Jammin' with Little Green Apples

 Today we met at Taghhannuck Grange #100 in Sharon, CT for a Jam Session! For making all-natural pectin, Brent Prindle let us use his basket pole to pick green apples.

 We took off their stems, cut them into quarters, and...

 dumped them into a saucepan with just enough water to cover. While they cooked until soft on the stove...

 Tal Hadani-Pease showed us how to make mixed-berry jam with honey and Pomona Universal Pectin.

 We used Brent's magnetic tool rod to dunk the jar lids in hot water for 10 seconds....

... and then, tighten in place with the metal jar ring. 

 

Once the apples were well cooked, Brent spooned them into a jellybag so the gelling pectin from the stems and peels would drain away from the mash. This is his natural pectin for adding to the fruit with lemon juice and mashed fruit to make jam.

 Brent made a jam using rosehips, quince, and sugar. For six cups of berries and juice, he added 5 cups of sugar, saving out another cup to stir in, to speed it's cooking.

 Using a large plastic measuring cup, Brent showed us how to fill the jars to 1/4 inch from the top...

...then we took turns putting a lid on it!

Sticking Together

July 21,2012 preparing for adventure...

For this year's Jam Session, we made green apple pectin and ginger rhubarb jam with Brent Prindle. For his recipes, click on Jamming and scroll to our 2010 report.Tal Hadini-Pease led us in making blueberry-honey jam without sugar. According to reports from our participants, EVERYONE went home to pick fruit and make MORE jam! YUM!Our fearless guides through the Jamberry Jungle were:

Tal and Brent

Jamming

Jamming experts Brent Prindle and Joanne Wojtusiak.
Home kitchen jam and jelly makers of the best kind.At the end of the day we would go home with four types of jam and jelly.
Strawberry Rhubarb Jam
Blueberry Jam
Rhubarb Ginger Jam
Green Apple Jelly


Green Apple Jelly
3 1/3 pounds green apples
4 2/3 cups granulated sugar
6 1/3 cups water
Juice of one small lemon

Rinse the apples in cold water. Remove the stem and cat the fruit into quarters without peeling them. Put them in a pan and cover them with water. When the apple mixture comes to a boil, simmer for half an hour over on low heat.
Collect the juice by pouring the preparation into a fine chinois sieve and pressing lightly on the fruit with the back of a skimmer. Now filter it a second time though cheese cloth, which you have wet and wrung out.

Pour 4 1/4 cups of the juice into a preserving pan with the lemon juice and the sugar. Bring to a boil, skim, and continue cooking on high heat for 5 to 10 minutes. Skim again if necessary. Return to a boil. Check the set. Pour the jelly into jelly jars and seal.

This jelly is used as pectin for low pectin fruit.


Ginger Rhubarb Jam

4 cups diced fresh rhubarb
3 cups sugar
3 tablespoons finely chopped candied ginger
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Combine rhubarb, sugar, ginger and lemon juice in a large saucepan. Let stand until sugar is moistened by juices, about 20 minutes. Place over medium-high heat and cook, stirring, until thick and clear.
Skim off foam. Ladle into hot sterilized canning jars and seal immediately.


Blueberry Jam

Blueberries are low in acid and equal amounts of blueberries and sugar will not set without added pectin. Pectin packages contain recipes that are really sure fire and easy to follow. The one on the Ball powdered pectin product follows:


4 cups crushed blueberries (use a potato masher)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 package of dry pectin
4 cups sugar

Combine blueberries and lemon juice and gradually add pectin. Stirring constantly, bring mixture to a full rolling boil that cannot be stirred down. Add entire measure of sugar and stir to dissolve. Return mixture to a rolling boil and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.
Remove from heat and skim off foam. Ladle into clean, warm jars taking care not to spill any jam on rim.Place hot lid on top and apply ring, but not too tightly. Turn jars upside down for 5 minutes to seal. Turn right side up and check for seal by pressing down on the lid, there should be no give.



According to Joanne there are three must have books.

It was a lovely day and much was learned by all.

Jam Session

Jam Session

On July 11, jam-making enthusiasts Joanne Wojtusiak and Brent Prindle shared some of their sweet techniques with us at an Old Style Life Skills Series workshop held at Local Farm in Cornwall, CT. Although it is ideal to make jam whenever fruit is in season and plentiful, we learned that it is fine to freeze it to use at a more convenient time in the future.

