A Round-up of Summer Harvest & Preserving Posts

We are hitting our garden produce stride at the moment and when you have an abundance of something, whether it is homegrown or in season and available in the supermarkets, I believe in taking every opportunity to preserve the harvest.

This is one of the great summer rituals that stretches into autumn. My preserving year usually starts with making Elderflower Cordial at the beginning of June and finishes with an abundance of apple, blackberry and pumpkin preserving marathons in October. By the time Bonfire Night comes round the preserving season has drawn to a close and I begin to look forward to making Christmas cakes and mince for mince pies.

Over the years I've written quite a few posts on making preserves and harvesting from my garden so I thought a single post with a roundup of those posts would be nice. I like revisiting past posts sometimes don't you? So as we once again ready ourselves for this season of abundance lets take look at some of those posts.

Summer Harvesting and Preserving Posts From the Archives:

* Late August Harvest 2017
* Storing Summers Bounty 2017
* Summers Bounty: Harvested and Preserved 2016
* Of Hearth & Home: Preserving Seasonal Produce 2015

This link is not from my blog but it is an excellent post to read if you are new to preserving or canning. Read 4 Ways to Preserve Your Summer Harvest

Recipes

* Strawberry Jam
* Lemon Curd
* Elderflower Cordial

Most of my recipes and ideas come from the wealth of inspiration on Pinterest so check out my Preserving and Canning board for lots more ideas.

Recommendations

I have built up a lovely collection of necessary tools over my years of making jams and chutneys. I started off with a really good preserving pan and some recycled jars collected over time or foraged off friends. Slowly, I added some really nifty tools that I wouldn't be without now so if you are new to preserving and wanting to buy the basics this is what I would recommend:

1. Preserving Pan

A really good preserving pan is a must. You must use either a stainless steel pan or an enamelled one. Aluminium can react with ingredients like vinegar which can give your preserves an 'off' taste. You will also want one that can hold volume so something like this pan below would be perfect. For those of you who live in the UK, you will find places like The Range usually stock a great preserving line around this time of year.

2. Jam Funnel

This is such a help when bottling your preserves. Before I added this nifty little thing to my preserving tools I would spill sticky preserves all down the side of my jars and have to clean it up once it cooled. Using a jam funnel makes the whole process much more civilised.

3. Sugar Thermometer

I have to admit that I don't own a sugar thermometer. I'm sure that if I did it would make my job a whole lot easier and perhaps that will be this year's addition to my preserving tool-set.  I usually use the cold saucer method to check for setting point. Most often it works but last years jam was tipped over setting point and thus it is a stiffer, harder jam than I would have liked.

4.  Jam Jar Tongs

These are a must for handling hot jars! I use them to move around just sterilised jars as well as for handling filled jars while in the process of sealing them in a water bath. My first two years of preserving I did not have them and was trying to move hot jars with tea towels or oven mitts. I can't tell you how many times I tipped the jars over with this clumsy method and created a lovely mess for myself. Get the tongs!

5. Jars

Of course, this is a pretty important item to have. I usually recycle my jars like I mentioned but for chutney's and pickles you need to have new lids as the vinegar tends to eat away at the seals and lids. Don't reuse those. The glass jar is fine to reuse but buy new seals and rings if you are using Kilner jars, otherwise, you will need to invest in new jars each season for those more corrosive preserves

6. Wax Discs

This is used as an extra seal. You place them wax side down on the jam when it is still warm. The wax then melts slightly forming a wax skin which then hardens when the jam is cool. It is supposed to keep out the spores that can cause mould.

I hope that you have found this post informative but most of all I hope it has inspired you to give preserving a go. Remember, you don't have to grow all your own fruit and veg to preserve, take advantage of what's in season in the supermarkets.

Blessings to you all...