Micro Batch Jam

2014-04-26 14.38.12

I recently picked up from Nisbets some Kilner bottles primarily for BBQ sauce and whilst browsing I picked up some clip top preserve jars.  It looks like I needed to make something to fill the jars. My first thought was jam. But how to you make small batch jam? What if you only want to fill one jar?

After browsing and searching for a while it seemed like the easiest thing to make micro batch jam. Preserving with sugar couldn’t be simpler.

The basic formula seems to be 1 part fruit to 1 part sugar. If you use jam sugar it will have pectin already added. The next thing to note is that you don’t need to boil for a long time and not even particularly vigorous. The jam needs to be boiled to 105˚C. Thats about it. Well, another thing to point out is that you don’t need to boil the jars or sterilise them like its the 1950’s. Wash the jars in the dishwasher and pour the boiling jam in. It will do, the jam will only last a week or two at most. This is micro batch jamming, not long term preserving.

Ingredients

  • A small punnet of  raspberries 185g
  • 185g jam sugar
  • 1 tsp lemon juice

Method

Add the fruit and sugar to a small heavy bottomed pan.  On a medium-high heat, heat up the pan and once it starts bubbling and or spitting, turn down the heat and gently heat to 105˚C. Stirring often.

Remove from the heat and stir in the lemon juice. Then pour into a jar.

Once cooled pop it in the fridge.  Job done.
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Coffee filter basket funnel – Take 1

After seeing something similar used at Nude Espresso, I’ve been looking to buy a funnel type thing to help stop getting coffee grounds everywhere when filling the filter basket.

This is take one of producing the part. There is some work still to do. Mainly reducing the size and correcting the dimensions.

This is it. Designed in Sketchup and printed on Ryan’s Ultimaker. This is a draft print just to see if the design was anywhere close.  The first print took 2 hours.

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The idea is for the filter funnel to sit on top of the basket so that when I add the coffee grounds, they stay in the basket ready for tamping. It is a bit too high.  The next revision I’ll half the height.

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Once the coffee has been added, it looks like the diameter is too wide. I designed it to sit just outside the lip of the basket. I need to alter this to sit inside the lip as I still have coffee spillage.

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Some minor coffee loss.

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The finished product. One tasty americano.

2014-03-27 09.25.14

Today’s baguettes

2013-04-11 16.18.10This is my second attempt at baguettes and this time they have turned out OK.  The first attempt was really flat, spread out and just a bit wrong.

The recipe I have used is based on the Paul Hollywood Baguette recipe from the BBC but with some modifications.  Firstly I don’t have a £400 mixer and so mixed with my hand mixer.  For this I had to make the dough a little wetter.  Secondly I don’t have a baguette tray. So, I folded some baking parchment to try and keep the shape of the bread while proving and baking.

Ingredients

  • 250g strong white flour
  • 3g salt
  • 5g dried yeast
  • 30ml olive oil
  • 200ml warm water
  • 5g sugar

Method

  1. Reactivate the yeast. Add the yeast, warm water and sugar in a jug. Stir, and leave for 15 minutes
  2. Place the flour, salt, olive oil and most of the yeast mix in a mixing bowl.
  3. Start mixing on a slow speed, gradually adding the rest of the water until you have a smooth dough. This should take about five minutes.
  4. Tip the dough into an oiled bowl, cover and leave the dough to prove for two hours.
  5. Tip the dough out onto an oiled surface. Dust your hands in a little flour and divide the dough in two.
  6. Knock back the dough and stretch and fold, and then roll the dough into a baguette shape.
  7. Place on carefully folded parchment paper to keep the baguette shape, cover and leave to prove for 30 minutes.
  8. Heat a roasting dish in the bottom of the oven and pour in some water to create some steam (this will help form the crust). Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/Gas 7 in a non-fan oven.
  9. Just before baking, slash the top of each baguette three times.
  10. Bake the baguettes for 20 minutes. Then drop the temperature to 200C/400G/Gas 6 and cook for 15 minutes. The baked baguettes should be golden-brown and have a slight sheen to them.