Whilst not quite as prolific as last year, the redcurrants have fruited well in 2021. I’m not a particular fan of blackcurrants, but the red ones I do like – both to accompany game and with yoghurt for breakfast. The vast number that appear all in one go makes it essential to preserve them and, unless I want a large part of my freezer entirely filled with the things, the answer is bottling. Actually, I like bottled fruit because it’s instant – at least when it comes to serving it. The preparation takes a little while, but redcurrants are an ideal candidate for bottling because they are nice and acidic, so preserve well.
Once picked (quite a time-consuming activity), they have to be stripped from their stalks (I use a fork) and any debris removed. This year, I still had some fruit left in the freezer from pervious harvests, so I bottled that with most of the current currant crop and put about a kilo of raw, fresh fruit in the freezer to use in baking in the coming year.
I simply cook the cleaned fruit with a bit of sugar – no need to add water, it’s juicy enough – then ladle into hot Kilner jars. Once the lids have been screwed down, the jars go into a water bath for about 25 minutes. Seals form once the jars are out and cooling, and the crop can then feed me for the coming year.
Redcurrants are one of my favourite things to grow and preserve – they aren’t particularly demanding in the garden and they bottle easily and successfully. I just wish all my crops were this easy!
The Snail of Happiness 
writinghouse
/ August 1, 2021YUM! 🙂
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tialys
/ August 1, 2021Looking lovely in those jars. Maybe I should try that instead of giving then away but, then, I prefer blackcurrants to redcurrants so we’ve made jam from those at least.
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katechiconi
/ August 1, 2021“… the current currant crop”, heheheh! Currants are all yours, ma’am, I don’t care for them at all. If you were bottling gooseberries, now, I’d be crying salty tears of envy because they’re rare in Australia and ungrowable in the tropics, and I love them.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ August 3, 2021I’m not a great fan of gooseberries. I’ll eat them, but I don’t hanker for them.
I’m glad you liked the “current currant”… aren’t words grand?
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katechiconi
/ August 3, 2021I so love a good pun…
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Rainbow Junkie
/ August 2, 2021Interesting that you prefer redcurrants to blackcurrants because I am quite the opposite. My mother used to bottle all sorts of fruit, not currants I think though. You certainly look as if you now have a good supply for the coming year.
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The Snail of Happiness
/ August 3, 2021I think it was Ribena that put me off blackcurrants
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Rainbow Junkie
/ August 3, 2021Yes it is a bit sickly, I like blackcurrants in pies or crumble. Not had them for years though.
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Going Batty in Wales
/ August 2, 2021As usual the birds got my redcurrants as fast as they ripened so I only got one picking of them. I need more bushes!
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The Snail of Happiness
/ August 3, 2021Once the fruit cage is fully functional again next year I expect even larger crops, as it is, I’ve left the remainder to the blackbirds.
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Going Batty in Wales
/ August 4, 2021Maybe I need a fruit cage too but I am not sure where I could put one!
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DawnGillDesigns
/ August 3, 2021You are more diligent than me! I freeze any I can’t eat fresh, loose on a tray, then box them up, and usually jelly them. I just can’t be a*sed to top and tail fruit unless I absolutely must – but I do find it’s heaps easier if the berries are frozen. I’ haven’t tried bottling. I might do that next year. Thank you.
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cedar51
/ August 6, 2021I remember my late SIL and her side room, full of all kinds of preserves and then her opening up jars to have in winter puddings. My late mother made the odd jams and marmalade but it wasn’t truly necessary as SIL had enough to feed an army. I’ve never made anything like that, a couple of things in the freezer, the odd jam – but never really had much success…
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cedar51
/ August 6, 2021I tended to buy at a market or a fundraiser – made with love my a friend…
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