Plums... What to do, what to do?

[theOEGBman]

Well, none of our fruit trees did really well this year but we do have quite a few plums left on the tree. I picked probably 60 or so today and will pick the rest hopefully next week, although its my first week of school.

Anyways, does anyone have any fun/interesting recipes that I could make/can with these? I'll be making jam and jelly, as usually but I'd like to branch out a little bit. These are very large, red fleshed meaty plums so if I needed to get juice from them, these would definitely do well. Im a novice canner and have mostly canned jams and jelly, with the occasional salsa tossed in, so any ideas/recipes you may have would be greatly appreciated it.

Thank You!

 

[freemotion]

You could make a plum cobbler, crisp, or pie. Quite yummy! Use any recipe and just put in the unpeeled but pitted and sliced plums. You can mix them with something like blueberries to make it more interesting. Major yum.

I made a plum liqueur that is now aging and is starting to smell quite interesting. Cut up fruit, sugar, and vodka in a jar in a dark cupboard, shake or stir weekly, strain out fruit after a month (use this in blender drinks!) and age for another 4-5 months.

I like to make upside-down cakes, too. Start with any pineapple upside-down cake recipe, but use any fruit that would be good with cake instead. Plums would be lovely. Peaches are wonderful, too. Even strawberries and rhubarb are great this way.

I know none of these are canning recipes.....oh, I'd also try a fermented chutney. Again, not canned, but.....

 

[Ridgerunner]

Not all plums are freestone. I had to shave my Santa Rosa's off the pits. I put them through a food mill too to remove the skins.

I made a cobbler with mine, a raspberry-plum cobbler. Both were pretty tart and it took a lot of sugar to make them really good. I think it would have gone better with something sweeter, peaches maybe. Blueberries should work too. Yeah, I definitely vote for cobbler.

 

[vfem]

I made plum jam!

I peeled mine, quartered and pitted. Boiled 3 lbs of plums with 5 cups of sugar, and 2 tsbp of lemon juice. I added the largest peelings of my skins back into the pot and boiled until I reached 220 degrees (setting point for jams w/ fruit high in pectin). I removed the skins and ladled into sterilized jars, water bathed for 10 minutes.

YUM! :weight

 

[theOEGBman]

Thank you all for the replies!

The only thing about the cobblers and what not is that I do not like hot fruit, lol. Dont know why but I never have. The upside down cake idea sounds good though! As for the liqueur... that's a no go as well. Im 20 years old and this house is a no-alcohol house, haha.

Ridge, we have one freestone and one that is not, I believe it may be a Santa Rosa actually. The ones I picked today are from our freestone tree.

vfem, jam and jelly are definitely on the to do list! I was just wondering if there was anything else I could do, lol.

Would it be possible to cook them down, strain them and just can the juice? For future jelly use maybe? Just tossing around ideas because I dont want any of them to go to waste if possible.

Thanks again!

 

[PotterWatch]

I'll tell you what is listed under plums in my Ball Preserving book and if any of it sounds good to you, I will post the recipe for it.

Plum Jam
Nutty Plum Conserve
Pickled Plums
Plum Chutney
Plum Jelly
Plum Juice
Plum Orange Freezer Jam
Plum Preserves
Plum Sauce
Plums in Syrup
Spiced Golden Plum Jam
Steak and Burger Sauce

 

[freemotion]

Like pie, cobblers can be eaten at room temp or even cold! Yummy!

 

[vfem]

I say, make plum vodka!

Anyways, I am on the way to the ABC store to get a few gallons of vodka myself. I have so much left over fruits after jamming I need to do something with them.

So Lemoncello, Plum Schnapps, Blackberry Vodka and several others are on the list to start making so I have them for the Christmas holiday.

 

[theOEGBman]

I'll tell you what is listed under plums in my Ball Preserving book and if any of it sounds good to you, I will post the recipe for it.

Plum Jam
Nutty Plum Conserve
Pickled Plums
Plum Chutney
Plum Jelly
Plum Juice
Plum Orange Freezer Jam
Plum Preserves
Plum Sauce
Plums in Syrup
Spiced Golden Plum Jam
Steak and Burger Sauce

Thanks, PotterWatch! I would love the Plum Juice, Plums in Syrup and Plum Sauce if you wouldnt mind posting the recipes. Thank you very much.

Freemotion, I've tried that too and dont like it too much either. I can be a picky eater, its a terrible fault of mine. I've mostly tried berry cobbler though, and I dont like the texture of the berries so that could be it. My mom makes a cake with peach slices inside it and that is really good, so it may just be the different fruits that I dont like.

vfem, we're a non-alcoholic house here, so that would work too well here, LOL.

