Jams, marmalades, chutneys and pickles are wonderful uses for your precious harvests, and they prolong those delicious tastes of summer
If you’re the type of gardener who sows and plants without restraint, this time of year is likely to see you surrounded by an ever-increasing pile of produce including courgettes, tomatoes, blueberries, raspberries and strawberries. Wonderful as it sounds, there will no doubt come a point when you’ve exhausted your stash of courgette recipes and run out of friends to laden down with berries. If this is the position you find yourself in this month, now’s the time to dig out some jars, turn on the stove and start making jams, chutneys or marmalades. These little pots of curiously-coloured tongue-tingling ingredients provide the ideal way to make your gluts last longer – and they can make brilliant presents later in the year, too.
Over these three pages we’re sharing our tips on how to make the very best preserves for you to enjoy and share with family and friends. We’d love to hear about any of the preserves you try!
JAMS, JELLIES & MARMALADES
Slathered over toast, spooned into porridge or served on top of yoghurt, jams, jellies and marmalades are the ultimate sweet treat. All sorts of fruit can be used in recipes – plums, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries and more. Even savoury produce can be incorporated into a mixture – chilli jam is a firm favourite in many households, and onion marmalade can turn an ordinary piece of cheese on toast into an extraordinary lunchtime snack.
The process of making these mixtures preserves your crops through a combination of boiling (which sterilises your produce) and adding sugar (which inhibits the growth of bacteria). A good thing to remember is that you can freeze your fruit until you have enough to make jam – the mushiness that can sometimes be caused by this doesn’t matter if you’re going to put it all in a pan to boil down.
A few bits of essential equipment are needed for preserve making. As well as your jam jars, you’ll need a heavy-bottomed pan, a wooden spoon, a funnel and, in some instances, a section of muslin. A jam thermometer can also be useful for testing the setting point of your mixture. This is the point at which it will set and is necessary for your jam or marmalade to be that deliciously sticky texture that we have all come to associate with preserves.
The standard temperature for this to happen is usually around 104°C. If you don’t have a thermometer you can still test to see if your jam is ready using a cold saucer. Pop a c
