In article ,
"Mary Fisher" writes:
|
| Um. It's not a matter of 'setting the sugar'! It's said that it extracts the
| pectin from the fruit but a lot of fruit has so little pectin that ... well
| never mind.

You need SOME acid to set pectin, but that really only matters for
weird things like pumpkin jam.

| I make ALL our jams and marmalades and have done so decades. I've never,
| ever, used citric acid in powder or fruit form, nor bottled or pectin
| extracted by me from apples. It's not necessary. Jam doesn't HAVE to be like
| a jelly, it just needs to hold itself together well enough to be able to use
| a knife to extract it from the jar rather than the spoon. My test used to be
| to invert the jar of cold jam for a few seconds, if it didn't fall or ooze
| out it was fine.

Our strawberry jam failed to set this year because the wet weather
meant that the strawberries contained too much water. No, we didn't
add any, and that is one jam you can't boil down.

| OK, fair's fair, I buy it now simply because I can add so much whisky
| innit.
|
| You could make your own marmalade with whisky but I'd prefer to use
| something better than paint stripper. But there again I use 30yo Armagnac
| when I flambé a steak ...

I object! A decent single malt is at least the equal of an Armagnac.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

The message
from "Mary Fisher" contains these words:
"Rusty Hinge 2" wrote in message
k...

| You *CAN* use citric acid, but IME it tastes of lemon.
|
| rant
|
| And it's added to most commercial jams, and ruins their flavour.
|
| /rant

Just think how sickly they would be without it!

There are natural acids in fruit, and the citric acid is added to set
the sugar without too much effort.

Um. It's not a matter of 'setting the sugar'! It's said that it
extracts the
pectin from the fruit but a lot of fruit has so little pectin that ... well
never mind.

I'm mindful of a big preserving pan of slowly seething strawberries,
picked (usually) at Tiptree, and myself, with spoon, testing for the
'gel'.

Heaven with Mother's scones, butter and double cream.

I make ALL our jams and marmalades and have done so decades. I've never,
ever, used citric acid in powder or fruit form, nor bottled or pectin
extracted by me from apples. It's not necessary. Jam doesn't HAVE to
be like
a jelly, it just needs to hold itself together well enough to be able
to use
a knife to extract it from the jar rather than the spoon. My test used
to be
to invert the jar of cold jam for a few seconds, if it didn't fall or ooze
out it was fine.

Excellent.

Some jams (and marmalades) are so
hard that when you mine a lump from the jar and try to spread it on a
slice, the progress of the jam heaps-up a pile of butter before it.

You shouldn't buy it then, make your own. It's easy and far, far better.

There aren't enough hours in the year. If I made marmalade, however much
of it I produced would be gone in a twinkling. As far as marmalade goes
(not very far... Ed.) I'd give Paddington Bear a run for his money...

I used to make a marmalade with honey, to sell. It was very popular but for
various reasons I stopped selling it. I have boxes full of lovely mature
marmalade which will probably see us out. (Un)fortunately the sugar in it
has crystallised into large, tasty lumps which we love. An 8oz jar lasts us
for many weeks, thus giving time for the crystallisation to continue to the
bottom of the jar.

Licious.

Sounds good. It's only a few years since I finished using-up all the
jams and marmalade my mother made: some of the pots dated back to the
1950s, and some of the sugar crystals in those were hard as a hard
thing, and the size of sweets.

Microwaving the jars on the very lowest setting was fine, and the jam
became jam again, but a couple of days later it began to form crystals
again.

Frank Cooper's Oxford Marmalade is a case in point. I unforget it how it
was when I was a young brat: proper marmalade, which could sneak off the
side of your toast if you were unwary. In order to make the modern block
of stuff usable, I have to heat it almost to boiling-point and add half
of its original volume of fluid. I nominate a cheap malt whisky (such as
Lidl's Glen Orchy), along with some (half a cup) thinly-sliced
crystallised ginger, pre-soaked in aforsaid malt.

OK, fair's fair, I buy it now simply because I can add so much whisky
innit.

You could make your own marmalade with whisky but I'd prefer to use
something better than paint stripper. But there again I use 30yo Armagnac
when I flambé a steak ...

There's no point in using rubbish wine/spirits on good ingredients. I
often put a good Merlot or Shiraz into dishes, and the Lidl Glen Orchy
is quite good enough to put in a decanter. I reserve the cask-strength
15 y.o. Laphroaig and the Penderyn for appreciative topers - er -
tipplers. Quaffers are lucky to get Glen Orchy.

whisper

I have a numbered bottle of single-cask-bottling of Linkwood. I'm saving
it for a special occasion and/or (a) deserving conoisseur(s) innit.

Mary
p.s. so good to see that you use butter instead of something produced
by men
in white coats. Why not enhance it with your own produce?

I do, but ATM I haven't got a decent preserving pan. Well, I haven't got
a preserving pan. I molish my own pickles and things though.

Microwave jam is really good, but you can only make so much at a time. I
can make even less as I broke the turntable in the microwave.