 

[PotterWatch]

Recipes from the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving

Plum Sauce

Makes about four pint jars

2 C lightly packed brown sugar
1 C granulated sugar
1 C cider vinegar
3/4 C finely chopped onion
2 Tbsp finely chopped seeded green chili pepper
2 Tbsp mustard seeds
1 Tbsp salt
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 Tbsp finely chopped gingerroot
10 C finely chopped pitted plums

1. In a large stainless steel saucepan combine brown sugar, granulated sugar, vinegar, onion, chili pepper, mustard seeds, salt, garlic, and gingerroot. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring constantly. Add plums and return to a boil. Reduce heat and boil gently, stirring occasionally, until thick and syrupy, about 1 3/4 hours.

2. Meanwhile, prepare canner, jars, and lids.

3. Ladle hot sauce into hot jars, leaving 1/2in headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if necessary, by adding hot sauce. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar and secure band.

4. Bring water to a boil and process for 20mins. Remove canner lid. Wait 5 mins, then remove jars, cool, and store.


The sidebar has this to say:

This sweet and slightly spicy sauce is perfect with Asian-style foods, as well as chicken and pork, and is tastier that similar store-bought sauces.

Tips
The kind of chili pepper you use will determine the degree of heat in your sauce. Recommended peppers are Anaheim, New Mexico green chili, poblano, or jalapeno. Jalapeno is the hottest so if you prefer a spicier sauce, use it when making this recipe.



Plums in Syrup

Makes about eight pint jars or four quart jars

6 to 10lbs plums
1 batch hot syrup

Raw-Pack Method

1. Prepare canner, jars, and lids.

2. Using a fork, prick whole plums in several places. Pack plums into hot jars to within a generous 1/2in of top of jar. Ladle hot syrup into jar to cover plums, leaving 1/2in headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if necessary, by adding hot syrup. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar. Screw band down until resistance is met, then increase to fingertip-tight.

3. Place jars in canner, ensuring they are completely covered with water. Bring to a boil and process pint jars for 20min and quart jars for 25mins. Remove canner lid. Wait 5mins, then remove jars, cool, and store.


Hot-Pack Method

1. Prepare canner, jars, and lids.

2. Using a fork, prick whole plums in several places. In a large stainless steel saucepan, one layer at a time, warm plums in hot syrup over medium-low heat until heated through, about 2 mins per layer. Using a slotted spoon, transfer each batch to a bowl and keep hot. After all the plums have been heated, remove saucepan from heat and return plums to the syrup. Cover and let stand for 30mins. Return to a boil before packing.

3. Using a slotted spoon, pack hot plums into hot jars to within a generous 1/2in of top of jar. Ladle hot syrup into jar to cover plums, leaving 1/2in headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace, if necessary, by adding hot syrup. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar. Screw band down until resistance is met, then increase to fingertip-tight.

4. Place jars in canner, ensuring they are completely covered with water. Bring to a boil and process pint jars for 20min and quart jars for 25mins. Remove canner lid. Wait 5mins, then remove jars, cool, and store.

When raw-packing plums, we recommend using a light or medium syrup. When hot-packing plums, we recommend a medium or heavy syrup.

Here's how to make syrups for canning: In a stainless steel saucepan, combine sugar and water. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Reduce heat to low to keep warm until needed, taking care not to boil the syrup down. Allow 1 to 1 1/2 cups of syrup for each quart jar of fruit.

For light syrup, use 2 1/4 C of granulated sugar and 5 1/4 C water. This will yield 6 1/2 C of syrup.

For medium syrup, use 3 1/4 C granulated sugar and 5 C water. Yield 7 C syrup.

For heavy syrup use 4 1/4 C granulated sugar and 4 1/4 C water. Yield 7 C syrup.


Plum Juice

This gives directions on how to make juice to use in jelly.

In a large stainless steel saucepan, place washed, quartered plums. (It is not essential to pit the plums, however, removing the pits before cooking reduces the bulk of the solids that must fit in a jelly bag or strainer.) Add 1/2 C water for each 1 lb plums. Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring frequently. Reduce heat, cover loosely and boil gently, stirring and crushing plums occasionally, just until plums are softened, about 20mins. Do not overcook, as it reduces flavor, color, and strength of the pectin.

Transfer plum mixture to a dampened jelly bag or a strainer lined with several layers of dampened cheescloth set over a deep bowl. Let drip, undisturbed for at least 2 hours or overnight to collect juice.

*For each cup of plum juice, you will need about 9 plums.