Bountiful Basket Recipe #2 - Plum Jam

So I did it. I finally learned how to can... and did it! I successfully did my first (and second!) round of canning the other day with some of the wonderful fruits I got from Bountiful Baskets. So let's start with my first jam... Plum Jam!

Note: Before canning you should santize and heat the cans. I do this by putting them in my dishwasher with a bit a detergent and turning heat dry on. The jars NEED to be hot when you pour in your jam or else the cool glass will crack when it's filled with hot jam.

Recipe:

Ingredients:
3 Cups of Plums (I used all 19 that I had and it ended up being a little more than 3 cups)
1/2 Cup of Water
1 Tbs Lemon Juice

3 Cups Sugar* (I actually used 4 but I recommend only using 3)

1 Package of Powdered Pectin (I used Sure-Jell)

Directions:

-Chop and pit the plums. The larger the plum chunks the chunkier your jam will be. If you want your jam to be more jelly-like make the pieces smaller. If you live in an area where plum trees will thrive try saving the pits and see if you can get it to grow!

-Combine the plums, water, and lemon juice in a pot and bring to a boil while stiring constantly. Then reduce the heat, cover, and let simmer for 10 minutes (longer if you want the jam to be less chunky), stir occasionally.

-Combine the sugar and pectin in a bowl and mix it well. Add the mixture to the pot and combine thoroughly with the plums. Increase heat and bring the mixture back to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil for 10-15 or until you get the texture you desire.

-Remove from heat and allow to cool for about 5 minutes. Scoop the foam off the top if desired.

-Scoop the jam into canning jars and wipe the rims and threads of the can to remove jam (to reduce spoilage). Secure with lids and bands.

-In your canning pot, bring water to a boil and then place the jars onto the raised rack or using whatever canning method you desire. I use this Ball Canning Kit (HIGHLY recommend it! It did not melt or even soften at all!) Make sure the water covers the jars with 1-2 inches of water. Boil between 5-10 minute (the higher your elevation, the more you need to boil the jars).

-Remove jars from the boiling water and set on a cooling rack to cool for 12-18 hours. After the cooling period you can test the lids by pressing in on the top. If the lids move up and down they are not secure and you need to refridgerate and use these cans right away. Any others can be stored and kept for up to a year!

*You can substitute the sugar for honey if you prefer a sugar-free mixture. I haven't tried this yet but I'm told about one cup of honey would work for the recipe.


My Results: FANTASTIC! It's a little *too* sweet (which is why I lowered the sugar amount here) but so delicious. Tart and great on toast. I hope I get many more plums from Bountiful Baskets in the future because Plum Jam is my favorite! All in all a very successful first canning experience. I was inspired enough to go for round two in the same night. Come back soon to see my recipe for Mango-Strawberry Jam!  http://www.ecofriendlyandfrugal.com/search/label/Recipes-%20Canning

Mango Strawberry Jam

This was my second round of canning and it wasn't as successful as my first round, unfortunately. Though the Jam tastes great, it was a bit runnier than the plum jam I had made the same night. I believe this is due to the amount of sugar I used since I cut it down a bit due to the sweetness of the Plum Jam. But, I don't know enough about making jams yet to know this for sure. I will say, though, it tastes WONDERFUL!

Note: Before canning you should santize and heat the cans. I do this by putting them in my dishwasher with a bit a detergent and turning heat dry on. The jars NEED to be hot when you pour in your jam or else the cool glass will crack when it's filled with hot jam.

Recipe:

Ingredients:
1 Mango
1 Box of Strawberries
1/2 Cup of Water
1 Tbs Lemon Juice
3 Cups Sugar*
1 Package of Powdered Pectin (I used Sure-Jell)

Directions:
-Chop up the mango and the strawberries. The larger the fruit chunks the chunkier your jam will be. If you want your jam to be more jelly-like make the pieces smaller.

-Combine the mangos, water, and lemon juice in a pot and bring to a boil while stiring constantly. Then reduce the heat, cover, and let simmer for 10 minutes (longer if you want the jam to be less chunky), stir occasionally.

-Add the Pectin to the fruit and stir well. Then stir in the sugar. Increase heat and bring the mixture back to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil for 10-15 or until you get the texture you desire.

-Remove from heat and allow to cool for about 5 minutes. Scoop the foam off the top if desired.

-Scoop the jam into canning jars leaving a 1/4 inch space from the top of the jar and wipe the rims and threads of the can to remove jam (to reduce spoilage). Secure with lids and bands.

-In your canning pot, bring water to a boil and then place the jars onto the raised rack or using whatever canning method you desire. Make sure the water covers the jars with 1-2 inches of water. Boil between 5-10 minute (the higher your elevation, the more you need to boil the jars, I am in Phoenix and usually boil for 8 minutes).

-Remove jars from the boiling water and set on a cooling rack to cool for 12-18 hours. After the cooling period you can test the lids by pressing in on the top. If the lids move up and down they are not secure and you need to refridgerate and use these jars right away. Any others can be stored and kept for up to a year!

*You can substitute the sugar for Agave if you prefer a sugar-free mixture. I haven't tried this yet but I'm told about one cup of Agave for every cup of fruit works. It will yield less jam than sugar, though.

