What Are You Preserving, and How Are You Doing It? (2016–)

ninagluck · October 30, 2016

more than one year

Anna N · October 30, 2016

Apple-Blackberry jelly. I know. I know. But the blackberries from California were very cheap and I needed something for my morning muffin. And it kept me out of the pool halls for a few hours.

Anna N · October 30, 2016

Two tiny jars of the jalapeño mustard that @Shelby linked to.

**Shelby** · October 30, 2016

7 minutes ago, Anna N said:

Two tiny jars of the jalapeño mustard that @Shelby linked to.

YES! Do you like it? I'm having trouble not using it on everything. I seem to be obsessed.

And your jelly is beautiful.

You've been a busy girl today!

Anna N · October 30, 2016

11 minutes ago, Shelby said:

YES! Do you like it? I'm having trouble not using it on everything. I seem to be obsessed.

And your jelly is beautiful.

You've been a busy girl today!

Thank you.

I wish I had paid more attention to your later comments or even to my own instinct as I poured the sugar in. It is sweeter than I would've hoped for but I still think I am going to enjoy it. And it is neither difficult nor expensive to make so I could easily do it again, however, I would be careful the next time because this did catch a little bit!

**ElsieD** · October 30, 2016

What a coincidence! I made some of this today as well. Anna and I must have scaled down the recipe by the same amount.

**Shelby** · October 30, 2016

I should have been more vocal about the sugar. But, I will say that my peppers are SO hot that the sweet needs to be there for me to cut it. The first batch was sweet but still hot...the second is less sweet and hotter lol. My husband prefers the second batch. I like both.

I think other flavors might be fun using this recipe ...it's so easy and cans up so well.

blue_dolphin · October 31, 2016

My pyracantha jelly experiment was interesting.

My harvest:

It took me around an hour and a half of picking and washing (whilst watching a Call the Midwife marathon) to yield this, a little over 2 lbs of picked, washed fruits:

The are technically not berries, but pommes, like apples. Apparently, the seeds inside (like apple seeds) can be toxic to humans if consumed in considerable quantity. I will not be using the seeds.

These were to be simmered, covered, with 4 cups of water and a small, chopped green apple (for pectin) for an hour or until the fruits are very soft. It took closer to 2 hrs for these guys to get soft. At this point, the fruits were a faded, yellow-orange color. I forgot to take a picture.

This was to be strained in a jelly bag for 30 min, with a predicted yield of 1 cup of liquid. I got 3 cups so I had to reduce it down to 1 cup before adding the sugar and cooking it to the gel point.

My yield - 3 pretty little 4 oz jars:

Now, sadly, it didn't set up properly, so I've got 3 pretty jars of ruby-colored pyracantha syrup rather than jelly . It's my own fault. I checked the temp and it was good but with such a small volume in the pan, I may have had the thermometer too close to the bottom and I didn't do a cold plate test.

It's OK though, I can still use this instead of maple syrup or honey in a vinaigrette or a glaze for chicken, salmon or pork. It's tart, sweet and has a very slight astringency. I was expecting more bitterness but I don't taste that.

Rather time consuming for the small yield but there are worse ways to spend a drizzly Sunday afternoon than making pyracantha ~~jelly~~ syrup and watching Call the Midwife

**Shelby** · October 31, 2016

7 minutes ago, blue_dolphin said:

My pyracantha jelly experiment was interesting.

My harvest:

It took me around an hour and a half of picking and washing (whilst watching a Call the Midwife marathon) to yield this, a little over 2 lbs of picked, washed fruits:

The are technically not berries, but pommes, like apples. Apparently, the seeds inside (like apple seeds) can be toxic to humans if consumed in considerable quantity. I will not be using the seeds.

These were to be simmered, covered, with 4 cups of water and a small, chopped green apple (for pectin) for an hour or until the fruits are very soft. It took closer to 2 hrs for these guys to get soft. At this point, the fruits were a faded, yellow-orange color. I forgot to take a picture.

This was to be strained in a jelly bag for 30 min, with a predicted yield of 1 cup of liquid. I got 3 cups so I had to reduce it down to 1 cup before adding the sugar and cooking it to the gel point.

My yield - 3 pretty little 4 oz jars:

Now, sadly, it didn't set up properly, so I've got 3 pretty jars of ruby-colored pyracantha syrup rather than jelly . It's my own fault. I checked the temp and it was good but with such a small volume in the pan, I may have had the thermometer too close to the bottom and I didn't do a cold plate test.

It's OK though, I can still use this instead of maple syrup or honey in a vinaigrette or a glaze for chicken, salmon or pork. It's tart, sweet and has a very slight astringency. I was expecting more bitterness but I don't taste that.

Rather time consuming for the small yield but there are worse ways to spend a drizzly Sunday afternoon than making pyracantha ~~jelly~~ syrup and watching Call the Midwife

It sure is a pretty color. Frustrating to do all of that work and then have syrup--I know, that happened to me during a batch of sand hill plum jelly...I have syrup.

You certainly have more patience than I do

blue_dolphin · October 31, 2016

4 minutes ago, Shelby said:

Frustrating to do all of that work and then have syrup--I know, that happened to me during a batch of sand hill plum jelly...I have syrup.

