How To Make Your Own Delicious Preserves

How To Make Your Own Delicious Preserves – Whether you are a fan of spicy chutney or fruity jam, or maybe you want a taste of summer in the winter, it’s easy enough to make your own preserves no matter what size your kitchen is.

Make Space

No matter how much space you have in the kitchen, a few jars of homemade preserves may reduce the amount of storage you have at your disposal for other canned goods and tinned food. I store mine in some old cupboards in the pantry, which is cool, dry and dark, and away from direct sunlight which can affect the longevity and colour of preserves. The garage, or a cellar, is also a great place to store preserves, you just need to put up a few shelves or erect a workshop type shelving unit. Old cupboards make useful shelving units too, and have the benefit of keeping the preserves in a dark place. 

Create Your Own Recipes

Once you feel confident and are in proficient in the art of preserving, you might want to make your preserves, for different dietary requirements, that are suitable for vegans for example, or for family members who have food allergies. Get creative when it comes to spices and ingredients, and you might end up with a delicious signature recipe that everyone loves. You can get wholesale vegetables and vegetable boxes delivered to your home to reduce the cost of your ingredients, especially handy if you are planning a larger volume to give some jars out to your friends and family members. Look put for bulk sales of fruit and vegetables at the end of the day on the market, that’s a great way to save a few pennies. 

If you find a suitable recipe from overseas in a different measurement system to what you normally use, you can use a simple kitchen chart or conversion table to work out the amounts you need from the ingredients list, whether it be in US cups, Imperial or metric. You can also keep an eye on the sugar content this way too, as some jams and chutney you can get in the shops has a very high sugar content as well as additives, and you may want to make a low-sugar preserve, or even a preserve that is suitable for diabetics. 

Using the Correct Containers

It is important that you store your homemade preserves in the correct container, to stop them from going bad or mouldy, and that’s why you will need to test the seals of any used jars if you collect them from your local community centre or if you reuse any old jam jars at home. If you don’t find a way to keep the preserves airtight, all your hard work will go to waste, and it could cause food poisoning too, which is the last thing you need. If you want to start making your own preserves, it’s important to read up on how to do it properly beforehand, or attend a local workshop, where you can see and have a “hands-on” experience of how to do it safely.