Posted: Thu Jul 21, 05 2:43 pm Post subject: cherries
Never thought I would have all this trouble...cherries everywhere..freezer full...also just made a large cherry Rumtoph..took 2 bottles of rum...not really into jams and jellies...do you think cherries can be preserved in large Kilners..or can anyone suggest ways of using them up.Got several sweet jars.
Bottling can be done. They make a cracking wine, a rather special ice cream (along with little bits of chocolate), and they dry okayish. All depends on what you like best.
Bumper year for cherries.
judith
Joined: 16 Dec 2004 Posts: 22789 Location: Montgomeryshire
Posted: Thu Jul 21, 05 2:47 pm Post subject:
You can definitely bottle cherries. I can look up the details if you need them. Or perhaps freeze them cooked down for use in pies and crumbles.
Nice problem to have!
Posted: Thu Jul 21, 05 3:45 pm Post subject: cherries
Thank you for the replies...problem is freezer full and desperate to find ways of using 'em. Drying i never thought of Cab, and only have a microwave and slow cooker..is there a cheap way to de-hydrate them. Presently thinking of making cherry wine in a large container aka brewing system..Still trees to come into full fruiting.
while ken isn't after cherry jam recipes i'd love one that does NOT use store bought pectin i'm after a reliable recipe that uses apples or bramleys or even jam sugar as i just bought some...
i was thinking rose petals with cherry...anyone got any ideas of how to combine the two into a cracking jam?
Posted: Fri Jul 22, 05 9:10 am Post subject: cherry jam
hi,
i made jam with my wild cherries, and its pretty good. i used equal amounts of pitted cherries and sugar, and then a big grated bramley.
when it had reached setting point, i added the kernels of the cherries back in, minus the stones before putting into jars.
thanks for the tip... what exactly do you mean by adding the kernals but not the stone?
are you adding some solid cherry pieces in? i would guess most of the cooked stuff would go to mush... bit confused as in the states a kernal is something inside fruit, bit like a stone
The kernel is the seed inside the stone, like an almond but a little more bitter if I remember correctly, most but not all plum and cherry species have edible kernels.
Thank you for the replies...problem is freezer full and desperate to find ways of using 'em. Drying i never thought of Cab, and only have a microwave and slow cooker..is there a cheap way to de-hydrate them. Presently thinking of making cherry wine in a large container aka brewing system..Still trees to come into full fruiting.
That makes it difficult... I can't immediately think how to do it with neither an oven or dehydrator, unless you have a good hot airing cupboard?
I'd go for the wine then. 3-4lb per gallon (I err towards 3lb).
For cherry jam, I'd put the cherries in a pan, cook them down to a pupl, strain it through a colander, add a wee splash of water, a knob of butter and an almost equal weight of jam sugar to starting weight of cherries. Ought to work out about right.
Posted: Fri Jul 22, 05 12:43 pm Post subject: cherries
Thank yer Cab...that's what I'll do....jam and wine...orf sugar really. except in wine and beer...will barter the jam. (thinks) Barter town, as in Mad Max.
i tried drying the cherries i got and they were horrible! i didn't even dry them all the way, just til they were chewy and they weren't nice at all.
fortunately only about 1/4 of them were that dry so i will save those for muffins, making sure to soak them in orange juice or peach syrup etc for awhile before use
the remaing cherries that were too dry to really make jam with but that hadn't reached the unpleasant stage were used in a chutney that also had some plums i desperately needed to use, 3/4 of an apple that dd hand't finished, a handful of luxury dried fruits (all that was left of a package) and the remains of some candied angelica and orange that again, needed using. threw in some cinnamon and mixed spice and i have an amazing thick chutney/sauce perfect for pork.
we have a pork tenderloin in the freezer so i'm going to get out the meat mallet, flatten it out nicely, smother it in the chutney and then roll it up and roast it... mouth is watering just thinking of it
Posted: Sat Jul 23, 05 9:59 am Post subject: cherries
Sounds delicious, Buttery, do you know any recipes for chutney or jam that doesn't use sugar.I reckon these preserves have GOT to have sugar to keep. Freezing is the cheapest option to keep stuff, and pleasantly surprised at the low cost �23 a year for this new fridge freezer (half and half) 2AA job.
a few options you could try if you're wanting to avoid sugar
firstly, use really sweet fruit. your end product will then be tangy sweet(ish) which makes a nice sauce for pork or chicken
use a lot of sultanas
use honey
you can of course just not use any sweetner at all but then you're really getting pickle which isn't so nice with meat in my opinion
the vinegar helps it keep though if you aren't using any kind of sugar/honey at all you may want to keep it in the fridge as i honestly don't know how much the sugar contributes to it's keeping powers
the lovely thing about chutney is that it's a 'use it up' mix. i find my best chutney's are the ones where i've just chucked in a bit of this and a bit of that, much like this batch
i don't know it would work but you might be able to add some sweetner to the mix AFTER you cook it down... that would help to make it taste sweeter without the drawbacks of sugar...
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