Jam making advice needed

[Millymollymandy]

OK so I made the cucumber jam, but it's only the 2nd time in my life I've made jam. You don't want to know about the banana toffee I made 20 years ago........

Anyway, I have a jam thermometer which says Jam at 120C. However my book says setting point is 105C (!!!) and that you should put a plate in the freezer then dob a blob of jam on it - if it is firmish and wrinkles when you push it then it is at setting point.

Well my thermometer showed Jam (120C) but it was still runny doing the plate test. I boiled it and boiled it but still at 120C and it was still runny (albeit nice and sticky) on the plate.

Eventually I gave up as it was late and I was tired and I didn't want a repeat of the banana toffee situation!

This morning I tilted the jam jars and the jam is rather runny.

So what am I doing wrong???????????? Is it the lack of pectin in cucumbers - I followed the recipe and put in the required lemon juice.

P.S. Banana toffee might be nice but you can't get it out of jam jars!!!

[ina]

I must admit I do it the lazy way and use jam sugar... Or rather powdered pectin, if I can get it, because I prefer to use raw sugar. That way your results are a bit more predictable, although even there you might have differences depending on the natural pectin content of the fruit. (And I don't think cucumber has any!) The other advantage is that you don't have to boil it for ages, so you have a fruitier taste and save on energy (your own, for stirring, and the other in fuel or electricity! )

The only kind I would possibly try without added pectin is black or red currant - they have a lot of pectin.

Ina

[2steps]

I always use normal granulated sugar but add a little apple for pectin. I have been making jam just using the plate test for years and then the other week I remember the sugar thermometer I bought serverak years ago for making sweets which was a disastar, so thermometer sat in back of the cupboard. Most recipes I have used say setting points is 102 - 105

It does sound like lack of pectin though. You can buy it in bottles in the supermarket sometimes

[Millymollymandy]

It wouldn't be because I put cold sugar in, would it? Cos I was reading about jam making and my books say to warm the sugar. Trouble is that my jam jars were in the oven at that time sterilising and there was no room for the sugar!

[ina]

I've never gone to that much trouble yet! I usually leave the fruit and sugar overnight, so the juices get going, and then boil it the next day. And I don't use the bottled pektin because it contains sulphur. Powdered stuff is difficult to get here in Britain (although there is some around, I think from "Silverspoon"), but nowadays you seem to be able to get jam sugar in most supermarkets. I still import the powder from Germany, though, as I prefer to adjust the quantity of sugar individually.

As far as I remember you could buy jam sugar in France, too - but that was about 20 years ago!

Ina

[2steps]

It wouldn't be because I put cold sugar in, would it? Cos I was reading about jam making and my books say to warm the sugar. Trouble is that my jam jars were in the oven at that time sterilising and there was no room for the sugar!

I have never warmed the sugar. Like you my jars are in the oven as I make the jam

[Jo]

Sorry your jam wasn't quite right, Millymollymandy! I did post the right quantities - I checked. Does it taste ok? We made some really runny strawberry jam one year but it proved to be an absolutely wonderful sauce for icecream. Not sure about doing that with cucumber jam, though. Would it be a good sauce with something like ham - like apple sauce with pork? Or with a nut/bean loaf?

We also made toffee one year, but ours was plum toffee. Mostly our jam works and we've only ever had a couple of disasters in all those years of jam making.

Tell me if cucumber jam tastes nice, please.

Jo

[Millymollymandy]

Hi everyone, thanks for all your input. Yes, you can get jam sugar here, but I didn't want to mess around with the recipe as I'm not experienced enough!

Jo, don't worry, it's not a disaster - I guess it won't be any worse than eating honey on toast and having sticky fingers!

I'm not sure about the taste as I only tasted the bits I kept testing on the plate - it tasted of ginger! I will have to make some toast and try it out properly and see what the cucumber chunks taste like. Good excuse eh?!

My fault for choosing 'interesting' things to try to make jam out of, I should have made something normal!!!

[greenbean]

Hi there,
I've never used jam sugar as it's more expensive. I just keep boiling and boiling until I get a wrinkly set. Sometimes it does take longer than predicted. I have so many apples that I tend to add them to almost everything so my pectin levels are probably good.

[ina]

Yes, jam sugar is more expensive - but think of the cost for keeping the cooker going all that time, and you see it from a different perspective! Unless you have a stove that's constantly on the go anyway, because it also heats the house and the water... Adding apples does help, I think they are even better when unripe. But not everybody has apples. (Next year, I hope!)

I must admit that I also think it tastes better when the fruit is not "boiled to death". It tastes different, anyway - a matter of personal preference, of course. And I've grown up with added pectin, it's how my mum made it. The only one we didn't use it for is a special kind of plum spread, not quite like "normal" jam, which is made with a lot of plums ( ) and very little sugar (about 10:1), just a bit of vinegar added, and spices, if you like. My aunt used to add a green walnut or two. And that is boiled for 3-4 hours, either on top of the stove, or in the oven. I think I only made it once when I had an oil heater with a very hot top; wouldn't like to think how much electricity I'd waste doing it on my cooker.

Ina

Ina

[Sue]

Sulphur?? Oh heck - anyway I looked everywhere for jam sugar or pectin, and could eventually only find liquid pectin
I left it out of my blackberry and apple jam (the apples do the work??) but it didn't set (as per previous entries it tastes lovely on ice cream / porridge etc)
I will be trying again later but will have to resort to the sulphuric jam! argh!
Anyway - its dead easy in the bread maker - no standing around with thermometers, and its quick too

[ina]

In Aberdeen ASDA seems to be the only shop doing the Silverspoon pectin (in little bags, 3 to a box). It's the only item I ever go to ASDA for... I think the last time I was in there they thought me mad: 6 boxes of pectin at the checkout and nothing else!

The jam sugar was available at several shops, but it might be past the jam time now and not in stock any more.

I use runny jam for home-made fruit yoghurt, too...

Ina