Fruit Bottling Advice Please

[wellie]

I am TOTALLY new to preserving fruit by the 'Bottling' Method, so forgive me if this seems like a dumb question, but I want to bottle loads more fruit next year, in addition to freezing and jam-making etc. but I'd prefer to use a natural sweetener like honey, rather than sugar.

Does anyone do this themselves successfully already, and could they let me know weights and measures please?

I thank you.
X

[shirlthegirl43]

Hi there Wellie, nice to see you online, how's life?

On the bottling front, I think Pigletwillie might be the chap you want to chat to about that.

[Alison]

According to the River Cottage preserve book, it says that fruit can be bottled in plain water but a syrup based on sugar or honey will improve the flavour. Alcohol, pure fruit juice, fruit cordials, scented leaves and spices can be added to give character and interest. It also says that you want a sweeter syrup for tarter fruits and for more tightly packed fruit as there is less syrup used. It doesn't give any hard and fast rules about how much honey to use in general but says that a syrup should be made from between 100g to 250g of sugar to 600ml of water so suggest that you mix that up and then compare with a honey mix and go with that as it's more of a taste thing that a preserving one. Hope that this helps.

[bobleponge]

Wellie

I bottled some plums and something else this year (cant remember as cant see it, and I'm old).
I used sugar not honey, but used the River Cottage method as above. Seemed to have worked, as when I tried to lift the stuff by the lid, without it being clamped shut, the seal held, which indicates success I think?

I did pack them pretty tight, and will let you know the results in deepest darkest winter when I open them.

[Nicos]

Ah well- you see Wellie...I have a problem here....all the locals put fruit into Calvados

[ohbeary]

A basic sugar syrup of 28 degrees Baume would be 3:2 sugar to water 12oz sugar to 8oz water, poach peeled fruit in syrup with prefered spices, place fruit in srerilised jars, reduce syrup by half and pour over fruits, close up jars loosely to allow air to expand for a few mins, seal down, allow to cool and store in a cool dark place, alcohol may be added before topping up with boiling syrup.

[wellie]

Alison, I too have the River Cottage Preserving Book, and have bottled and preserved a number of fruits to their exact recipes this Autumn, which is why I'm now curious to find out exactly what they do mean by that honey equivalent. The fruit that I have so far preserved by the book looks fabulous, I must say! (I got tempted by the Blues & Bay, but opted to Wellie it, and ended up doing Blues and Lemon Verbena Leaves instead? and nudge me next year if you're interested to know the results!)

Piggie: Do I need to talk to you darling? Ooh, anytime's a pleasure, with knobs on!! and if you can help me here, I'd be dead grateful.

I'm thinking that preserving fruit with honey instead of sugar will also alter the taste.
Personally, I've never liked Honey, so you'll think I'm completely mad now, but because I'd like to preserve the fruit as a gift for a Client with small children, is why I'm actually asking.
And hey! I might find that I prefer the taste myself, who knows.

Your responses are very welcomed, thank you, so please keep them coming?
X

[SarzWix]

I found this info. Wellie, I hope it's some use:

Sugar substitution
Honey can replace cane sugar in almost any recipe. Since honeys are of different flavours and compositions, however, such replacements may result in changes of flavour, consistency, cooking times and the quantities of other ingredients required. In industrial baked products honey is therefore only used to replace small quantities of sugar. In addition, strong flavoured or dark, cheap honeys are preferred since less honey is required to obtain some honey flavour and consequently, less of the cheaper sugar has to be replaced. When substituting most or all of the sugar with honey, mild-flavoured honeys may be more desirable as they will not overpower other flavours of the product.

Since honey is denser than crystallized, packed sugar and therefore has greater sweetening power per volume than sugar, most cookery books recommend the use of 1 cup of honey for 1 ¼ cups of sugar or that 1 cup of sugar can be replaced by 4/5 of a cup of honey. Recommendations are not uniform, and others recommend replacing 1 cup of sugar with only ½ to 3A of a cup of honey. When recipes are given in weight, honey can be substituted approximately 1:1 or, considering the moisture content, add up to 20% more honey in weight than sugar. The extra water added in the form of honey needs to be accounted for as well. Thus for every cup of honey added, approximately 1/5 to ¼ of a cup less liquid should be used in the recipe. By weight: for every 1 kg of sugar substituted by 1000-1200 g of honey, 180-200 g (180-200 ml) less water should be used. For most corn syrups, honey can be substituted 1:1 by weight as well as by volume, even though corn syrup often contains more water than honey. For industrial quantities more specific calculations based also on the sugar composition of the specific honey, are necessary.

Too much honey in a recipe may cause too much browning in a baked product. To neutralize the acidity of honey (unless sour cream or sour milk is called for in the recipe) add a pinch of baking soda. If honey is substituted in jams, jellies or candies, slightly higher temperatures must be used in cooking, but conversely, when baking bread, lower temperatures are required. In candies, more persistent beating (mixing) and slightly higher caramelization temperatures are needed. Also careful packaging and storage of the final product may be required to prevent absorption of atmospheric moisture.

When using honey for a recipe that also involves use of oil or fat, measure the oil or fat first in the measuring container. Removal of honey from the same container will then be easier and more complete.

Value-added products from beekeeping. Chapter 2.

I honestly think that tasting it would be the way to go to work out quantities, but, like you I'm not a big fan of honey Would Trousers be kind enough to taste the syrup for you?

[wellie]

Way to Go Sarzwix - High Five Angel!
That is where a gorgeous forum like this comes into its' very own as far as I'm concerned..... I love to know stuff, but am cr@p at technology.
People like you are fab at technology, and fab at knowing stuff as well.
Thank you SO much.
The fun now begins with experimenting for me and the little kiddiewinkies that I want to cook for.
Bless you.X.

[SarzWix]

No problem
It seems a little simpler than I thought, I might try switching some sugar for honey in biscuits and things - I don't mind the flavour blended with other things, just not fond of it 'neat', so to speak