Hi everyone,
AM depending on everyone's jam making expertise here........ I have 8 limes that I intend to use for this jam (also have oranges). I don't have any lemons or jam setta but do have the jam sugar. Should I just use the full 400gms of jam sugar? Also, am wondering if I should add anything else........have had organic lime jam before from Foodconnect and it's delicious and thought about adding some ginger but how/when in the process.......? Perhaps blitz it first before adding the rest of the ingredients?
Thanks in advance
I can't comment about the other questions but I do candy a lot of ginger in large batches and I use "mature" ginger, not the tender stem stuff (which to my taste does not have enough flavor).
I slice and steam the ginger until it is tender enough to be candied. Some people boil it but that also removes a lot of the flavor where steaming retains it.
After it has been steamed and is tender, you can stack and cut the slices into "matchsticks" and cut across to get tiny dice.
This way you will not have any of the annoying "threads" that are in ginger.
I describe my entire process of ginger candying
here.
Making lime marmalade can be tricky, sometimes the colored part of the peel seems determined to turn an ugly gray sometimes the peel is so bitter it is difficult to get the marmalade sweet enough.
I remove the colored part of the peel with a vegetable peeler then strip the white stuff from the limes - I use Persian limes which are seedless. If you have limes with seeds you have to remove them.
For twelve large Persian limes.
You will need 1 1/4 liters of water
1 1/2 kg of sugar
I then parboil the lime peel in two or three changes of water (just enough to cover) to remove some of the bitterness.
I then cut it into very fine strips.
Meanwhile, while the peel is parboiling, I cut the bare limes into thin slices, place in a stainless steel pot with
the sugar and the water and place on high heat.
As soon as it comes to a boil, reduce the heat to a high simmer - barely boiling
by this time the peel should be prepared so add it, stir well to distribute evenly.
Continue cooking, stirring occasionally and if sugar crystals begin to form on the sides of the pan, use a heat-resistant brush dipped in water to brush them back into the mixture.
Cook for two hours then check with a thermometer. If the temp has reached 120° C., spoon a little of the marmalade onto a saucer and allow it to cool.
If it is set enough to not run when the saucer is tipped, it can be ladled into jars.
Otherwise continue cooking for another 30 to 40 minutes then test again.
If this is going to be stored for very long, it is better the process the jars in a boiling water batch for ten minutes.
If for immediate use - within a couple of months, there is no need for this step.