Comments on: Cottage Smallholder Plum Chutney or Damson Chutney

By: suky

suky — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 14:37:22 +0000

Did any of you hear a huge cheer from West Surrey today? I found a tree absolutly laden with what I think are Bullace, small yellow green plums. Slightly tart but sweet, if that makes sense! I picked as many as I could reach with my trusty hook handles umbrella and came home with 4lb. I am debating taking the stepladder back tomorrow for some more
I will cook them today to remove stones and then make another batch of chutney. It will be interesting to compare it with the one made from eating plums (victoria).

By: Suky

Suky — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 16:57:06 +0000

Made the Plum Chutney this weekend using my slowcooker. Fabulous, even before it has matured. I love it and need to make some more before all the plums disappear.
I decided to be cheap and bought distilled vinegar as all the wine vinegars were too pricy the week before payday and the flavour is still very smooth.

By: David Smith

David Smith — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 07:20:23 +0000

I agree with FN (what does that stand for by the way?) Having just made our annual batch it was certainly edible from completion with a very smooth sweet taste, although we’ll probably leave it a while to let the flavours diffuse. I think the plums may have been sweeter this year and we use good quality white wine vinegar (why not indulge yourself once in a while). By the way, I found it hard to believe the other Dave found white wine vinegar hard to get hold of; our local supermarket has buckets of the stuff, of all shapes and sizes.

By: Fiona

Fiona — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 21:24:05 +0000

Thank you for replying so promptly! It was organic vinegar- possibly not enough sugar? I think we’ll wait and see and hope for the best…….And try another batch as the smell while cooking was divine. Thanks again

By: fn

fn — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 20:43:29 +0000

Hi Fiona

So much depends on the type and sweetness of the plums, the quality of the vinegar ect. We usually can eat this immediately – perhaps our plums are sweeter.

All chutneys improve with age. Generally most people leave them for a month to mature at least. If we’d used malt vinegar I reckon the wait would be 6 months. The vinegar taste gradually disappears as the flavours develop.

By: fn

fn — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 20:37:43 +0000

Hi Dave

Yes it would work. It might take a bit longer to mature.

By: Dave

Dave — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 17:58:29 +0000

Due to the glut of plums this year, everyone seems to be making chutney and the local stores have no white white vinegar. Would cider vinegar work as a substitute?

By: Fiona

Fiona — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 17:58:24 +0000

I made this recipe exactly as written 3 days ago. I know it’s meant to sit for a few weeks before eating but I had a taste just now and the over riding flavour is of white wine vinegar. Any suggestions or should this mellow with time?

By: fn

fn — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 17:35:15 +0000

Hi Dawn

Thanks so much for this link!

Hello Susan

Yes it will take much, much longer. It’s best to make two batches rather than a giant one as you have more control. You probably will need to stir the big pot more too.

I made the same mistake years ago and in the end I took it off the heat and cooked it for the remaining time the next day.

If you have two big stock pots you could try dividing the mixture in two.

By: susan macdonald

susan macdonald — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 16:57:45 +0000

Hi,
This may be a very silly question but i have made your plum chutney for the first time and have doubled the recipe as i had a huge amount of windfall plums. Will it still take the 5 hours to be ready or will it be longer?