What are you canning now?

[WthrLady]

I was so excited to find this thread!

My husband and I have been taking the kids out to this awesome blueberry place we've found so we're canning all things blueberries (and freezing some too). I'd like to have my own at some point; but the husband is in the military and we move around too much to get use of those kinds of plants!

Hang in there! Retirement WILL come! LOL.


I have blueberry jam cooking as we speak.

 

[rancher hicks]

Strawberries

 

[3goodeggs]

Oh,Nice.

Did you have a bountiful harvest?

I have not seen you for a while, Have you been okay? Is your wife alright?

 

[Peep_Show]

And yet another round with the latest gathering of apricots....

 

[rancher hicks]

Oh,Nice.

Did you have a bountiful harvest?

I have not seen you for a while, Have you been okay? Is your wife alright?

No we don't grow them but we're out of jam so I bought a lot. Making three batches, three different recipes. Amazing how many ways to make Strawberry jam. With JUST strawberries. I have recipes for ST/Pineapple, ST/Kiwi and ST/rhubarb of course.

DW just saw the doc and she has a nodule on her thyroid or something like that. I didn't go with her this visit so not sure. She has to have tests and may need surgery again. We shall see.

Just came back from TX after 6 weeks. We were spared the storm. We have a new granddaughter. It was a nice visit but too long. Missed home.

 

[3goodeggs]

Congrats on the new grand daughter!
babies are so sweet.

I hope your wife does not need another surgery. Thyroid issues are scary stuff.

 

[rancher hicks]

I have question about "Conserves" and setting of jellies and jams.

Is time a factor or can the setting temp be reached in a short time?

See I'm doing a Strawberry Conserve and if I boil the fruit to long it will break up making it a jam and not a Conserve.

Conserves usually contain fruit mixed together with sugar and sometimes nuts and dried fruits.? The recipe I have uses not nuts or dried fruits, just whole Strawberries.

Can I reach the 220*F in a short time so as to preserve the whole fruit?

 

[3goodeggs]

I honestly do not know that answer, but someone gave me a jar of pear conserves, and she says that she does them in the oven. Maybe the slower baking helps keep the fruit firmer, versus the active boiling of bottom heat. Plus maybe there is more surface area so it gets to the proper thickness sooner.

I have always ended up with mushy fruit butter when I try it on the stove, It gets stirred more on the stove because I want to keep it from scalding... Or, I just do not know what I am doing , but it is still good on toast.

 

[rancher hicks]

I honestly do not know that answer, but someone gave me a jar of pear conserves, and she says that she does them in the oven. Maybe the slower baking helps keep the fruit firmer, versus the active boiling of bottom heat. Plus maybe there is more surface area so it gets to the proper thickness sooner.

I have always ended up with mushy fruit butter when I try it on the stove, It gets stirred more on the stove because I want to keep it from scalding... Or, I just do not know what I am doing , but it is still good on toast.

Well I boiled to the 220* but they didn't set well. Nor did the two batches of jam I made.

I used three different recipes to see which I liked best.

The conserve has more whole berries in it but it's still not thick enough. I stir it less than regular jam. I may look for answers. Perhaps add some certo.

 

[3goodeggs]

Did you use fresh Kiwi and fresh pineapple? They have an enzyme in them that dissolves protein, that might be part of the problem. If you cook them first by themselves, and denature the enzyme, and then add it maybe it will work better. Again, this is a guess. I don't know for sure, but it might give you a research point to go from.

Hey, apparently I was wrong about Kiwi, these people say it is high in pectin.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/05/dining/decoding-strawberry-jam.html?_r=0


And then there is this: http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/experiments/exp/science-of-fruit-jellies/
...and I just confused you as much as me. sorry. Pretend you never read any of this.