Starting as I mean to go on

As I have indicated previously, I am intent on getting things done quickly this year so that I can take advantage of the seasonal offerings and get lots of preserves put up and ready for use throughout the year. I have mentioned the sealed pot for the expenditure for part of this to ensure that I can take advantage of the seasonal items for both the preserving and for Christmas. At the end of the week I am hoping the Seville oranges will be in stock at the greengrocers so that I can get a couple of batches of Seville Orange marmalade made and also some Vin D'Orange which is Seville Orange wine or orange wine.  You can use Red, Rose or white wine for this.

Then a thought struck me. I am really good at whittling on about making this and making that, however in respect of the preserves I had not really mentioned "supplies".  Time to rectify that.

One of the things that I do at all times is make sure that I have basics like vinegars (different varieties), sugar (different sugars), specialist bottling jars, ordinary jam jars, Hex bottles for sauces, liqueurs, dressings, coulis etc in stock and in house.  Sugars and vinegars are bought on a monthly basis however I do not necessarily buy them all in one month and frequently stagger purchases of jars and bottles. I always shop around on prices though. Please remember that "Rome was not built in a day".  When you first start off you get very excited about the possibilities and want to make this and that.  I started off with basics like jams and marmalades and chutneys and pickled onions, shallots and beetroot. I then gravitated the following year to adding a few extra things and increasing my repertoire by time, effort and a few failures.  It is the only way you learn and you do learn. 

I have also gradually built up my stash of jars and bottles over the years. I also keep lids in stock as well and I recycle various jars that have come from the supermarket.  There are various online sites selling equipment including lids for different sized jars so you can recycle once you sort out the correct lids. There are also mainstay shops such as Lakeland where equipment can be bought. 

If I give jars of preserves as gifts I ask for the jars to be returned to me.  For the majority of items this happens and very occasionally people forget so I tend not to give my more specialised jars away as they are more expensive to replace.

One thing I never do is re-use a lid.  Potentially you can, but I am intent on the preserve being the best as it can be and re-using the lids for me could possibly affect the integrity of the product. I want a good air-tight seal on my jars and to spoil the product all it takes is for one jar to go wrong which could potentially put you off using the rest of the batch and you end up binning it; this is more likely to be so if you are new to preserving and still not quite sure of the pros and cons.  In any event you don't want a spoiled preserve. 

For me preserving is also about making the  most of what is available to you and getting as much as you can for your money and your efforts.  It is also about having control over what is in those products a lot of the time when you home preserve you are just dealing with pure ingredients which you have turned into a product without any adulteration.  It is about feeding your family well for next to nothing.  

Next time you are in the supermarket check out the prices you pay for bought pickles, shallots, jellies, jams etc. then work out the basic price of the ingredients and work out how much it will cost you overall and how many jars of preserve you will achieve by making it yourself.  For Instance Pickled Eggs were £3 a jar before Christmas.  Admittedly a good producer but the size of the jar was the pasta sauce type jar size, which holds about 6 standard sized eggs.  I can buy a tray of 30 eggs for £3.55 plus white spirit vinegar which will fill up or just below a 1 gallon jar.  The vinegars I get in the large carrier sized cannisters from the Cash & Carry and I have been paying about £4 or less per cannister.  I did not buy any last year as I still had plenty in house so I am not totally sure of the current price.  You will pay more for cider vinegar or white wine or red wine vinegars, unless you shop around and buy them when they are on offer.  

In respect of jam or marmalade on average per 1kg of fruit and 1kg of sugar you will end up with 3 to 4 standard jars of preserve (sometimes more).  If you can take advantage of reduced good quality fruit this makes the preserve even cheaper.  So you have to watch what is going on around you and take advantage of anything that comes your way.  Remember also that if you cannot afford fresh fruit you can always check the freezer section of your supermarket out and make the jam from frozen fruit or indeed freeze the fruit yourself in readiness for your jamming session later in the year.  There are so many possibilities.

In respect of home made wine on average you get about 4 wine bottles of wine per gallon.  Yet again you can keep costs down by shopping wisely and taking advantage of any bargains or speak to your greengrocer if you have one to see if they can offer a deal.

Please be aware that a lot of the older recipes got two sometimes three preserves out of a batch of fruit.   I have a recipe for Dried Apricot wine where you make the wine and then use the soaked Apricots to make a chutney.  Traditionally when you make jellies the fruit is then turned into a fruit "cheese" or paste so that you get the maximum amount of return out of your investment.

Fingers crossed that those Seville Oranges arrive this week.

However in the meantime, come pay day if you have the opportunity buy a tray of jars (Wilkos are good value) and offer different sized jars and differently styled jars for jams, chutneys, marmalades and curds and pickles.  They also sell wine and beer making kits and equipment.  Or indeed even if it is only to stockpile some fruit and freeze it or buy frozen and freeze it do so and then plan a session making jam, chutney or pickles and allow yourself to play preferably on your own when the children are not around.

When my step-children were at home I tried bottling for the first time.  I was nervous and did not really know what I was doing.  I had spent quite some time bottling some apricots and some pears in Liefheit rubber sealed jars where the fruit had to be processed until the jars were air-tight.  I had done this and left it on the side to cool.  Children being children were fascinated and curious as to what I had been doing, however rather than ask they opened the bottles.  I wasn't very happy but then I saw the funny side.  They were only being children!

Catch you soon.

Pattypan

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