Notes: After a weekend trip to the newly relocated Golda's Kitchen, I was able to pick up the other canning equipment I needed: jar lifter (tongs), funnel and rack. I had purchased some white currants last week and wanted to do something with them; this recipe for a peach and redcurrant jam sounded interesting, so I bought the required fruit at the farmer's market and got to work. Because the recipe made a large quantity, I did it in two batches. I peeled most of the peaches (using 4 cups prepared fruit in total) and crushed the currants (to better extract their natural pectin?). After twenty minutes of boiling, the hot jam mixture did not pass the wrinkle test on a plate chilled in the freezer. I didn't want to cook the fruit for too long, so I just stopped at that point and ladled the jam into the sterilized jars. In the morning, I noticed that half of my jars set and the other half were a little runny. The total yield was six 250 mL jars. Flavour-wise, the jam was tangy and peachy, with little hard currant seeds. I prefer my jam to have a set texture, so I don't think I'll be making any more pectin-less jams.
On another note, the Bernardin rack I bought was 12" across and my stock pot is narrower than that. So I purchased yet another rack from the Asian supermarket. I don't whether it was the hardness of my water, or some reaction between the rack and the water, but after cooling, I noticed my jars were coated with a gritty film. This didn't happen with the first batch of cherry jam (in which I didn't use a rack) so I don't think it's the water. I hope whatever it is, that it's harmless if the insides of the jars are similarly covered.
Also, while searching for other experiences using this recipe, I found out that there is a list of errata in Nigella's books from the publisher.
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