Lovely! I don’t own a microwave so just use a saucepan for jam making. I do own a stainless jam funnel though, which is very handy for decanting all sorts of things into glass jars! Just made a batch of blackberry jam with a bit of elderberry the other week - yum! It’s beyond me why anyone would buy tasteless plastic packaged blackberries from a supermarket when you can get the wild ones with all the flavour, and completely free! Our allotment hedge is full of them right now. I adore your book The Garden Jungle, its a must read and should be made compulsory reading for everyone! ❤️🐝
I was going to recommend a funnel too, so much easier and much less mess :) I've never seen this done in a microwave before! I think I'll still prefer stove top so I can watch and smell the jam as it cooks, but this makes it accessible to more folks.
Just made blackberry jam using your microwave recipe. It’s fabulous! Just made 1lb for a test, second bigger batch now in microwave. Thank you so much I’m delighted!
I’ve always done the top of the stove method, this is so much easier. Off to find blackberries. A teaspoon on my fresh sourdough yum! I have read all your books, they’re excellent.
My beautiful blackbird was murdered ( right outside my bedroom window) last month, so I will have to use the brambles myself ! Jam will make a nice change from bramble whisky - thanks for the recipe - have not tried microwave jam before.
Well that's different - maybe try it next time 👍 I just use the microwave to sterilize the jars & boil up on the hob, we prefer jelly & sieve the seeds out before adding the sugar (you can use less sugar (75%) before it gets too runny).
Is it ok to eat the berries direct from the bush? I’ve just picked a bag full and a friend recommend steeping then to allow the maggots and bugs to float to the surface? Looking forward to trying the Jam
Humans can digest maggots, they're actually healthy. It's when they're growing in decaying meat that illness comes from. So yeah it's gross but won't harm ya. I'll always be prone to pick and eating I can't help myself lol
Can't believe he ate them straight off the bush . I've just picked some and soaked them in warm salty water , the amount of maggots, Caterpillar was scary ! Through half of berry's away as I expected to do .
of course thats part of the fun of picking. Dont pick the nasty ones. too many people worried about things like that now, thats why we catch so many bugs, you can be too sterile. where do you think they go when you make the jam, do you think he soaked them?
Extra protein 🤷🏽 otherwise a good minute rinse with cool water is fine too remove most insects. Though, you can also soak them in a slightly salty water/brine as mentioned above. Generally speaking, blackberries won't have parasites 🪱 Strawberries and blueberries can though 🫡 (Leaving this here for someone who might need it, even though I'm very late to this party xD)
Congrats! Youve turned a recipe that only needed 15 minutes on the stove into 20 in the micro wave, adding an extra step in the middle. Just use a sauce pan folks. Youre welcome
A quart of berries would be about 1.25 lbs according to Godless Google . 80 degrees C is 176 F . American stoves regulate down to about 225 generally . I mention this only to help all the Yanks like me Out There . I will be picking berries soon and trying this technique. Thanks .
