Is there any point in tryiny to make jam with apricots that are half "ish" ripe.the rain has ruined many making them rot and the half ripe ones that are left are being decimated by the birds.arggg. (usually love wax eyes but not now!).Can't waste these fruit they are on a very old garden tree that must be 60 years old and taste like no other apricots, delish! Can you still make jam with them when they in this condition! ir not fully ripe on all sides. Anyone please!
cgvl,
Jan 5, 2:06pm
yes you can and its best not to have them fully ripe. Too ripe and your jam wont set properly. Lucky you, I will have to buy in Apricots for jam this year so hope they are not too expensive.
hhb,
Jan 5, 2:21pm
OHh.! I wwas so hoping this was the answer! There isnot a ton of them, the rain and birds have made sure of that.but they taste honestly like no other apricot - not even the ones from central Otago that we had last xmas.these onesare so flavoursome!Must be an old type.wonder what, wld love to try growing a new treee! Thanks
cgvl,
Jan 5, 2:29pm
you can either from the stone or get a garden expert to take a cutting and graft it onto root stock for you. And yes they will be an old variety possibly planted when the house was built or maybe later. There is a website ( not sure the name) that list old varieties of fruit trees . could be helpful. Try allenton.co.nz I think this is the one
punkinthefirst,
Jan 5, 2:30pm
You can pulp them for jam and apricot fillings. Bottlethe pulp or put it in suitable-sized containers in the freezer. Oh.too ripe and your jam doesn't have a lot of flavour, as well!
hhb,
Jan 5, 2:58pm
Oh soo pleased,have been on ladder and balancing with garden rake! two half Pak n Save bags so far!Funny, this tree seems to only fruit every two years, so bi annual and last time we had these pots of gold stewed and in jars over winter with weet bix and the jam was superb to.Something very satisfying about having your own preserves, can understand why my mum was such a fanatic in the '70s with fruit trees all around our garden. Tastes like nothing else. Thanks cgvl for suggestiosn re this tree - they certainly don't grow them any more!
pickles7,
Jan 5, 3:29pm
bi annual ,would by why.
buzzy110,
Jan 5, 5:43pm
And also your jam will go mouldy if they are too ripe so now is a great time for using them in jam.
cookessentials,
Jan 5, 5:46pm
They will be fine. I make a good jam ( see tangy apricot jam thread) and i use thinly sliced lemons and some of the kernels out of the apricot. It sets beautifull and is lovely and tangy.
pickles7,
Jan 5, 6:10pm
I would not use them for jam, brown rot on fruit always used to cause mould on jam. I would cut the rot off them, wash and stew them with a little sugar. freeze them, then decide how to use them over the winter months. Making jams these days is so expensive if you don't use a lot. We probably go through 2 jars a year and 3 jars of marmalade now. I don't think my grandchildren eat jam at all. They have developed savoury taste buds.
whiskey13,
Jan 5, 6:36pm
I started an apricot tree from a stone 2.5 years ago, i googled how and it is looking really great in the garden at the moment. I have no idea what variety it is or when it will start fruiting but the fact that it was so easy to get growing. Your best bet would be to get a person "in the know" to graft a piece onto a rootstock. Your local garden centre should be able to help you with that, make sure your rootstock is from the same stone fruit family. You can graft an apricot onto a peach or nectarine or vice verse, but you cant graft a stone fruit onto a pip fruit (apple or pear) or vice verse
kuaka,
Jan 5, 9:08pm
$10 kg at the local farmers market yesterday.
tinyted,
Jan 5, 10:07pm
I bought some apricot and red capsicum relish (or was it chutney) at a market a few years ago and it was delish.and looked fab in the jar aswell.I am sure someone here would have a recipe for it. Unfortunately, apricots are a luxury fruit up in auckland I'm afraid otherwise I would be making it aswell. Good luck with your preserving.