--
Rusty
Direct reply to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co period uk
Separator in search of a sig

The message
from (Nick Maclaren) contains these words:
In article ,
Rusty Hinge 2 writes:
|
| I think we've had a similar conversation before...

We have.

| I asked Kew, and they had no knowledge of any toxic issues.

That must have been a while back, unless you know someone there, as
their new policy is that they don't talk to amateur botanists.

'Twas a good three or four years ago, and I'd just sent them a specimen
of a complete (rooted) red nightshade plant, with ripening berries.

Mucho pleased, they were, especially as prior to that they didn't have
the seeds in their seed-bank.

| I have though, spoken to many people, most of whom haven't any idea that
| there *IS* something called 'black nightshade' and all too many of them
| think woody nightshade is deadly nightshade.
|
| There is a comprehensive ignorance in the minds of even countryfolk. I
| wouldn't mind betting that if you showed a number of them a black
| nightshade plant, the majority would say it was deadly nightshade.

That is why I looked at the scientific papers. What is clear is
that it is quite safe under some conditions, and unsafe under others,
and there is no consensus on what those conditions are!

While I haven't met hosts of people who eat the berries, or have eaten
them, none that I have met has reported any adverse reaction.

This year I'm going to try making (country-style) wine from them. If,
about Christmas, I suddenly disappear, you may infer why.

The main difference between it and common staples is that we tend
to know the conditions under which the latter can be eaten safely.

Well, in parts Sith Effrica they are a staple.

| There are natural acids in fruit, and the citric acid is added to set
| the sugar without too much effort. Some jams (and marmalades) are so
| hard that when you mine a lump from the jar and try to spread it on a
| slice, the progress of the jam heaps-up a pile of butter before it.

Some of them. There isn't much in strawberry or quince. Seriously
acid and pectin-rich fruits (like japonica) produce a jam like that
with little effort :-)

A? Have you missed-out one of Mary's comments? There's LOADS of acid in
quinces and enough in strawberries. Are we talking pectin, here?

--
Rusty
Direct reply to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co period uk
Separator in search of a sig

The message
from (Nick Maclaren) contains these words:
In article ,
"Mary Fisher" writes:

/snip/

| You could make your own marmalade with whisky but I'd prefer to use
| something better than paint stripper. But there again I use 30yo
Armagnac
| when I flambé a steak ...

I object! A decent single malt is at least the equal of an Armagnac.

Much as I like a good Armangac, some malts are far more interesting -
even some vatted malts such as Islay Mist knock any brandy into a cocked
hat.

For sheer complexity of flavour and smoothness, it's difficult to beat a
well-aged single malt like Laphroaig or Ardbeg. Brandy lovers might try
Linkwood.

--
Rusty
Direct reply to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co period uk
Separator in search of a sig

In article ,
Rusty Hinge 2 writes:
|
| The main difference between it and common staples is that we tend
| to know the conditions under which the latter can be eaten safely.
|
| Well, in parts Sith Effrica they are a staple.

And in some other parts of the world. That was what puzzled the
researchers - they weren't sure whether the regional variants were
the key to edibility, or what. Solanum nigrum is cosmopolitan, was
so since before humans arose, and is a variable species.

| Some of them. There isn't much in strawberry or quince. Seriously
| acid and pectin-rich fruits (like japonica) produce a jam like that
| with little effort :-)
|
| A? Have you missed-out one of Mary's comments? There's LOADS of acid in
| quinces and enough in strawberries. Are we talking pectin, here?

Actually, no. True quinces (Cydonia oblonga) aren't very acid at all
(the 'bite' is something else, as with sloes), though Chaenomeles is.
And the same applies to strawberries - some varieties border on the
sickly, because they have been bred for sweetness partly by breeding
for low acid.

I agree that the primary problem with strawberries is pectin (because
they have effectively damn-all), but am not entirely sure what the
problem is with Cydonia. Anyway, jam made from them alone typically
doesn't set properly.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

"Rusty Hinge 2" wrote in message
k...

You shouldn't buy it then, make your own. It's easy and far, far better.

There aren't enough hours in the year.

Oh come on! You spend time on the pc ...

....

Sounds good. It's only a few years since I finished using-up all the
jams and marmalade my mother made: some of the pots dated back to the
1950s, and some of the sugar crystals in those were hard as a hard
thing, and the size of sweets.

Yes, the slow growing crystals grow very large.

Microwaving the jars on the very lowest setting was fine, and the jam
became jam again, but a couple of days later it began to form crystals
again.

It would take years for them to get to the size of sweets though.

....
whisper

I have a numbered bottle of single-cask-bottling of Linkwood. I'm saving
it for a special occasion and/or (a) deserving conoisseur(s) innit.

looks round

your place or mine?

Mary
p.s. so good to see that you use butter instead of something produced
by men
in white coats. Why not enhance it with your own produce?

I do, but ATM I haven't got a decent preserving pan. Well, I haven't got
a preserving pan. I molish my own pickles and things though.

I have a large brass preserving pan going a-begging. I prefer to use a very
large ss pan for all preserving. it's not as pretty but it was very cheap
and cleans easily - and of course there's no observable reaction between
metal and ingredients.

