The Accidental Smallholder Forum

Community => Coffee Lounge => Topic started by: Fleecewife on October 04, 2013, 02:49:36 pm

Title: Haunted jampot lids
Post by: Fleecewife on October 04, 2013, 02:49:36 pm
 
I just finished making a batch of damson and golden gage jam.  I put the lids on - new from Lakeland - and tightened them.  Weirdly, two of the lids promptly undid themselves a quarter turn, and repeated this every time I retightened them  :o    What's going on?  :thinking:
Title: Re: Haunted jampot lids
Post by: doganjo on October 04, 2013, 02:51:13 pm
Pressure too great?  Leave a bit to cool?
Title: Re: Haunted jampot lids
Post by: Bionic on October 04, 2013, 05:18:49 pm
No, I think it's poltergeists  ;D
Title: Re: Haunted jampot lids
Post by: Garvie on October 04, 2013, 05:20:59 pm
someone playing a trick on you? :)
Title: Re: Haunted jampot lids
Post by: happygolucky on October 04, 2013, 05:40:38 pm
Anne is probably right, the pressure in the jars, but I just had to post as a few hours before I read this post I said to a visitor that our rug was haunted as it keeps getting nearer and nearer the front door!!! :roflanim: , my gran used to say the same about a table, its funny but some things do test us, there is nearly always a logical explanation for strange movements....... :thinking:
Title: Re: Haunted jampot lids
Post by: Mammyshaz on October 04, 2013, 09:51:56 pm
I would love to know what's in these jams if they are so powerful they can bring the spirits  knocking  :o  :roflanim:
Title: Re: Haunted jampot lids
Post by: bloomer on October 04, 2013, 09:57:01 pm
check out the whereabouts of fleecehusband and see if he has jam on his fingers!!!
Title: Re: Haunted jampot lids
Post by: happygolucky on October 04, 2013, 10:48:27 pm
Quote
                         check out the whereabouts of fleecehusband and see if he has jam on his fingers!!!
:roflanim: :roflanim: :roflanim:
Title: Re: Haunted jampot lids
Post by: Fleecewife on October 04, 2013, 11:58:51 pm
 :roflanim: :roflanim: :roflanim:
 
Fleecehusband was in the workshop and his hands were all oily, so definitely not him  :D
 
The lids are gingham check so I could watch the pattern turn itself  :o    I hadn't looked away.  It was probably poltergeists as Bionic Sally says  :roflanim:   I grew up in a haunted house but I didn't think this one was  :tired:
 
 
Maybe I put them on when the jam was still too hot, but I always let it stand for 5 mins before I put it in the jars, to cool a little so the fruit doesn't rise to the top, so it wasn't extra hot.
 
I wondered if there was a film of moisture around the rim of the two freaky jars - maybe I hadn't dried them properly and that was enough to lubricate them when Doganjo's increased pressure had its effect.   Or,  :idea:  the lids were cold and the jam was hot, so the lids tried to expand in the heat, which made them turn.  It didn't do it after a few minutes.
 
Next batch of jam I'll experiment and see if I can make it happen again.  :yippee:
Title: Re: Haunted jampot lids
Post by: SallyintNorth on October 05, 2013, 09:52:52 am

Next batch of jam I'll experiment and see if I can make it happen again.  :yippee:

 :thumbsup:  My kinda gal  :excited:

Do let us know!
Title: Re: Haunted jampot lids
Post by: Bright Raven on October 07, 2013, 09:29:46 pm
It's not the lids, its the power of your jam. Don't eat too much it may unscrew your head.  :roflanim:
Title: Re: Haunted jampot lids
Post by: happygolucky on October 07, 2013, 09:34:43 pm
Quote
It's not the lids, its the power of your jam. Don't eat too much it may unscrew your head.
:roflanim: :roflanim:  we have a haunted cake tin, the cakes go in then they disappear and no ones eaten them  :innocent:
Title: Re: Haunted jampot lids
Post by: Fleecewife on October 08, 2013, 12:07:56 am
It's not the lids, its the power of your jam. Don't eat too much it may unscrew your head.  :roflanim:

 
Too late  :tired: :tired: :tired: :knit:
Title: Re: Haunted jampot lids
Post by: Lesley Silvester on October 08, 2013, 10:12:24 pm
 :roflanim: :roflanim: :roflanim:
Title: Re: Haunted jampot lids
Post by: Fleecewife on October 08, 2013, 11:45:20 pm
Today I made a batch of 9lbs of jam and tried to reproduce the exact conditions of last time to see if the haunting happened again.  Unfortunately I couldn't get a single lid to rotate of its own volition.  Disappointing  ::)  So does that prove it was the poltergeist the first time? ;D
Title: Re: Haunted jampot lids
Post by: bloomer on October 09, 2013, 07:20:51 am
no it proves you clearly have too much time to spare  :excited: :excited: :excited:


if you can make 9lbs of jam and still find time to experiment with lid rotation, you either need to make more jam (i can help with any excess  :excited: :excited: :excited:  ) or find some sheep to watch or something instead!!!



