Red currant jam

    When it comes to the harvesting of fruits, it is the garden who decides.... not you. All the rain we have been having this summer has made my currant bushes produce a lot of berries. A day or so ago I looked at them closely and saw that this was the time to use them, or they would spoil.

So many berries, ripe for harvest

Roland showing off how many berries we picked

    Making the jam did not take very long, picking the berries took all day, but it is fun. One of our  neighbour was cutting his grass, he looked over his edge and said we could also pick his berries if we wanted. Almost everyone in our area seems to have a red currant, or raspberry bush or two, but most people do not seem to make jams, they just go to waste. Some do freeze them, but the old fashion art of canning for the winter seems to be hobby, more than the duty of garden owners.

   I had been saving glass jars in anticipation of the jam making season, of course I only saved jars that had been used for honey, jam, or other mild content - Not pickles, or jalapenos as residues on the lid might have an effect on my jams.

    Here is the recipe I used : http://www.davidlebovitz.com/2011/06/red-currant-jam-recipe/

    It was easy and straight to the point, I did use less sugar, about 800 g per liter of juice. The jam set perfectly, and I now have 9 jars that will last up to a year if kept in a cool, dark place, and one jar that had not gotten air tight - this one went in the fridge and will keep quite nicely there.

   I did not use his upside-down method, when I make jams I use an old method that I read about in an American books, and have used it since I was 18 years old and it works every time to make airtight jars.

   - Only use jars with undamaged lids ! Wash them, and put them in a pot of boiling water ( not boiled, it has to keep boiling to sterilise them ) Take them out carefully with a metal tang, or two forks and let them dry upside down, and slightly elevated ( so the water can run out ) on a pair of clean dish towels. I usually put a couple forks under the lids and pots, they need to be sterilised and free from water.

   - When the jam is cooked, right away fill the jars to the top, and screw on the lids tight. If a little drips on the side it is no problem, it simply means that it was perfectly filled.

   - Don't touch them, or move them till they are completely cooled down ( this will take quite a few hours ) When they are cold, check the lids, if the lid in indented the suction has worked, if it isn't then put that jar in the fridge, and enjoy it right away.
    Wipe off drips with a wet cloth, and store the jars in a cool, dry, dark place. They should last about a year.

   The reason this works, is that in the cooling process the jams compacts, and make a suction, thus your jar becomes air tight.

I used a simple metal sieve, and two pots to separate the seeds, and peels from the thick juice, it wasn't that messy

Be careful, it is really pink and will stain !

Jars cooling