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Tuesday 4 July 2017

Gooseberry Jam


It is all go around here with so many things ripening up in the garden ! I have been ignoring the gooseberries as they are so hard to pick without getting pricked by the thorns ! However, at the weekend I noticed that some of them were now past their best, going all squashy on the bush and that seemed so wasteful so yesterday we got out there and picked and picked. Yes, we did get scratched pretty badly at times but came away with albs of fruit which I think is a record for our gooseberry bushes. Then I spent all evening making jam. so the recipe below is for a large quantity of fruit. You can easily adapt it for just a pound of fruit by dividing all the quantities by 4. The jam will set really easily as gooseberries contain lots of pectin and don't worry if it goes pink when you cook it as that is normal for some varieties of gooseberry !

4lbs gooseberries
4lbs sugar
2 pints water
8 -10 one pound jars with lids

Top and tail the fruit and place in a very large pan with the water. Heat very slowly so that the skins on the berries soften. Add the sugar and again heat very slowly to allow all the sugar to dissolve. Bring to a rolling boil and boil until mixture reaches setting point at 220F or after 5 -10 minutes boiling time trty the 'wrinkle' test with a saucer you placed in the freezer.

I made 10lbs of jam with a bowl and half a jar left over to have on this morning's toast. It was delicious, worth all those scratches and at a cost of just over 30p a jar including sugar and fuel, a bargain !

14 comments:

  1. How on earth can you eat that amount of jam?

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    1. Oh Anonymous do you not eat at all.Perhaps some jam would sweeten you up.

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  2. This is enough jam for a year, so it works out at just under a pound a month which is actually quite a small amount per person and it also allows us to give some away as gifts.

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  3. WE had lots of gooseberry bushes at the smallholding and I usually picked around 200lb which sold at the gate as quick as I could pick them! As you say a scratchy job but it was worth it for the income.

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    1. Wow ! 200lb, I am really impressed ! That must have been a huge job !

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  4. I have never eaten a gooseberry or tried gooseberry jam! Just never fancied it. Raspberry jam is a different story though! Love it! We have a jam making competition up here in Scotland called the Jampionships! Great name I think. Kindest regards, Maureen

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    1. Yes, they don't look like much on the bush but cooked taste great ! You're right about raspberries those are our favourite so usually get eaten before we can make jam ! Love the name Jampionships !

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  5. Pink gooseberry jam is just magic, enjoy every spoonful.

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    1. Thanks Pam, I hope you get some tasty homemade jam too !

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  6. My Mum always made strawberry and gooseberry jam as our staple when we were children. The gooseberries contain enough pectin to make sure the strawberry jam sets and she grew the fruit in the garden. I have planted gooseberry bushes so that I can follow her example in a few years when they are fruiting well

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    1. Yes, gooseberry and strawberry is a great combination, I hope that your bushes are growing well !

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    2. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  7. I've never seen or eaten these...Can you describe the taste?

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