Canning and jams!

My parents, much to my mom’s chagrin, have a serious plum problem. They have one plum tree in the backyard of their San Francisco home that manages to produce more fruit than I thought was possible. My mom is very displeased with this latest infestation and is unable to keep up with the dropping fruits. I decided to take the infiltration as a personal challenge and, long having wanted to attempt jam making, decided this was the perfect opportunity. After collecting several dozen plums over a couple of days, perusing the interwebs for jam-making tips, and visiting the local hardware store for mason jars, I decided I was ready.

My recipe was quite simple and drawn from the collective wisdom of a couple of websites, including Pick Your Own and Farmgal. After washing the fruits and cutting off the mushiest parts, I removed their skins by quickly immersing the fruits in boiling water (this breaks apart the skin for easy removal). If they are too hot to peel you can place them in a bath of ice water right after boiling.

After peeling the fruits I pitted and roughly chopped them into the juicy pulpy mash pictured above. The few dozens plums I had harvested gleaned roughly six cups of the chopped mash. In a pot I combined the plums, sugar (about three cups) and cooked for a few minutes. In another pot I mixed one packet of SureJell pectin with 1/2 cup of water and brought to a boil, then added this mixture to the plums. My measurements were not particularly exact and I made the mistake of trying to combine recipes, so I was left with a boiling and foaming mash on the stove that was not getting firm the way it was supposed to. I decided to deal with my uncooperating plums by adding more pectin (about half of another packet), which seemed to do the trick for me. After the plums were the right consistency I packed them into the mason jars (which should be washed thoroughly), leaving about a quarter of an inch at the top.

The final part of the canning is the part that always seemed intimidating to me, where websites and books tell you to buy large canning boilers and special tongs to remove the sealed mason jars. I decided I was not going to heavily invest in the whole canning business and figured I could make do with a large pot and some regular kitchen utensils, which seemed to work just fine for me. After filling the mason jars, you put the lid on first and then the sealing bands (they come with the jars when you buy them). Then you place in boiling water, making sure they are covered with a couple inches of water, and boil for six to seven minutes. Then remove and voila! They are done. And you have delicious jam that can be kept for up to a year.

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