plum surplus, making jam, chutney and wine

Plums often give enormous crops which you cannot eat fast enough, since they do not keep long once ripe. Waste is hateful and can be avoided by a little thought and effort.

First, in Douglas Adams' immortal phrase 'Share and Enjoy'. Obviously don't press gifts on people who don't enjoy them but many folks love plums and enjoy this once a year seasonal treat. Give them freely to you friends and neighbours, perhaps they may return a favour. This is socialism I approve of.

Plum jam is best made with slightly underripe fruit, you can use wasp damaged plums with the bad bits cut out (see Sabatier paring knife video). Get a recipe from somewhere else, basically boil the stoned plums with sugar until the right consistence is achieved then put in re-used jam jars, sterilised in a low oven, and seal. Plum jam is lovely and will keep for years.

Plum chutney or savoury sauce is made with the ripest possible plums. There are any number of recipes, basically add sugar, cider vinegar and spices-including ginger, allspice, cloves, cinammon, Sechuan pepper or chillies. There is plenty of room for experiment, but don't overdo the spices especially chillies on a first attempt. Great with barbecues or cheese, will keep a long time.

Any fruit can be used to make country wine, pour boiling water over the fruit in a suitable stainless steel or food grade polythene vessel, add white sugar and then add wine yeast once the main ferment is over, probably 5 days, then strain the liquid into 1 gallon fermenters and ferment until clear before racking, allow to drop perfectly clear and then bottle. Ready to drink by Christmas.

ball park figures-4lb ripe plums, 2lb granulated white sugar, 1 gallon water. Caution, do not drink alcohol too much or too often of before driving or operating machinery

I mention plum eau de vie (Slivovicz) as there is a tradition of making this in eastern Europe particularly and its a great way if using up a major surplus of plums to make a brandy like drink, plum moonshine essentialy. This eau de vie in turn can be used for preserving fruits like greengages or pears. I have never made this and I'm sure I never will, its illegal in my country but if it is legal where you live it may be worth a try, but be very careful indeed as the process can be dangerous and of course people can get very drunk very fast on moonshine, never a good idea.

prunes are dried plums, Julia has done this in the past. Halve them, dust with sugar and dry in a slow oven or in hot sun if you have any.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• plum
• jam
• preserve
• chutnery
• wine
• dried
• plums
• prunes
• surplus
• orchard
• fruit
• fruitwise

[andrewnorris2]

In our neck of the woods they make brandy with plums, šlivovica, I am hoping to make a film about this soon, but yes, jam is a tremendous idea.

[stephenhayesuk]

@andrewnorris2 I love slivovicz but its illegal to make it in Britain.

[WillEyedOney]

Yesterday I found a poor plum tree buried in a conifer my grandfather planted. I opened up the conifer to have a closer look and the trunk is split and decayed, down its entire length. Even though it has some fruit I am guessing it has bacterial plum disease or some other nasty.

[stephenhayesuk]

@WillEyedOney no fruit tree will prosper in dense shade. It might survive and prosper despite the split if you cut down the conifer, but thats a big decision which you'll need to take a chance on either way.

[EpicBarcelona]

The past 4 days I have been eating nothing but plums and at this very moment the toilet has been my chair for the past 1/2 hour and it is now 5am here in Barcelona (im a British ex-pat so I love my plums).

[renagade12]

you forgot juicing!! i love juicing my plums!

[Azicpok1]

@stephenhayesuk lol the man has to get his money from alchohol sales you know cant make it yourself bad for big companies buisness.

[aslanmaskadov]

Nice video. Cheers Buddy!

[MadBadVoodo]

Great Video my Friend!

[TheMrgeekmania]

Great video as always



[garryentropy]

@baconsoda it keeps the old plumbing regular

[baconsoda]

@garryentropy Hey Garry... half a bucket of plums? I'm glad I'm not cleaning out your kennel.

Best Wishes, Brendan.