Preserve
homegrown (or locally sourced) plums to enjoy all year long! Select richly coloured, firm and delicious plums suitable
for eating fresh or cooking for bottling in jars with syrup
or water. Perfect for adding to salads, savoury
and sweet dishes, including serving atop yoghurt or ice-cream, or simply
snacking directly from the jar. Enjoy!
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Ingredients for BOTTLED
PLUMS (WHOLE, HALVED
OR SLICED)
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Yield: 1
litre
(4 cups)
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Yield: 4.5
litres
(18 cups)
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Yield: 7
litres
(28 cups)
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Plums
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900g (2 pounds)
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4kg (9 pounds)
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6.3kg (14 pounds)
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Sugar Syrup,
OR
Water
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see Syrup Chart
below (choose very light,
light, or medium syrup)
OR water
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METHOD:1. Sterilise all equipment
by washing in hot soapy water and rinsing well before use.
2. Use firm, ripe plums for bottling. Wash plums
and drain well. Remove stems
and blemishes. Leave whole
or cut in half and
remove pits. Repeat with remaining fruit.
Plums can be sliced
if preferred (whole/halved is recommended to preserve their shape/texture).
To prevent whole
plums from splitting, prick the skin of
each plum with a fork a couple of times.
3. Cover jars with water and bring to a boil, boiling for 10 minutes.
Once the time is up, turn
the heat off and leave jars in the hot water until ready to fill.
4. Place lids into a bowl of boiled
water. Remove the lids from the water when you are
ready to place them onto the jars to seal.
5. Prepare very light, light, or medium syrup by heating
sugar and water together in a pan on medium heat, until the sugar has dissolved. Bring syrup to a boil then
remove from heat.
6. Fruit can be packed into jars via hot pack
method OR cold/raw pack method:
HOT PACK
(RECOMMENDED):
7. Remove jars from hot water and place onto a
heatproof surface i.e. tea towel.
8. Place prepared plums into syrup pan and bring
back to a boil. Remove from heat and fill jars immediately. Repeat, heating
remaining plums (if required for larger batches). Fill jars with hot plums,
filling to 1.25cm (1/2 inch) from the rim of each jar.
TIP: use a
jar funnel to fill jars and layer plum halves cut side down, to pack jars
tightly.
RAW PACK:
7. Remove jars from hot water and place onto a
heatproof surface i.e. tea towel.
8. Fill jars with prepared raw plums, filling to
1.25cm (1/2 inch) from the rim of each jar.
TIP: use a
jar funnel to fill jars and layer plum halves cut side down, to pack jars
tightly.
9. Fill jars with hot syrup/juice, filling to
1.25cm (1/2 inch) from the rim of each jar.
10. Using a non-metal utensil, remove any bubbles and add more hot
syrup/water if required to correct the headspace if it dropped below 1.25cm
(1/2 inch) from the jar rim. Excess syrup can be frozen for later use.
11. Wipe jar rims with a damp paper towel to
remove any food residue.
12. Remove lids from hot water and seal jars i.e. twist to secure
“fingertip tight”.
13. Process jars in water bath or
pressure canner as per charts below:
BOILING WATER CANNER (WATER BATH):
14. Place jars of plums into the pot of boiling water and boil for
the processing time stated below. Start
the timer once the water comes back to a full boil.15. Turn off the heat source once the time is up. Remove jars from hot
water after 5 more minutes. Cool jars overnight on a heatproof surface i.e.
wooden board or towel. Do not adjust lids during this time.
PRESSURE
CANNING (DIAL OR WEIGHTED GAUGE): 14. Place sealed jars into the pressure canner
and secure the pressure canner lid. Put onto heat and vent for 5 minutes (begin
timing once the white steam is constant). Then add weights (or cover) and bring
to the required pressure level for your altitude (see charts below). Once the
pressure is reached, process for the time stated in the charts below for your
altitude. Reduce/increase the heat source to keep the pressure at the constant
level.
15. Turn off the heat source once the time is up.
Allow the pressure canner to return to zero and then remove the lid (be
careful, lid and canner will be very hot). After 5 more minutes, remove jars
from the pressure canner and place them onto a heatproof surface (i.e. wood board
or a towel). Do not adjust lids during this time.