pickles7,
Jan 5, 10:20pm
I like using dried apricots, even for making wine with. Dried apricots make a very nice wine, then the fruit pulp usually goes into making a chutney. It is not hard to graft, the first graft I did was a very nice apple onto an apple seedling. It grew very well flowered and set fruit on the forth year. I also grew a lot of almond nut trees from stones, but just about all of them turned out peach trees. Not so bad as we had a life style property and it didn't matter. If I remember 3 out of 12 trees turned out to be almonds. The almond stones Needed to be frozen, for about 4 days I think. Apricot stones may require the same treatment.
whiskey13,
Jan 6, 12:19am
Yes pickles7, your right. I cracked the stone open and wrapped the kernel in newspaper, then popped in fridge for 6 weeks (this was at Xmas time 3 years ago) then planted it in a pot. It popped throu the surface about mid march. I left it in that pot for a year then planted it into a bigger pot. It's been in that pot for 18 months now, and is a very healthy specimen lol
cookessentials,
Jan 6, 1:06am
Apricot Jam: I have been making this jam for about five years now and it is the only one I make. The recipe is actually one from Morocco and is well worth making. 1.5kg ripe apricots, halved and six stones reserved. 1.5 kg of sugar. I use caster sugar as it dissolves far more quickly and makes a lovely clear jam ( a trick used at A&P show competitions) 1 or 2 small firm, pale skinned lemons, washed. 1/2 cup water. Place apricots and sugar in a large non-reactive bowl. Use a hammer to gently open the stones to remove the kernel, being careful not to smash the kernel. Split the kernels in half and add to bowl. Slice most of each lemon very thinly, reserving the unsliced portions for later. Add lemon slices and any pips to the bowl and mix the contents all together, then cover and set aside overnight. By morning, the juices will have come out of the fruit. Pour mixture into a large pan or preserving pan ( I use a stock pot) with the water. Place over medium heat for 5 mins, stirring to prevent mixture sticking, while sugar dissolves. Increase heat to fairly high and boil for about 15-20 minutes until mixture just starts to thicken and the temp reaches 105C. Skim off any yellow film and remove pan from the heat. Squeeze in the juice from the reserved lemons and stir. Carefully transfer jam to hot, sterlilized jars and seal. I use the "Waugh" cellophane seals that you can usually buy from New World in the red and green pack, just follow the instructions. Once the cellophane seals are tight, I then put on a screw top lid.
pickles7,
Jan 6, 1:09am
What sort of stone have you grown then! It is exciting growing your own tree. The apple tree I grafted was a golden delicious, a nice fruit of that variety is hard to find. The only way to get a nice one is to graft from a good tasting fruit tree. I had a relative who after finding peach trees on the orchard he had just bought, that did not grow or ripen. cut them all out. Then he learnt they were almonds. He was gutted. Lost a good bit of his income from the orchard.
sharonann1,
Jan 6, 11:23am
I make my apricot jam in microwave, then put in containers and freeze.I have been doing it this way for 10years have no mouldy jam, better flavour and take out what you want when you need it. Jam does not solid in freezer.
cgvl,
Jan 6, 3:34pm
an alternative to using the apricot kernal is to use a few blanched almonds. add these at the last minute. Gives same flavour as the apricot ones.
lindylambchops1,
Jan 15, 7:30pm
As I am currently in a rental & don't have access to my Jam Pan I just made a huge jar of Apricot Jam using the microwave based on cookessentials' recipe.I added lemon juice & some rind of the lemon.The basic Apricot Jam recipe was: 2 cups stoned chopped fruit 2 tablespoons lemon juice small teaspoon butter 1 3/4 cups sugar
Place all ingredients in a deep dish/jug & cook on high until mixture boils (5-6mins).Stir & continue for 5-6 minutes.It did say to mash fruit with potato masher but I didn't.Cook for another 4-6 minutes or until jam jells on a chilled saucer.
It has a lovely tang!It also set very well.
The rental has an apricot orchard & I just used the ones that had fallen in the wind.
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