At harvest time you can buy plums cheaply and stock up on compote for the winter. Hobby gardeners also usually preserve their plum harvest that is not consumed immediately, as ripe plums do not last very long.
How can you preserve plum compote?
To make plum compote, sterilize mason jars, wash and pit the plums, layer them in the jar, cook a syrup of sugar and water or red wine, pour this over the plums, close the jars and wake the compote at 75- 90 degrees for 60 minutes in the oven or automatic preserver.
Plums or damsons?
The two types of fruit are similar, but not identical. Plums are round and juicy, plums are more elongated and a little firmer. That's why plums are better suited as a cake topping because they don't lose as much juice when baking. When preserving, the differences between the two fruits are insignificant. Plums and damsons are preserved in the same way.
Cooking plums
If you want to preserve plums, you should pick the fruit fresh or buy it.
- Sterilize your mason jars including lids and rubber bands in boiling water or all glass parts for 10 minutes in the oven at 100 degrees.
- Wash the plums thoroughly.
- Halve the fruit and remove the core.
- Pay attention to rot and pressure points. These fruits will be removed.
- Put the plum halves in the glass, skin side up. Leave about 2 cm free around the edge of the glass.
- Cook a syrup of sugar and water to fill the glasses. For one kilo of plums, 1 liter of water and 1 pound of sugar is enough.
- If you want something special, you can replace water with red wine.
- Add spices, such as a cinnamon stick, to the brew.
- Boil everything and pour the stock over the plums until they are covered.
- Seal the jars.
Canning in the preserving machine
Do not place the jars too close in the preserving machine and fill up to half of the jars with water. Wake up the plums at 90 degrees for 60 minutes. Let the glasses rest in the kettle for a while and then place them covered on the worktop. Here the food should cool undisturbed for 24 hours.
Waking in the oven
The oven is preheated to 100 degrees. Place the glasses in the drip pan and add about 2 cm of water. Then cook the plums at 75 degrees for 60 minutes. Here, too, the jars cool in the oven and then rest, covered, on the worktop.
