Joy of Jam Making

I can remember as a child, my mother each summer used to bring out the preserving pan and invest in pounds and pounds of sugar to begin her annual 'jam fest'. She'd save her jam jars from year to year, invest in the little 'jam kits' - waxed disc, small elastic band, cellophane top and jar label - and buy sugar by the ton.

Dad would bring in the fruit from his allotment - raspberries, strawberries, blackcurrants and gooseberries - and Mum would then spend a whole evening sweating over the hob. She'd end up with jars and jars of various jams, all nicely labelled which were placed in the pantry to keep us going right through until the following summer.

Over recent months I've become increasingly aware that we're wasting far too much food so decided it was about time I went back to basics and became more eco friendly and more health conscious, so apart from taking up veg growing, I've now taken up jam making too.

As my family consists of me, my partner and my cat, Cleo (who tends not to eat much jam!) I really don't need pounds and pounds of the stuff hanging around for years but you'll be pleased to know that, even if you're on your own or your family just don't eat huge amounts of the stuff, you can still make your own.

It all began when I had about 1 lb of raspberries left over which were starting to go a little bit mushy. I dug out my recipe books and found that, although the recipes tended to involve huge amounts of fruit and sugar, on average you needed 1 lb of fruit to 1 lb of sugar, so here's how I went about using my raspberries.

Take 1 lb of raspberries and 1 lb of sugar.

Place in a pan and bring to the boil, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon to prevent burning. Simmer until the mixture thickens and then gently push the back of the wooden spoon against the surface of the jam mixture.

If the mixture wrinkles then remove the pan from the heat, take a small amount of the mixture and place it on a saucer. Leave to cool and then test with a metal tea spoon (push the back of the teaspoon against the jam). If, when the teaspoon loses contact with the mixture on the saucer, the mixture stays in its position and does not run back across the saucer, then it's ready to be placed in jars. If it doesn't hold, then just scrape the small sample amount back into the pan, reheat for a further 5-10 minutes and go back through the same process.

I've found that the above works for raspberries, strawberries, blackcurrants, gooseberries, plums and apricots.

If you're having problems getting the jam to set, then try adding just a few drops of lemon juice to the mix, or if the jam seems to be a bit too thick then just add a small amount of water to the mix. I tend to add water by the dessertspoon just to ensure I don't overdo it.

For my first attempt I didn't bother with the 'jam making kits' of wax disc, etc but just put the mixture into a small plastic container and kept it in my fridge as I knew it wouldn't last long enough to go off, but if you're planning to keep it for a while, I would recommend that you invest in the proper kits to ensure the jam has a longer 'shelf life'.

It's a great way of using up small amounts of left over fruit and it's so much tastier and healthier than the shop bought varieties which tend to rely on less natural additives to preserve/set the jam. It's wonderfully satisfying knowing you've made your own jam and I found the whole process thoroughly therapeutic - from the gentle stirring of the mixture on a warm summer evening to the fantastic smell, reminiscent of my childhood days.

I've had so much fun 'jam making in miniature' that I'm now planning to expand my food preserving and maybe try getting to grips with chutneys, oils, vinegars and possibly even try pickling some more unusual veg .... so watch this space!!