Saturday 15 September 2007

Jam for sale


Yes, shameless self promotion, but I have jam for sale on etsy here. These are only temporary labels - I'll be using Cookie's as soon as I have 'em ready.

8 comments:

Unknown said...

Send me the jam jar dimensions!

Salsera said...

Best wishes for success in this, Emma.

Can you tell me if you have to conform to any regulations to sell your jam? Labelling, health and hygiene etc? I also enjoy jam making, and produced about 200 jars from my plum and damson trees this year! Now I'm wondering what to do with it! Farmers' market perhaps?

I print my own labels on the inkjet, and cover with clear film to prevent them wrinkling in the fridge. I'm no artist, but I enjoy googling images to use on them.

Re "hidden little morsels" my plum jam with kernels is sought after by two friends in particular - it's an acquired taste I think! They contain minute traces of cyanide, apparently! Not sure if that's an old wives' tale, but there's obviously not enough to do you any harm whatsoever!

I also use orange, lime, grapefruit, cinnamon and cloves (whole in a muslin bag in with the fruit, take it out before you add the sugar) to liven up the plums.

Damsons make a beautiful purple jam, if you can track a tree down most people don't even bother to pick them! But you will have to wait until next year now, same season as Victoria plums.

Let me know if you want any more details.

Salsera said...

ps I leave the kernels in! If you want to remove them, why not just crack the stones and tie them up in a muslin square? Much less fiddly!

Emma said...

Hello Salsera,
Good to hear I'm not the only maniac fascinated with making jam as I am. Damson is supposed to be really good too, I'm quite annoyed as can remember them being in the garden where I grew up, and my parents not knowing what to do with them all, yet they're impossible to find in shops!

To be honest there is quite a good link in terms of what needs to be included in the labels, especially if you're thinking of trying out a farmers market. At the very least you're supposed to put on the sugar %, which I might add needs to be accurate within 3%. Still, I haven't adhered to any of these rules just yet, as in order to measure the sugar content accurately you'll need a piece of equipment called a Fractometer (you're required to have at least 60% sugar content).

If you want I could email you with links to the pages stating the exact requirements.

Salsera said...

Hi Emma,

yes please, that link would be useful, not sure I want to publish my email address though, although I agree that might be the best place for two jam maniacs to communicate! Do you know how to do that without either of us publishing our addresses?

For farmers' markets, I did find

http://www.babergh.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/C12B3002-97E1-4F41-BBD3-AFE76DD42039/0/farmkt.doc

which tells me, amongst other things:


i. Weights

Some pre-packed foodstuffs must be sold in specific quantities; these include potatoes, jams, honey, dried fruit and dried vegetables.

ii. Labelling

Loose foods and foods pre-packed by yourself must display the name of the food, which must be accurate and unambiguous. You will also need to indicate any additives used, such as flavouring, flavour enhancers, preservatives, flour improvers, colours, anti-oxidants or sweeteners.

Pre-packed foods, other than those you have pre-packed yourself, may require:

· A Best Before or Use By date.

· A list of ingredients.
· The name and address of the person putting the product into circulation.
· Any storage conditions.
· Any previous process or treatment, for example “previously frozen”.

There are specific requirements for declaring the percentages of certain ingredients. For instance, where an ingredient is highlighted in the name of a food, e.g. "Apple and ginger chutney" the percentages of apple & ginger would have to be declared on the label.

...

"Other than those you have pre-packed yourself" might get me out of a lot! But I certainly wouldn't display my address on the jar or anywhere on the stall!!

Homemade raspberry jam I bought at Ely market has ingredients listed (no %s), a best before date, "keep cool", and "produced by Audrey's Pantry", no address. I've just found her website though

http://www.arthurcutter.org.uk/homemade-cakes-preserves-pickles.html

so I could pester her as well!

Good luck with the teaching course, don't suppose you will be allowed to blog about that!

Snotuck said...

Hi Emma, good luck with your jam. I have a question, with the lids you are using for your jams, do you just process them as usual?

Anonymous said...

Hi Emma, good luck with your Jam. I have a question, with the lids you are using, screw on, do you just process the jams as usual?

Emma said...

Hi Snotuck,

Yeah I just make the jam like normal. I know that if you use screw top lids you can't use wax discs to seal the jam - you need to use one or the other. Is that what you mean? If the screw lids are clean, and you fill to the brim, then the jam should still be good :)

Happy jam making