Kitchen on Mill Road: Making Jelly and Jam is Just Plum Satisfying

Kitchen on Mill Road: Making Jelly and Jam is Just Plum Satisfying:     It’s summer here in Silicon Valley. At one time this area was known as “The Valley of Heart’s Delight,” because of all the fruit orchard...

Making Jelly and Jam is Just Plum Satisfying

    It’s summer here in Silicon Valley. At one time this area was known as “The Valley of Heart’s Delight,” because of all the fruit orchards. Almost all the orchards are gone now but many homes still have fruit trees in their backyards…leftovers from those days or planted on purpose because of our climate. There is still one large, notable family fruit orchard near my townhouse. Very soon that will be gone too. In its place will be a large planned community. According to the model that is set up for the public to see in our local library, some of the fruit trees are to be saved around the perimeter of the development. Not quite the same as a whole orchard, bursting with clouds of white blossoms in the spring and in summer, covered with soft green leaves and heavy with fruit. At least this paradise isn’t going to be completely paved over. Just partly.
    A few days ago I was out and about shopping when my cell phone rang.
    “Hi Judi, it’s Norma. I have some plums for you from my tree. Can I bring them over?”
    “Oh, thank you, Norma,” I said,  “but I’m in Target right now. Could you leave them on my front porch?”
    “Sure. I will do that now. Bye bye.”
    When I returned to my townhouse, sure enough, there on my porch was a huge bag of beautiful ripe plums….10 or 15 pounds of them!

Norma's generous gift of beautiful ripe plums

There was no doubt in my mind what came next. Plum jam and jelly, of course. It had been almost a year to the day since I last made a batch of jelly and jam from the same luscious plums from the same tree in Norma’s backyard. The jam had turned out perfectly, sweet and tart. And the jelly, oh my. I had never seen such a gorgeous clear red color in my life. I loved seeing those ruby red jars standing there like little soldiers, just waiting to be spread on someone's toast.
    It’s been hot here this week but I had to start using those plums before they went bad. Would the jam be as tasty and tart as last year? And would the jelly jars glow like rubies on the shelf? Time to find out. Here’s how I did it.

For making jam or jelly you will need:
For each batch, about 3-5 lbs. fruit
5 lbs sugar
Pectin (powdered or liquid)
One 8-quart saucepan or pot for cooking jam or jelly
One large canning pot with metal insert for boiling jars, lids and rings and later processing the jam in a water bath.
For each batch, 8,  8-ounce jelly jars with lids and rings
Tongs
Wide-mouth funnel
Ladle
Lifter for lifting processed jars out of water bath.
(For making jelly  you will need a muslin bag for straining juice from cooked fruit.)

All this can be purchased at any hardware store or Target

8 Qt. pot for cooking the fruit or the juice

My monster canning pot. Also available at hardware stores

My handy dandy juice strainer doo dah.

Now let's get started.
Wash, rinse, and put 8, 8-ounce glass canning jars with lids and rings into a large pot making sure they are completely covered with water. Bring to a boil and then turn off heat.

Boiling the jars, lids and rings to sterilize them

Plum Jam
2 quarts fresh plums, pitted and chopped
7 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
1/2 teaspoon butter or margarine (to reduce foaming, if desired)
One box Sure-Jell Pectin
1. Put pitted and chopped plums and water into a large, 8-Quart pot. Bring to a boil and
then simmer for 5 minutes, covered.
2. Add the sugar and one box of pectin. Stirring frequently, bring back to a rolling boil that you cannot stir down and boil hard for one minute.

Boil the fruit, sugar and pectin one minute

3. Remove from heat and, using a metal spoon, remove as much foam as you can from the jam.
4. Using tongs, remove a  jar from the pot of hot water, pouring out any water. Set on paper towel and using a wide-mouthed funnel, ladle the hot jam into the jar, leaving a 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe rim with damp paper towel. Center lid on jar and apply ring and screw on fingertip tight.

Ladle the hot jam into the jar

Place lids and twist on rings.

5. When all jars are filled place them back in canner, adding enough water to cover the jars at least one inch. Bring water to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and, using a lifter, remove jars to cool on a tea towel or rack.

Processing the jam

Do not move the jars for 24 hours. Listen for the ping that indicates the jars are sealed. When they are cool check each one that the lid stays down. Note: Sometimes jam or jelly can take up to 2 weeks to fully gel.



Plum Jelly
1. The night before you want to make jelly, cut up 2 quarts plums and put fruit, skin and pits in a large covered pot and bring to a boil.
2. Simmer, covered, for 10 minutes and remove from heat. Ladle the cooked fruit into a dampened muslin bag you have put in a large pot, then closing the top of the bag, suspend it over the pot, letting the juice drip into the pot. Let it hang for at least 8 hours. Do not squeeze the bag. That would make the juice cloudy. In the morning, discard the fruit. Measure the juice and if needed, add a little water to make 4 cups juice.
3. Get your jars, lids, and rings ready as instructed above.
4. Combine 6-1/2 cups sugar with the juice 1/2 tsp. butter or margarine (to reduce foaming) and bring to a rolling boil that can’t be stirred down. Add one box of Sure Jell Pectin and bring back to a hard boil for one minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and skim foam if necessary.
5. Fill jars and process, following instructions for jam.

Aah, nine little red plum jam soldiers.

And just look at the color of the jelly!

Final note: Making jam or jelly may seem like a pack of trouble and require a lot of equipment but trust me, the satisfaction that comes with seeing all those beautiful jars of lusciousness lined up, ready to give a way as gifts or simply open and spread on your peanut butter sandwich, makes it all worth it.