Microwave jam is really good, but you can only make so much at a time. I
can make even less as I broke the turntable in the microwave.

:-)

I've never tried it - only recently bought a microwave - but the amounts
would make it inefficient.

Mary

"Rusty Hinge 2" wrote in message
k...

For sheer complexity of flavour and smoothness, it's difficult to beat a
well-aged single malt like Laphroaig or Ardbeg. Brandy lovers might try
Linkwood.

I used to enjoy Laphroaig then I discovered Ardbeg ...

Mary

Following up to Rusty Hinge 2

I've not heard that parsnips can be dangerous otherwise, and I'm sure it
would be common knowledge if it were so.

if you harvest parsnips in the sun, the sap on your skin will make it, is
the word photosensitive? Anyway you will probably get burns.
Our doctor didnt know this.
--
Mike:::::::::
remove clothing to email

Following up to Edwin Spector

That's about three years later. Of
course, it _may_ have been caused by something else.

no, its the parsnips. Its funny its not better known.
--
Mike:::::::::
remove clothing to email

In article ,
"Mike....." writes:
| Following up to Rusty Hinge 2
|
| I've not heard that parsnips can be dangerous otherwise, and I'm sure it
| would be common knowledge if it were so.
|
| if you harvest parsnips in the sun, the sap on your skin will make it, is
| the word photosensitive? Anyway you will probably get burns.
| Our doctor didnt know this.

Firstly, it affects only some people, and few people are seriously
affected. Secondly, parsnips are normally harvested in winter, when
there isn't any sun in the UK to notice (for most people).

So the word "probably" is wrong. It is true only for the most extreme
photosensitisers (possibly including rue, possibly not even that).
"Will probably" should be "might".


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Following up to Nick Maclaren

Secondly, parsnips are normally harvested in winter, when
there isn't any sun in the UK to notice (for most people).

So the word "probably" is wrong.

nope, you will probably get burns under the conditions I specified, I said
"in the sun" and I meant "in the sun" theres no need to qualify with
"winter". (If you have never known a bright winters day I dont know where
you live but it can't be UK or do you just like trying to put peope down
who are providing info you were ignorant of?).
--
Mike:::::::::
remove clothing to email

Following up to Nick Maclaren

Firstly, it affects only some people, and few people are seriously
affected.

assuming wild and cultivated have the same effect I suspect that isnt
true:-

"http://128.104.239.6/uw_weeds/extension/articles/wildparsnip.htm"

"First, everyone is sensitive to wild parsnip and you do not need to be
sensitized by a prior exposure to develop burns or blisters. You can brush
against wild parsnip plants and not be affected. Parsnip is only dangerous
when the plant sap from broken leaves or stems gets on your skin. Lastly,
the wild parsnip¢s "burn" is usually less irritating that poison ivy¢s
"itch." The worst of the burning pain caused by wild parsnip is usually
over within a couple of days while the rash and itch of poison ivy can last
a long time.

In cases of mild exposure to wild parsnip, affected areas turn red and fell
sunburned. In severe cases, the skin first turns red and then blisters
form. The arms, legs, torso, face, and neck are most vulnerable and
affected areas may feel like they have been scalded. Blisters form a day or
two after sun exposure and soon after the blisters rupture and the skin
starts healing. But for many people the ordeal is not over as dark red or
brownish "scars" remain in the burned areas for several months to years.
Animals can also get parsnip burns if they have little hair and lightly
pigmented skin, characteristics that allow the chemical and sunlight to
reach the skin."

The blisters I have seen were quite unpleasant and as the effects can last
for years I dont think its something to play down, rather something to make
everyone aware of.

--
Mike:::::::::
remove clothing to email

In article ,
"Mike....." writes:
|
| Secondly, parsnips are normally harvested in winter, when
| there isn't any sun in the UK to notice (for most people).
|
| So the word "probably" is wrong.
|
| nope, you will probably get burns under the conditions I specified, I said
| "in the sun" and I meant "in the sun" theres no need to qualify with
| "winter". (If you have never known a bright winters day I dont know where
| you live but it can't be UK or do you just like trying to put peope down
| who are providing info you were ignorant of?).

Sigh. I said what I meant and I meant what I said.

Photosensitivity (like sunburn) is a function of the ultraviolet,
and the level of that even on a bright winter's day in the south
of England is EXTREMELY low and, except on a few exceptional days,
effectively nil. Look it up.

Also, you should ignore most Web nonsense that says that everyone
is equally sensitive (or even sensitive) to various plants - that
is not true even for giant hogweed, rue and Euphorbia. Again,
look that up in scientific papers, not stuff written for the hoi
polloi.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Following up to Nick Maclaren

Sigh. I said what I meant and I meant what I said.

as did, you could be a lot more polite
--
Mike:::::::::
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Following up to Mike.....

I said what I meant and I meant what I said.

as did, you could be a lot more polite

you could have said "remember in winter it probably will not be a problem,
but your ego probably doesnt allow that and you have to go for the putdown.
--
Mike:::::::::
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