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Thank you for all of your advice!! Really do appreciate it!
I am going to make tomato jam this weekend so I will see how that goes. I really get into canning and trying new recipes as well. I made some zucchini relish that my friends just raved over when I gave them each a 1/2 pint. One ladies brother tried it and ended up eating it straight out of the jar with a fork and ate the whole thing LOLOL
that sounds like how our salsa is received. I make juke relish as well, but we eat so little of it I only make it every few years when we have a good zucchini year. this was not one of them.
Cook books I love for canning, even though I mostly can from memory after 50 plus years of doing it:
Blue Ribbon Preserves by Linda Amendt and my very favorite which I have used probably over 100 times;
Farm Journals Freezing and canning. I think you have to buy it on line (amazon) used. It was originally copy written in 1978. I have published it a couple times as the old one gets just too dirty looking.
You're very welcome. Your zuke relish sounds good.
I haven't made any jam in several years so I'm thinking of doing some of that next year if all goes well. It's hard to get my hands on large quantities of fresh organic fruits, so I sometimes have to use frozen. I don't like doing that because it seems that it doesn't want to set up well. One year, I essentially made strawberry ice-cream topping because it was so loose. Still tasted good, and I did use it on ice cream.
We too have had jams not set well, we use it as syrup. I depend on fruit that isn't necessarily organic. We too would have trouble finding enough to make it worth our time and the price would be out of site.
You're very welcome. Your zuke relish sounds good.
I haven't made any jam in several years so I'm thinking of doing some of that next year if all goes well. It's hard to get my hands on large quantities of fresh organic fruits, so I sometimes have to use frozen. I don't like doing that because it seems that it doesn't want to set up well. One year, I essentially made strawberry ice-cream topping because it was so loose. Still tasted good, and I did use it on ice cream.
that sounds like how our salsa is received. I make juke relish as well, but we eat so little of it I only make it every few years when we have a good zucchini year. this was not one of them.
Cook books I love for canning, even though I mostly can from memory after 50 plus years of doing it:
Blue Ribbon Preserves by Linda Amendt and my very favorite which I have used probably over 100 times;
Farm Journals Freezing and canning. I think you have to buy it on line (amazon) used. It was originally copy written in 1978. I have published it a couple times as the old one gets just too dirty looking.
It is true that the zucchini relish doesn't get used all that much but it really is very good. I believe I got the recipe from "All Recipes"
I am going to try to pick up one of the cookbook/canning books you both mentioned. I have become quite the collector of recipes over the years. Some people collect stamps, comic books, etc.----I collect recipes and I don't know why. Who has time to make all of that stuff? LOLOLOLOL
That's a lot of tomatoes! Nice. It's a bit tiring to me because of my decade-long illness that I'm coming out of, but I do still like to can a lot. I'm so spoiled on my salsa that I don't have much of a choice since the storebought kind doesn't come remotely close and I cringe if/when I have to buy it. Lol. I'm kinda hoping that this year's haul will last for 2 years so I can take a break next year or can something else besides salsa and peppers. I did pickles one year and ended up throwing them all out because they were limp. I absolutely hate mushy pickles. I might try them again next year, except I would be adding calcium chloride to keep them crisp. I'm going to add it to my remaining peppers this year since I don't really like mushy peppers either.
I also did pickles. This is my first try at them. I had a canning recipe from my father that was called "Salty Sours" My Dad passed away about 6 years ago and now that I am getting back into canning, I found the recipe among the things I saved from him and decided I would try to make them. I did about 5 quarts so far. I sure hope they turn out!
Have you ever tried something called "Pickle Crisp"? I saw it at the store yesterday when I was picking up more jars. I think I will try it if I can any more pickles. Can't hurt right? LOL
Have a great weekend!
I am going to try to pick up one of the cookbook/canning books you both mentioned. I have become quite the collector of recipes over the years.
Another good one is "Small Batch Preserving" by Ellie Topp and Margaret Howard. It's nice for those times when you don't have much produce available and/or want to try something new or unique.
Quote:
Some people collect stamps, comic books, etc.----I collect recipes and I don't know why. Who has time to make all of that stuff? LOLOLOLOL
Have a nice weekend all!
Lol, me too. I have way too many cookbooks and printed recipes from the Internet. I'll probably never use them all.