Title: Re: Haunted jampot lids
Post by: Fleecewife on October 09, 2013, 11:26:04 am
 :roflanim: :roflanim: :roflanim:
 
Aha aha - I'm actually about drowning in jam.  We're just filling our 6th underbed storage box with the stuff.  Can't waste the fruit and for the past 2 years I haven't made any.  This lot will be enough to last another two years  ::)    I've been making jam for over half a century  :o  so it's kind of second nature.
What bugs me more is making chutney  :rant:  It takes so long to chop all that stuff and fill a huge pan with it, then it boils down to just a few measly jars.  Then you can't even try it for months  :hungry:   Still, it's super delicious when it's finally edible  :yum: :yum: .
 
Which reminds me....I have two batches of chutney on the go this morning (spicy cherry tomato, and golden gage) so I'd better stop putting it off  ;D    or maybe I'll just go and peep at a sheep first  :innocent:
Title: Re: Haunted jampot lids
Post by: happygolucky on October 09, 2013, 11:41:31 am
Jam makes lovely presents in pretty jars!!!!  Your poltergeist must be envious of your jam making skills... I think my poltergeist likes playing with knobs  :eyelashes: , when I put my slow cooker on high its on low the next time I look, then my washing is turned off and my dryer so I get half washed half dried clothing, the over gets turned down and lights get turned off, my stuff gets moved around along with keys in the freezer etc...the funny thing, it only every happens when my husbands home :innocent:
Title: Re: Haunted jampot lids
Post by: Lesley Silvester on October 09, 2013, 06:17:54 pm

Sandy, does your husband perhaps have a pet poltergeist that he carries around with him?

 :roflanim: :roflanim: :roflanim:
Title: Re: Haunted jampot lids
Post by: happygolucky on October 09, 2013, 07:16:52 pm
They say they do attatched themselves to some people, mind  you, I broke the glass on the range cooker today...cannot blame him at all
Title: Re: Haunted jampot lids
Post by: Lesley Silvester on October 09, 2013, 08:39:43 pm
Oops.
Title: Re: Haunted jampot lids
Post by: cloddopper on October 09, 2013, 11:27:34 pm
:roflanim: :roflanim: :roflanim:
 
Aha aha - I'm actually about drowning in jam.  We're just filling our 6th underbed storage box with the stuff.  Can't waste the fruit and for the past 2 years I haven't made any.  This lot will be enough to last another two years  ::)    I've been making jam for over half a century  :o  so it's kind of second nature.
What bugs me more is making chutney  :rant:  It takes so long to chop all that stuff and fill a huge pan with it, then it boils down to just a few measly jars.  Then you can't even try it for months  :hungry:   Still, it's super delicious when it's finally edible  :yum: :yum: .
 
Which reminds me....I have two batches of chutney on the go this morning (spicy cherry tomato, and golden gage) so I'd better stop putting it off  ;D    or maybe I'll just go and peep at a sheep first  :innocent:


 We have a razor sharp cooks mandolin that not only slices it can also dice the slices of onion and make small chips of the other veg.

 I wacked 10 pounds of crystal lemon cucumbers through it to get 5 mm slices and salted them in less than 1/2 hr. in readiness for a session of  hot water bottling in spiced sweet vinegar using 1/2 litre  Kilner preserving jars with glass clip down lids & sealing rings  .

 If your interested Wilco .com the online part of Wilkinson's delivers free to a store near you if you buy over £30 worth of jars or they do carriage jobbies much cheaper than most
 Our 1/2 litre jars cost £2.25 each almost half price of all others and as we purchased 14 they came to the local shop carriage free. they also do all sorts of other jars mainly much cheaper than elsewhere unless you go to the big boys such as Rayware  and spend over £500 or more at a time .
 The 1/2 litre jars come in boxes of four and bigger boxes of 16
 
Title: Re: Haunted jampot lids
Post by: Fleecewife on October 10, 2013, 12:43:55 am
Hi Cloddopper
I've avoided those mandolins so far as I just know I'll slice my hand off  :dunce:   Maybe I should take another look.
 
I used to have a thing which sliced and diced vegetables, but it was a wedding present and has long since worn out - I miss that.  I also have several electric choppers and so on, but they never seem to do just what I want.   I have just discovered mincing for some of the chutney ingredients such as apple which tends to harden in vinegar so chunks are no good, and onion and garlic - speeds things up a bit.
 
I'll take a look at the wilco site, thanks.
Title: Re: Haunted jampot lids
Post by: Fleecewife on October 10, 2013, 12:50:04 am
Jam makes lovely presents in pretty jars!!!!  Your poltergeist must be envious of your jam making skills... I think my poltergeist likes playing with knobs  :eyelashes: , when I put my slow cooker on high its on low the next time I look, then my washing is turned off and my dryer so I get half washed half dried clothing, the over gets turned down and lights get turned off, my stuff gets moved around along with keys in the freezer etc...the funny thing, it only every happens when my husbands home :innocent:

That made me giggle HGL  :roflanim:    My OH has a pet poltergeist which puts all his clothes in the dirty washing basket, then my pet one magically returns them to him all nice and clean  :D    Something seems to leave the grill on at least once a week too - and it certainly isn't me  ::)
Title: Re: Haunted jampot lids
Post by: Ina on October 10, 2013, 05:54:02 am
We learned to turn the jam jars upside downs after filling boiling hot and closing with screw top lids - let them cool like that, and they'll keep even better. Maybe that will stop them rotating, too?