You certainly have more patience than I do

It's OK, I was mostly curious about what it would taste like and I learned that much. If I was making a larger batch of jelly, I would have been more careful with a set test but I was in too much of a lazy-playing around mood. I might also have been tipped off by a recipe I found on line that said to add twice as much pectin to a pyracantha jelly to make it set.

Should I venture into pyracantha jelly again, I'll use pectin rather than depending on an apple.

Wayne · November 2, 2016

These are some of the fermentation/pickling projects both finished and in progress:

From the left:

i/ A completed whole lacto-fermented hot peppers (mix of ripe Aji Limo, green Jalapenos, ripe Habaneros, ripe Cherry Bombs and green and ripe Portugal Hot).

ii/ A 2 day old ongoing lacto-fermentation of a mix of green Habaneros, Cherry Bombs, Aji Limos, Portugal Hots, garlic and palm sugar (I'm not a big fan of green hot sauces but since I needed to harvest I'll play with this one. Probably finish with mango and ....to get a fruity component into the sauce to balance the vegetal flavour).

iii/ A completed lacto-fermentation of green beans with garlic and dill.

iv/ @HungryChris refrigerator green tomato pickle (modified with garlic, mustard seed, black peppercorns and tarragon.

v/ Refrigerator pickle daikon and watermelon radish with garlic, mustard seed, black peppercorns and Aji Limo hot peppers.

**ElsieD** · November 2, 2016

Couple of pints of Scotch Bonnet hot sauce. Used my ThermoMix on the balcony to keep the fumes out of the house.

kayb · November 3, 2016

pickled jalapenos.jpg

Pickled jalapenos. I used the same brine I'd use for bread and butter pickles. Thought a sweet-hot would be good.

**Shelby** · November 11, 2016

Welp, sigh. Ronnie (stupidly lol) left my car unlocked while visiting his mother.

I told my brother in law thanks for the peppers .....he responded saying that he was just paying me for all of the zucchini that I so graciously have provided.

I am off to google to find MORE new and exciting ways to can these suckers.

Edited November 11, 2016 by Shelby (log)

FauxPas · November 11, 2016

A few small batches I have done recently. A low-sugar raspberry-blackberry jam, our favourite red hamburger relish and a chunky mango chutney. I only made two jars of each, which will still last the two of us for a while.

**FrogPrincesse** · November 14, 2016

Last Friday I successfully converted 3 large pineapple quinces into a quince marmalade that I am going to be selling at a small market together with some other homemade goodies. Thanks @teonzofor sending detailed instructions. In the end I used a much simplified version from @David Lebovitz's Ready for Dessert. Still, it took more than 3 hours from beginning to end... not a fast recipe by any means! But it looks pretty and I believe it should taste pretty good. The yield was 6 8-oz jars, plus one that is almost full that I will use for samples.

Grating all the quinces

Cooking them in a sugar syrup (beginning)

Towards the end of the cooking process

Jarred and still warm

The next morning

Okanagancook · November 14, 2016

Aren't those copper pots amazing at making jam?! I have one myself and I bought one as a kitchen warming gift for a good friend who makes a ton of jams and jellies.

**FrogPrincesse** · November 14, 2016

Just now, Okanagancook said:

Aren't those copper pots amazing at making jam?! I have one myself and I bought one as a kitchen warming gift for a good friend who makes a ton of jams and jellies.

It was my first time using one, and it worked like a charm! No hot spots... very even heating.

And I got a fabulous deal because this was on sale on amazon for a very brief time at 35% off, and I managed to snatch one... Very happy with my purchase. It's the Mauviel 11 quart and it's a really good size, less bulky than I imagined.

Okanagancook · November 15, 2016

That was a great deal.

Wright's Copper Cream makes clean up very easy. I had a different copper cleaner before Wright's and it wasn't nearly as easy to use.

**FrogPrincesse** · November 16, 2016

I finally tried the quince jelly I made a few weeks ago (before I made the quince marmalade), and that stuff is amazing. It's a little too runny but OMG the flavors are divine. It's quince flavored with a hint of cinnamon, orange & lemon peel, and cardamom. I will make this again for sure.

JoNorvelleWalker · November 16, 2016

I just wish I could find quince here to buy.

**Shelby** · November 16, 2016

Ok, so I have my 190 proof Everclear.

I'm nervous lol.

So, truly, no fridge is needed?

Talkin' eggnog here.

JoNorvelleWalker · November 17, 2016

5 hours ago, Shelby said:

Ok, so I have my 190 proof Everclear.

I'm nervous lol.

So, truly, no fridge is needed?

Talkin' eggnog here.

Be careful or you'll cook your eggs...ask me how I know. Scrambled eggnog has to be experienced.

**Shelby** · November 19, 2016

On October 29, 2016 at 10:09 AM, ninagluck said:

the vessel doesn't matter @Shelby ;-) my recipe: beat 5 eggyolks with 1 tbsp vanilla sugar for 5 min. pour 125 ml 96% alcohol over 250 g sugar and stir, put that to the eggs, beat for further 5 min. mix in 250 ml cream and 125 ml fullfat milk, mix to incorporate, done!

Hi Nina!

I'm getting ready to make this....and came to a screeching halt. I had assumed that the TBSP of vanilla sugar was granulated sugar.....but a quick google shows it might be like what I call powdered sugar. Is that correct?