Be sure to stock up on raspberry jam for the winter. This is an excellent folk remedy for many ailments. It is also a delicious filling for rolls, pies and homemade cakes. If properly cooked, raspberry jam can be stored for many years without losing its properties.
If the berry for future jam is collected at the summer cottage, then this should be done in a cool time, that is, either early in the morning or in the evening. If you pick raspberries in the heat, then they will quickly give juice and turn sour, and without waiting for the jam to be made from it. You need to collect only ripe berries, which are easily separated from the sepal.
Only the best berries should be selected for jam. Unripe, with wormholes, crumpled are culled. After all, they not only spoil the appearance of the jam, but can also provoke fermentation.
Raspberries are a very delicate berry, and therefore you need to wash them especially. A portion of raspberries is folded into a colander and immersed in a bucket of water. Then the water is allowed to drain. If there are worms in the raspberries, then immerse the colander in a saline solution (a heaped teaspoon of salt is taken per liter of water), uninvited guests will float up, and they must be removed with a spoon or slotted spoon.
The jam must be cooked in an enamel basin, although the best kitchen utensil for this purpose in Russia was a copper basin. The jam does not burn in it and is cooked evenly. But, unfortunately, such dishes can be purchased only in an antique shop. So lucky the one who inherited such a pelvis.
To make the jam fragrant, the berries do not fall apart in it, but remain intact, no more than two kilograms of raspberries are put in the cooking bowl at a time, even if there are a lot of blanks. The berries covered with sugar are infused for 3-4 hours.
Raspberry jam does not tolerate fuss and rush. It is boiled over low heat in several stages: the berry infused with sugar is brought to a boil and cooked over low heat for 5 minutes. Then the stove is turned off, and the jam cools down within five hours. This is repeated 3-4 times.
The jam can be considered ready when the berries are distributed in a clear syrup and do not float to its surface. To make sure once again, you need to drop a little jam on a saucer. They are definitely ready if the drop does not spread. In order to avoid sugaring jam, you need to add a teaspoon of citric acid diluted in a small amount of water to it.
In order for the jam to stand for a long time, it must be poured hot in dry jars sterilized in the oven for a minute. The jar is closed with a lid and left to cool completely.
In England, it is customary to add currants to raspberry jam. These berries complement each other wonderfully. The jam from them turns out to be thick, jelly-like and does not sugarcoat for a long time.
