I love making marmalade and all sorts of jams and jellies too. There is something almost magical in being able to preserve the fruits of the garden, or a few of the precious wild bilberries that grow in the lane nearby, to enjoy at a later date. Something almost ritual too in the measuring and stirring and testing, the polishing of jars and storing them away and simple pleasure in the eating. My guide is a book that belonged to my mother and is older than me. Published in 1947, 'The Complete Book of Home Food Preservation' by Cyril Grange F.R.H.S. gives detailed descriptions of all parts of the process. Some parts, like the meat and fish chapters, have been rendered more or less obsolete by later inventions, but the jam making part is very well worn
Yes, very aware that the sugar acts as the preservative, but I only make about a jar, or a jar and a half, of jam at a time, so just use enough sugar to taste, I keep it in the fridge and it’s all gone in under a fortnight. We don’t grow any fruit ourselves, so I buy it in season, including punnets from the honesty box at the farm down the road, and freeze it until I’m in the mood to make a batch.
Oh in my previous message I got it wrong. I use 1.5k sugar / 1.5 liter water (for 1k of Seville oranges) - what I erroneously wrote was 0.75k sugar / 1.5 liter water.
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My guide is a book that belonged to my mother and is older than me. Published in 1947, 'The Complete Book of Home Food Preservation' by Cyril Grange F.R.H.S. gives detailed descriptions of all parts of the process. Some parts, like the meat and fish chapters, have been rendered more or less obsolete by later inventions, but the jam making part is very well worn