I picked two buckets of cherry sized wild plums and now I need to know how to make jelly from them. I have done one batch per directions of person whose land they were on but I think I added too much water and the jelly doesn't have as much flavor as I would like. The color is good though. She told me to add water to the plums to just cover them to make juice. Isn't that a lot? I want to make another batch tomorrow. Should I use less water or is that what you need for wild plums. Barb

-- Barb (MBRanch@POP.ctctel.com), September 25, 2001

Answers

Barb- I made jelly from what I think are wild plums-I don't know if they are true wild, or left from an old farmstead, anyway they were golfball size and they ripened just about blackberrytime-July. I used low-sugar Sure-jell and followed directions for plum jelly. They did fine though I've made the jelly tree years now and it never jells as firm as other jelly/jam. It is rather tart and we use it in place of cranberry sauce for chicken/turkey meals.

-- Kelly (markelly@scrtc.com), September 25, 2001.

Kelly - Once I had the juice I used surejel to finish. It seems to have set O.K. I may try the juice directions in the Ball Book for plums but these are so much smaller than a "regular" plum- Lot of pit and little pulp. The plum jelly instead of cranberry sounds real good.Did you press the pulp through a sieve to make it thicker? Barb

-- Barb (MBRanch@POP.ctctel.com), September 25, 2001.

You dont have to add any water at all. Put your plums in a boiler and use a potato masher and mash them up. You dont have to boil them, you just want to heat them up real good so you can put them thru the colander or jelly bag. Those wild plums make the best jelly! Just use the juice according to your pectin recipe to make your jelly, always make sure you come to real good rolling boil before you start timing and you usually dont have to worry about your jelly setting up.

If you have any other questions feel free to email me.

-- Kellie Duncan (kashaa@swbell.net), September 25, 2001.

My sis-in-law finally told me her secret passed down to her from her Mom. She doesn't use any thing but sugar and raspberry jello. Hummm-good!

Have a Good'en, Debb

-- Debb LA/MS (fly45@bellsouth.net), September 25, 2001.

Barb-I've done it both ways made jelly from juice and "Jam" by squeezing pulp through. The juice jelly is prettier, if you want it for gifts, fair-entry, whatever. The pulp jam is a bit heartier and I like it for our use-thats what I use instead of Cranberry sauce. Its pretty good, either way.

-- Kelly (markelly@scrtc.com), September 25, 2001.

Or you could just enjoy the product that resulted from your attempt... We never use pectin, just enough water to process whatever fruit we happen to be working with at the time, and hope for the best.

We have been rewarded with jelly/jams that have turned in 4 hours, and have also ended up with syrups...and made pancakes the next day. Isn't this the joy of it all?

When I left the computer industry to become a homesteader, my measures of success became relative. I'm also learning to make do and enjoy ALL that is offered.

My wife made homemade chocolate pudding this evening...:-) Everything tastes better with goats milk!

-- Kevin (kreffitt@dark-star.com), September 25, 2001.

Kevin-absolutly! I've made fantastic blackberry syrup-was supposed to be jelly, but didn't jell. No-one complained. Some of my best "Successes" were actualy "failures".

-- Kelly (Markelly @scrtc.com), September 26, 2001.

I put the "Wild Plums" in a huge kettle and just cover with water. Cook these, stirring occasionally, until the skins have exploded and cool. While you enjoy your favorite evening movie, I squeeze the pits out of the plums with my hands, right in the kettle they were cooked in. Kinda messy but the whole fruit chunks in the end product have impressed many hungry friends and family members. I process the jam with the recipe from Sure-gel. The extra water helps to dilute the extremely strong flavor of wild plums.

-- Char Barke (char.barke@daviscofoods.com), September 26, 2001.

Thanks everyone! Just finished my applesauce so on to the the other bucket of plums. I think I will try using just enough water to keep them from scorching and then add more water if necessay in the end if not enough juice or too strong of flavor. They are for gifts so I am going to go with jelly. I only have enough lids for one batch but I would like to try jam next year. It sounds good and cranberry sauce is so expensive. Oh, and the first batch won't go to waste - we will eat it.

-- Barb (MBRanch@POP.ctctel.com), September 26, 2001.