    When I do No Sugar jam/ jelly/ syrup, I sterilize the jars (in the oven at 225*F for at least 10 min.) and lids while I'm making the jam, and then THE JARS OF JAM MUST BE PROCESSED IN A HOT WATER BATH/ CANNER FOR A MINIMUM OF 10 MINUTES, as per instructions that come with the Bernardin No Sugar Needed Fruit Pectin.

    That's an important step. I always do the extra "canning" step and I've not had the stuff go bad on me yet. It's good to remember that the Pectin instructions give your jam/ jelly a shelf life of 6 months, so make sure it's processed to kill any bacteria that might be in there, and keep an eye on the date.

    Did I mention that to make syrup I've just been doubling the amount of fruit and Splenda with one box of pectin? Seems to be working really well.

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