For example, Joanne brought rhubarb that she had frozen earlier this year to make the following recipe for about 5 8oz jars of Rhubarb Ginger Jam:

2 ½ # of rhubarb stems cut into 1” pieces (fresh or frozen)

3 cups sugar

1 T fresh ginger – grated

1 T crystallized ginger – finely chopped

1 ½ lemons – zest and juice

Layer rhubarb and sugar in a bowl and cover with a dish towel; allow to stand overnight at room temperature (often referred to as “weeping”).

Combine sugar and rhubarb mixture with lemon juice and zest and fresh and crystallized ginger and bring to a boil while stirring frequently. Continue to boil for 30-40 minutes (sometimes it takes even longer) or until it gels (this typically occurs when the mixture reaches 220 degrees F). You can also test for gelling by seeing if the mixture will coat the back of a spoon. Using Brent's digital thermometer made this step VERY easy.

The chopped candied ginger gives this rhubarb jam recipe extra pizazz!

Peel the fresh ginger root before grating it so the grater doesn't get clogged.

Brent brought frozen blueberries for Blueberry Jam. Unlike rhubarb, blueberries are low in acid. Equal amounts of blueberries and sugar will not set without added pectin.

Pectin packages contain recipes that are really sure fire and easy to follow. Joanne stressed that for best results, never vary the amount of sugar and pectin. However, both she and Brent concurred that jams and jellies never fail. If they do not fully gel, they merely become sauce for ice cream or glaze for meats, fruits, cake, or vegetables. The following recipe from the Ball powdered pectin product makes about 6 8oz jars:

4 cups crushed blueberries (use a potato masher)

2 T lemon juice

1 package of dry pectin

4 cups sugar

Combine blueberries and lemon juice and gradually add pectin. Stirring constantly, bring mixture to a full rolling boil that cannot be stirred down.

Add entire measure of sugar and stir to dissolve. Return mixture to a full rolling boil and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.

Have the sugar measured and ready to dump into the fruit and pectin mixture all at once. You can speed the process by preheating the sugar in a 350 degree oven.

Remove from heat and skim off foam. (1/2 t of butter or margarine can be added while cooking to reduce foaming).

Ladle into clean, warm jars taking care not to spill any jam on rim (clean rim if necessary); place hot lid on top and apply ring, but not too tightly. Turn upside down for 5 minutes to seal.

It is important that the jars and lids are steaming hot when using this method. Brent is using a jar-holding tool to transfer jars from their boiling hot water bath to the filling station.

He uses a magnetic screw driver to "grab" the flat metal lids out of the bath to place on the jars. Here, we are using Joanne's "pen" magnet to do the same.

When the jars are cool, turn right side up and check for seal by pressing down on the lid; there should be no give.

You may also use a water bath to seal jars and process for 10 minutes instead.

You can try a no-pectin version of Blueberry Jam by adding a 1/2c of 5% acidity vinegar (preferably an herb or spice infused one like anise or ginger) to 4 cups of blueberries and 3 cups of sugar.

Liquid pectin recipes often use more sugar than the powdered pectin recipes. Brent shared the following liquid pectin recipe for mint jelly.

1/2 cup vinegar

1 cupwater

1/2 cup mint leaves

green coloring

3 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup liquid pectin

Combine vinegar, water, mint leaves and enough coloring to give tint desired. Add sugar, stir, and bring to a boil. Add pectin at once, stirring constantly, and bring to a full boil for 1/2 minute. Strain off mint leaves and pour into glasses. (Makes about 6 6oz. jars)

Although the recipe calls for whole mint leaves, Joanne likes to chop them in order to release more flavor. We learned to layer several leaves and roll them up for easy slicing.

Not using coloring results in a pale, tannish jelly.

We also made a jam of gooseberries.

Many of our workshop participants asked about recipes using less sugar. After the workshop, Joanne checked her recipes and sent us the following. She reports that it is delicious!!

Low Sugar Apricot Jam (using kernels)

1 kg (or 2# plus a few) apricots

1 1/3 C sugar

¼ C water

2 T lemon juice (fresh if possible)

Use a heavy bottomed enamel or stainless steel pot (this recipe can burn easily). Melt sugar and water and bring to a boil and simmer until clear and slightly thickened.

Halve the apricots (twisting them apart is easier than cutting) and save 5 pits so you can crack them open (use a nutcracker or hammer) and remove the “kernel” inside the pit. These kernels have a very distinct almond flavor. Wrap the kernels in cheesecloth and add to the pot. Add half the apricots to the syrup/kernel mixture and simmer until the fruit is falling apart; then add the rest of the apricots and cook until they are almost falling apart. The cooking takes nearly an hour.

Add the lemon juice and cook for 5 more minutes. Remove the kernels in the cheesecloth and jar up.

NOTE: Each 8oz jar contained nearly a pound of fresh apricots when finished.