My Results: Great tasting but a little runny. I think if I had boiled it longer after adding the sugar it would have jellied up a bit more. However, it still tastes wonderful and I look forward to getting more strawberries soon so I can prepare it again.   http://www.ecofriendlyandfrugal.com/2010/09/bountiful-basket-recipe-3-mango.html

Canning- Does It Save Money?

 My blog is called Eco-Friendly AND Frugal. I started writing this blog because I hated the misconception that "going green" was expensive. I haven't gone into this aspect of my blog lately so I wanted to get back to it now that I have gotten into canning and ask the question- Does Canning Save Money?

The simple answer is yes. It not only saves money versus buying jams, jellies, pickles, and sauces in the store, but it also helps you use your fruits and veggies to their fullest extent. But that's just the simple answer for someone in *my* situation. I get lots of fruits and veggies that I couldn't possibly eat in a week (or evevn 2) because of Bountiful Baskets. I don't want this wonderful produce to go to waste so canning will help me preserve these fruits and veggies and save me money. If you have a garden canning is another great way to preserve all of the wonderful produce you are able to grow yourself without them going to waste. My sister produce jars and jars of raspberry jam every year using the raspberries straight from her garden and they are amazing! I call it Amanda Jam and everytime I go home I attack my parents' fridge looking for it.

However, if you buy all of your produce in the grocery store it is best if you only buy what you think you will eat and not spend more money to buy canning produce. You CAN, of course! I wouldn't judge you for this! But doing it this way may not make canning cheaper than buying the products in the store. It will mean you have flavor and quality control in your court and will be able to control the ingredients, but money wise it will probably not pay out for you.

Today we're going to pretend you all get your product from a co-op, CSA, or your own garden and you must use it up before it goes bad! For the cost breakdown I went to Amazon, selected items that were eligible for free Super Savings shipping (when you purchase over $25 of merchandise then shipping is free) and picked the most affordable option.

Start-up Costs:

-12 Quart Stock Pot $12.99 (you can find this at Goodwill, too!)

-Canning Rack $5.95

-5-Piece Canning Kit $10.27*

-Canning Jars $10 (estimated as Amazon does not have a good selection)

Start-up Total: $40

*You do not need to buy a kit, really all I found I use is the jar lifter and the canning funnel which I feel you DO need. However, buying this kit is cheaper than buying these two items seperately.


Optional Variations:
-21-1/2-Quart Water-Bath Canner with Rack $24.95
You'd still need a utensil kit (the jar lifter and funnel specifically) and jars but this pot will allow you to can more jars at once than the kit I listed above. Total cost with the utensil kit will be about $45.

-Ball Canning Discovery Kit $15

This replaces the canning rack and includes 3 jars. You will still need a pot, utensil kit and extra jars. This is the kit that I use (it was a gift) and I love it! It makes canning so simple and I really appreciated the recipe book and instructions when I canned for the first time yesterday. HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT! This kit would also cost about $45 start-up. However, my kit came with a coupon for $2 off of Ball and Kerr jars and $2 off Ball's Blue Canning Book.

-Ball Home Canning Kit $69.99

If you are not one to pick and piece your kit together and would just rather get it all at once, then this is the kit for you! It include 21 Quart Waterbath Canner, Canning Jar Rack, 6 Pint Jars, 6 Collection Elite Lids, 1 Ball Blue Canning Instruction Book, 1 Jar Lifter, 1 Lid Wand, 1 Canning Funnel, and 1 Bubble Freer. Plus you'll get $10 in coupons (probably for more jars and recipe books). It's a great kit and will be everything you need besides the produce!

So let's just say you spent $45 in start-up costs. And now let's pretend you want to make jam because... well, that's what I like to make and what I have (a very little bit of) experience with. I spend $15/week on produce and this last week got enough produce to make (all jars are 8oz):

4 Jars of Plum Jam
5 Jars of Strawberry Mango Jam (recipe coming soon!)
3 Jars of Mango Banana Cinnamon Jam (recipe coming soon!)
4 Jars of Mango Tangerine Jam (recipe coming soon!)
8 Jars of Mango Jam (recipe coming soon!)

I also found a sale on the jars- $6 for a dozen. I had a $2 off coupon from my kit so I spent $10 on all of the jars I needed. I used Pectin in each recipe for a total of 6 packasges which I spent $6 on. So my start-up costs totalled about $75 for the full kit, utensil, jars, pectin, fruits, and other ingredients (not including the fact that my Ball kit was a gift).

1 jar of jam at the Farmer's Market is $5. At the grocery store it's $3.50 for similar ingredients (but with more additives). So 24 jars of jam would cost me $120 at the Farmer's Market and $84 at the grocery store. So right away, I've already saved money! But as the years go on all I will be spending money on is the produce, ingredients, and jars (jars are reusable, but since I plan on giving a lot of jars away I expect I will need to buy more eventually).

So yes, canning saves you money if you already have a lot of produce available to you. It will still probably save you *some* money if you go out and buy produce in the grocery store (or farmer's market!) but not quite as much. But you get the benefit of controlling what goes in your food! This is PRICELESS!! Knowing what you eat and where it comes from is such a valuable thing for you and your family that it's worth all of the costs right there!

I hope this (really long) article has helped you decide whether or not you want to get into canning. I found it extremely fun and easy to do so anyone can do it, I believe. As long as you can chop food and boil water, you can do this! It's a great parent/child project and the results make great gifts!
  http://www.ecofriendlyandfrugal.com/search/label/Recipes-%20Canning