You have a good weekend, too. Good luck with the jam.
We too have had jams not set well, we use it as syrup. I depend on fruit that isn't necessarily organic. We too would have trouble finding enough to make it worth our time and the price would be out of site.
That's a big reason why I don't make a lot of jam anymore. I have moved almost entirely away from food that isn't grown organically, so that means my choices are limited right now (until more organic farmers come on board).
I also did pickles. This is my first try at them. I had a canning recipe from my father that was called "Salty Sours" My Dad passed away about 6 years ago and now that I am getting back into canning, I found the recipe among the things I saved from him and decided I would try to make them. I did about 5 quarts so far. I sure hope they turn out!
Have you ever tried something called "Pickle Crisp"? I saw it at the store yesterday when I was picking up more jars. I think I will try it if I can any more pickles. Can't hurt right? LOL
Have a great weekend!
Yeah, Pickle Crisp is one of the brands of calcium chloride that I mentioned. We had to buy a different brand b/c the store didn't carry the Ball/Jardin PC. Same thing, though. The ingredients should say only calcium chloride. I wish I had known about it when I made pickles that one year.
Another good one is "Small Batch Preserving" by Ellie Topp and Margaret Howard. It's nice for those times when you don't have much produce available and/or want to try something new or unique.
Lol, me too. I have way too many cookbooks and printed recipes from the Internet. I'll probably never use them all.
You have a good weekend, too. Good luck with the jam.
Just happened to have the tomato jam recipe handy -- it's from the Better Homes and Gardens "America's All-Time Favorite Canning and Preserving Recipes" book:
Tomato-Basil Jam -- 5 half-pint jars
2 1/2 pounds (6 large) fully ripe tomatoes
1/4 C lemon juice
3 T snipped fresh basil
1/4 C sugar
1 package (3T) powdered low-sugar pectin
2 3/4 sugar*
Finely chop cored and peeled tomatoes. Measure 3 1/2 cups* Heat the tomatoes to boiling in a 6-quart pot. Reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes.
Add lemon juice and basil. Combine 1/4 C sugar with pectin, and stir into the tomato mixture. Bring to a full rolling boil over high heat, stirring constantly. Stir in the rest of the sugar, return to a full rolling boil. Boil hard for 1 minute, stirring constantly.
Remove from heat and skim off foam.
Ladle into 1/2-pint jars, leaving 1/4" headspace. Wipe jar rims and adjust caps. Process in boiling water bath for 10 minutes.
*You can reduce the sugar, but it will reduce the volume of the final product. I usually use 1 1/2 to 2 cups.
I've tinkered the heck out of this recipe -- omitted the basil, substituted lime juice for lemon juice, added dried hot chile, or any combination thereof.
If you want low-sugar jams, you can look into Pomona pectin and the recipe books written specifically for using that type of pectin. You shouldn't reduce the amount of sugar in the Ball recipes since they are designed and tested for safety with a certain amount. However, there is a low-sugar section in the book which calls for the no-sugar-needed pectin in the jam/jelly recipes (which is different than Pomona's).
There are several problems with this paragraph.
The first is that the amount of sugar in a jam or jelly recipe has nothing to do with the safety of the end product. Safety with jam and jelly is ensured by proper processing for 10 minutes in a boiling water bath. Since there is no danger of botulism forming in an acidic product like fruit jam (and tomato and peach jams add lemon juice to increase acidity), the relatively short processing period kills molds and other organisms that tend to spoil jam that isn't properly processed (remember finding mold on top of the jam Mom sealed with wax?).
Secondly, the amount of sugar in a low-sugar jam recipe is absolutely flexible, even according to the instructions on the jar of the Ball low-sugar pectin itself. Low-sugar pectin uses calcium to help the product reach the gelling point, and sugar is not needed.
I rarely use more than a quarter cup or so of sugar in my low-sugar jams, adding sugar only to preserve the color of the fruit.
However, if you're using regular pectin, you need to use the amount of sugar called for in the recipe because the sugar and the pectin work together to reach the gelling point. Without the proper amount of sugar, your product may never gel. Again, this has nothing to do with the safety of the product.
Misinformation such as the quoted post is why it's important to double-check any information you read on the internet with tested recipes.
Last edited by Ohiogirl81; 09-23-2016 at 04:44 PM..
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Really do appreciate it! 