16.
After 12-24 hours: check jars have sealed before labelling and dating clearly.
17. Store jars of bottled plums in a cool, dark and dry place (i.e.
pantry) for up to 12 months. Jar lids should remain tightly sealed during
storage, and not flex up or down when pressed (which indicates jar seal
failure, do not consume).
18. Refrigerate jars upon opening and consume contents within 5
days. Best served chilled.
A reference
chart to assist
with syrup preparation. Fills 7 quarts (7 x 1L) of fruit.
RAW
PACK: Heat
ingredients together to make syrup,
pour hot syrup over raw fruit in
jar.
HOT PACK: Heat
ingredients together to make syrup,
add fruit and bring to boil, simmer fruit until hot. Fill jars with
hot fruit and syrup.
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SYRUP CHART
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SUGAR
%
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WATER
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100% FRUIT JUICE
(i.e. APPLE OR
WHITE GRAPE)
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SUGAR (RAW, WHITE OR BROWN)
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STEVIA POWDER
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WATER
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0%
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10 cups
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STEVIA
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10 cups
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1/4 cup
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LOW-CAL FRUIT JUICE
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5 cups
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5 cups
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LOW SUGAR
FRUIT JUICE
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7 cups
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3 cups
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1/4 cup
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1/4 cup
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100% FRUIT JUICE
(i.e.
APPLE
OR WHITE GRAPE
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10 cups
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SWEETENED FRUIT JUICE
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10 cups
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1/4 cup
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VERY LIGHT SYRUP
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10%
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10 1/2 cups
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1 1/4 cups
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LIGHT SYRUP
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20%
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9 cups
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2 1/4 cups
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MEDIUM SYRUP
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30%
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8 1/4 cups
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3 3/4 cups
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Processing
Time for BOTTLED
PLUMS (WHOLE/HALVED/SLICED) in a Boiling Water
Canner
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Jar Size
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Altitude
≤ 1,000 feet
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Altitude 1,001 - 3,000
feet
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Altitude 3,001
- 6,000
feet
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Altitude
≥ 6,000
feet
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Hot Pack and Raw Pack
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≤ 500ml
(pints)
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20 minutes
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25 minutes
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30 minutes
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35 minutes
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≤ 1 Litre
(quarts)
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25 minutes
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30 minutes
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35 minutes
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40 minutes
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Processing
Time for BOTTLED PLUMS (WHOLE/HALVED/SLICED)
in a
Weighted Gauge Pressure Canner
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Altitude
Pressure Levels
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Packing Style
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Jar Size
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Processing
Time
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0-1000ft
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>1000ft
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Hot Pack
& Raw Pack
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≤ 1 Litre
(quarts)
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10
minutes
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5lb
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10lb
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Processing
Time for BOTTLED PLUMS (WHOLE/HALVED/SLICED)
in a Dial
Gauge Pressure Canner
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Altitude
Pressure Levels
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Packing
Style
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Jar Size
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Processing
Time
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0-2000ft
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2001-4000ft
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4001-6000ft
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6001-8000ft
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Raw Pack
& Hot
Pack
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≤ 1 Litre
(quarts)
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10
minutes
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6lb
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7lb
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8lb
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9lb
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NOTES:o Only bottle very firm
plums – save overripe/soft fruit for jam, juice/jelly etc;
o Add other flavouring/s i.e. allspice, black
pepper, cinnamon, cloves,
ginger, lemon, nutmeg, orange,
port, or vanilla bean (or several of these) – a sprinkle per jar (a little goes
a long way)
o Apple/grape/peach/pear juice (one or
combination of these) can be used instead of syrup/water.SERVING
IDEAS:
o Cake;
o Couscous;
o Crepes;
o
Fruit
crumble/cobbler;
o Ice-cream topping;
o Muffins;
o Pancakes;
o Porridge/oatmeal;
o Rice pudding;
o Salads;
o Semolina pudding;
o Smoothies;
o Stirfry;
o Waffles;
o Yoghurt topping.
Author:
Megan Radaich
Image Credit: Megan Radaich