I enjoy reading your lovely posts depite being a scofflaw and not paying to subscribe.I am "going out of my lane" today to comment. I have been a jam-maker for decades. This is the first summer in all of those years that I have not made any new jam, although I have many jars from last year and the year before. My right shoulder deteriorated rapidly this past year, and periodic cortisone shots which had kept me going for years no longer helped. I had shoulder replacement surgery i mid-July, and am undergoing painful physical therapy to get the new one moving in a semblance of normalcy. The consequence was I missed the window of this summer's jam season. I love making jam with plums, because the pits are large and relatively easy to extract--I do it in advance of any cooking,and cut them in quarters, so there aren't large sheets of peel in the end product. I used to combine plums--Italian plums-- no one seems to grow damsons here--with baby ginger, which is beginning to appear in the local farmers markets about the same time as plums. One morning about ten years ago, I woke up having had a whimsical recipe dream combining plums and roses, though I was never a fan of the rock group Guns and Roses. I was compelled to try it, and It is delicious. I use dried rose petals that I get from Kalustyan's, which are intensely fragrant, and unsprayed. I also add a bit of ginger, not much, and a small splash of rose water at the end, to boost the rose flavor. I have friends who say it is their favorite of all the jams I make. I macerate the cut-up fruit and rose petals overnight with sugar and lemon juice--no water--after having brought it to a quick boil. This is the Christing Ferber method, from her influential text, _Mes Confitures_. I do hve to be a bit of a scold here to tell you that your method, called "open kettle" is frowned on by food safety experts, as is your method of sterilizing jars in the oven. I used to do "jar-flipping" which is filling the sterilized jars and tightening on the lid and turning the jar over, so the hot jam would sterlie the lid and the jar would sel it cooled. Hell, when I started making jam, I used melted paraffin. Now I follow food sfety guidelines, wash my jars in the dishwasher, heat the lids in hot but not boiling water, and then submerge the sealed jars in a water bath of boiling water for ten minutes. When instructing others about making preserves, one ought to recommend best food safety practices, mais non? Christine Ferber's books should be re-issued with better guidelines, too. Her recipes use open kettle, too. I almost never get a bad sel, or a jar the develops mold, even open after months in the refrigerator, or years on the shelf.
Thank-you! I don't have a dishwasher, which is why I use the oven as the easy way. You're right. So in future I should skip all instructions for sterilisation and direct people to the best practices in books.
(That said, Ive never had an issue with this method, I have to say, but perhaps that's just luck).
I hope your shouyheals well. How painful and frustrating!
September echoes. Fabulous, as always.
I enjoy reading your lovely posts depite being a scofflaw and not paying to subscribe.I am "going out of my lane" today to comment. I have been a jam-maker for decades. This is the first summer in all of those years that I have not made any new jam, although I have many jars from last year and the year before. My right shoulder deteriorated rapidly this past year, and periodic cortisone shots which had kept me going for years no longer helped. I had shoulder replacement surgery i mid-July, and am undergoing painful physical therapy to get the new one moving in a semblance of normalcy. The consequence was I missed the window of this summer's jam season. I love making jam with plums, because the pits are large and relatively easy to extract--I do it in advance of any cooking,and cut them in quarters, so there aren't large sheets of peel in the end product. I used to combine plums--Italian plums-- no one seems to grow damsons here--with baby ginger, which is beginning to appear in the local farmers markets about the same time as plums. One morning about ten years ago, I woke up having had a whimsical recipe dream combining plums and roses, though I was never a fan of the rock group Guns and Roses. I was compelled to try it, and It is delicious. I use dried rose petals that I get from Kalustyan's, which are intensely fragrant, and unsprayed. I also add a bit of ginger, not much, and a small splash of rose water at the end, to boost the rose flavor. I have friends who say it is their favorite of all the jams I make. I macerate the cut-up fruit and rose petals overnight with sugar and lemon juice--no water--after having brought it to a quick boil. This is the Christing Ferber method, from her influential text, _Mes Confitures_. I do hve to be a bit of a scold here to tell you that your method, called "open kettle" is frowned on by food safety experts, as is your method of sterilizing jars in the oven. I used to do "jar-flipping" which is filling the sterilized jars and tightening on the lid and turning the jar over, so the hot jam would sterlie the lid and the jar would sel it cooled. Hell, when I started making jam, I used melted paraffin. Now I follow food sfety guidelines, wash my jars in the dishwasher, heat the lids in hot but not boiling water, and then submerge the sealed jars in a water bath of boiling water for ten minutes. When instructing others about making preserves, one ought to recommend best food safety practices, mais non? Christine Ferber's books should be re-issued with better guidelines, too. Her recipes use open kettle, too. I almost never get a bad sel, or a jar the develops mold, even open after months in the refrigerator, or years on the shelf.
I get hungry everytime I read your posts.
I love peaches and miss them from my days at the Farmers market in San Francisco.
I agree, they are best plain, the juices dripping to your elbows. But I amsonserve them with.a touch if blue cheese that I find delightful.
A lovely post as always
Thank you as ever for these Nom ♥️♥️ Extremely glad you were there
Hugs
Thank-you! I don't have a dishwasher, which is why I use the oven as the easy way. You're right. So in future I should skip all instructions for sterilisation and direct people to the best practices in books.
(That said, Ive never had an issue with this method, I have to say, but perhaps that's just luck).
I hope your shouyheals well. How painful and frustrating!