Jam making advice please

[Flump]

I'm lucky to have a good quantity of red-currants and wanted to make jam from them. I made a batch last night and this morning its all hard in the jar. what did I do wrong??

The recipe I had was 450g RC and 325g sugar

Flump

[Nicos]

Not sure- I'm on a learning curve that way too!!
What type of sugar did you use though????

[yoanbob]

sounds like there was too much pectin, or you boiled it too long, I'm no expert though. does it taste nice? you could have it as a desert, like jelly!

[milly2306]

hi
sounds as if your quantities are wrong, also you need to add water to redcurrant jam, here is my recipe which works every time

2.7kg sugar
1.8kg redcurrants
1.8l water
Wash the redcurrants, removing and stalks and leaves. Place the fruit in a heavy-bottomed saucepan along with the water. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes, mashing the fruit against the side of the pan with a wooden spoon until the fruit is tender.

Add the sugar to the saucepan, heat through, stirring until completely dissolved. Bring to a boil and cook rapidly for about 15 minutes. Test for setting by placing a plate in the fridge. Spoon a little of the jam onto the plate, allow to cook then move it with your fingernail. If a crinkly skin forms then the jam is ready. If not continue boiling for 5 minutes more and test again.

Skim the surface then ladle into sterilized jars that have been warmed in an oven set to 100°C for 5 minutes. Allow 1cm of head space then secure the lid, allow to cool and store

hope this helps
xxxmillyxxx

[Flump]

it was caster sugar. Plus its too hard for jelly. I erm burnt it a bit so i think i might have been too high. recipe said 45 mins and it ended up being 30.

It tasted lovely before it was put in the jar now its like a soft boiled sweet hehehehehe.


Could i make a cordial from the currants? I have spare?

[milly2306]

hi
the sugar needs to be plain old ordinary granulated sugar
xxxmillyxxx

[Flump]

thanks all. Will try recipe as suggested it does seem more detailed than the one i found on the web yesterday.

How do I make a cordial? Could i use a juicer and add sugar after to thicken it?

[milly2306]

hi
i've never made cordial but i found this recipe for redcurrant and raspberry cordial if its any help

For the sugar syrup
450g caster sugar
600ml water


For the cordial
450g Redcurrants
225g Raspberries
225g caster sugar
200ml cold water
1 litre iced sparkling water, to serve

Method 1. To make the sugar syrup, heat the sugar and water into a saucepan until the sugar has dissolved. Boil for 2 minutes, until slightly syrupy. Leave to cool.

2. For the cordial, remove and discard the stalks from the fruit, before crushing well with a wooden spoon.

3. Bring the water and half the sugar to a boil in a saucepan and add the fruit. Strain through a muslin cloth or fine sieve.

4. Stir in the remaining sugar syrup. Serve topped up with sparkling water and add plenty of ice

if you make it please let us know what it tastes like, it sounds good
xxxmillyxxx

[Flump]

thanks again milly. Will definitely let you know. Where do you get your info from??

[milly2306]

hi
a mixture of sources, internet, books but mainly my dear old granny's recipes. tried, tested and enjoyed over many years!
xxxmillyxxx

[Hilary B]

If you can get the too-solid jam out of the jar, try putting it in the saucepan with about half the volume of water, melt together (GENTLY), add some more sugar (so that total sugar added is about same weight as fruit you started with), and boil to setting point again.
I always did jelly-type jam from redcurrants:
½ pint water per lb of fruit,
simmer gently until very soft, strain through jelly bag or substitute,
1lb sugar per pint juice,
boil to setting point, put in jars.
Can be used as jam or condiment.

[rogesse]

I did exactly the same thing about a week ago - overdid the setting point!

I have a WI book that says you should 'just' cover whatever quantity of redcurrents with water, simmer to a pulp then strain through a jelly bag - I used a couple of layers of spare cotton material scalded before use, it worked, the jelly might have been tough but it was clear.

Then you are supposed to add 500g ordinary sugar per pint (yes I know, mixed measurements, this is from memory) and simmer, skimming off scum until setting point is reached.

This is were I came unstuck! I usually put a saucer in the fridge/freezer until cold then after 20 minutes start putting a small dribble of the jelly/jam on the saucer. After a minute you should push the surface lightly with your finger. If it crinkles, it is done and is ready for potting. This process may take longer than 20 mins - if at first it doesn't crinkle, boil on for five then try again and so on...........

1) remember to take the jelly off the boil whilst you do the crinkle test

2) Redcurrents have a high pectin content; the slightest crinkle will be enough for a good set

The two points made are in hindsight.......

I also agree it is possible to redo by melting it back down again. I added a touch of orange juice the second time around and followed my own advice!











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[Nicos]

Ahhhhh....so which fruit need water then????

I use = fruit to sugar...or equal pints to lbs sugar.
Never had any joy with marmalade or berry sugar..what could I be doing wrong???...is there a rule of thumb which fruit need extra water????

I tend to mash most fruit ( not rasp nor strawberries) and take their juice to = lbs normal sugar.
help please.......

[BarleySugar]

The pectin content of fruits such as strawberries, raspberries and blackberries is low, so you need to add some to the jam. My mum always used to use cooking apples, but they can 'dilute' the taste of the berries. Another solution is to use a pectin containing jam sugar, or liquid pectin. Both give guidlines for the amount of fruit to sugar requirements.

For marmalade, the pectin is in the pith and the pips. The pith should be scraped from the peel as it tastes bitter, but put into a bag with any pips and boiled with the fruit and chopped peel. This helps extract any pectin, and then the bag is removed before adding the sugar. You can test for pectin content of the fruit/juice by using methylated spirits, my preserving book has instrcutions, but I've never bothered. The pectin in plums comes from the stones too, so again these should be either left in, or removed but boiled in a bag with the fruit.

Over ripe fruit contains less pectin, and acid in the form of lemon juice can help extract it.

[nikkijy]

To test pectin in your fruit
put 3 tsp of meth. spirit in a glass.
Ad this to one tsp of the juice in another glass.
Swirl the meths around gently and leave for 1 min.
if there is plenty of pectin in the fruit a transparent jelly like lump is formed this means good setting quality so use 675g to each pint of juice.
If the pectin content is moderate the clot of jelly is not very firm and may be broken up into two or three lumps. this means fair setting quality so use 450g to a pint of juice.
If very little pectin is present the clot is broken up into numerous small pieces. as you guessed this means poor setting quality so use 350g to a pint of juice.

In my book it says to use 6lb fruit to 3 pints water.

I recently invested in a sugar therm. and it was a good buy as ive not over done my jelly/jam since. as the setting point for jam/jelly is between 105/6 centergrade. i still test on a cold plate. just to make sure.
Nicos .. when you say you mash the fruit are you cooking your fruit first as this brings out the pectin in the fruit.