hTTi

Also you guys making jams?
In a few days the cherries from the big tree in my garden, the tree just 3 meters from my kitchen, will be ready for harvest.
I would be recruiting my wife and our teen daugther, but pity neither is interested in the hard work. Luck enough my daugthers boyfriend feels compelled to make a good impression and accepted my request to "volunteer".

I've been making jams for the last 20yr. The last few year cherries (majority), rhubarb, and plums, ca 200 jars a year, all fruit strictly from my garden. In the past I also made blackberries, before eventually got bored of them.

Towards the end of cooking I blend the jam with the stabmizer.

Problem is, electrical wires inside these blenders tend to be undersized, so they tend not to last very long. After a little use they burn out. The instructions for the last one I killed said that I should use it for a maximum of ONE minute, and then FIVE minutes of rest, to prevent overheating.

Do you have an immersion blender to recommend?
One that I can use and abuse a lot, continuously, without it breaking.

Happy jam making everyone.

Alberto wrote: ↑Wed Jun 11, 2025 4:50 pm Problem is, electrical wires inside these blenders tend to be undersized, so they tend not to last very long.

No, that is not the problem: The problem is the fact that the motor produces head, so vent ducts would be required. Kitchen laymen have the propensity to submerge things in water while cleaning them, and the combination of an enclosure with both 230V and water in it is rather deadly.
So these devices come without vent ducts, and that is where the overheating comes from.

Alberto wrote: ↑Wed Jun 11, 2025 4:50 pm Do you have an immersion blender to recommend?

To find something suitable for "professional use" ("Gewerbliche Nutzung"), you have to throw the search term "Gastronomie Stabmixer" into Google.

One result would be this:

These are devices for professionals who have been taught to...
a.) Unplug the device while cleaning it
b.) Do not submerge it while cleaning.

That's why those "gastro" devices have vent ducts in the enclosure and a fan propeller on the drive shaft.

Thanks.
Ideally, I'd love a reply like "I have been using model blabla for the last zillion years, and I've tried everything and more to destroy it but haven't managed yet, still working..."

Have you considered a manual solution? I would experiment with putting the fruit through a mincer and then stating the jam process, if you google Fleischwolf that should throw up what I ean. I bought a cast iron old school model for a fiver from a flea market/charity shop but there are stainless steeloptions too. It should come with a set of discs for different grades of mincing. Mine has also an attachment for making biscuits, it was my reason for buying it as I wanted to make Spritzgebäck.

Kerfuffle wrote: ↑Wed Jun 11, 2025 5:37 pm Have you considered a manual solution?

Thanks a lot for pointing this out.
Actually I did consider them.
The ONE person with whom I discussed, my mum, strongly discouraged me for using the manual ones for jams.
But maybe they're actually good? For sure there's no motor to burn...

Alberto wrote: ↑Wed Jun 11, 2025 5:52 pm Thanks a lot for pointing this out.
Actually I did consider them.
The ONE person with whom I discussed, my mum, strongly discouraged me for using the manual ones for jams.
But maybe they're actually good? For sure there's no motor to burn...

Did your mum give reasons? If you were near I would lend you mine for a trial run, maybe a neighbour has one you can borrow for a small batch. Hopefully we have a few more jam makers here you can add their experiences.

It's possible I'm missing something here (my speciality in homemade fruit-based products contain alcohol), but couldn't you just use a juicer?



I sometimes use it for fruit wines. Cherries boil down nicely, and then I just use a masher (lightly, so as not to crush the stones) to get the remaining juice out.

Why not just a blender? Why a hand blender?

How about one of these? No motor, easy set up, easy cleaning.

LeonG wrote: ↑Wed Jun 11, 2025 10:25 pm How about one of these? No motor, easy set up, easy cleaning.

Screenshot 2025-06-11 222336.png

That's exactly what I use for mushing up my jam, and it works a treat.