Figs For Winter

Day 298: My first attempt at fig jam was, if not exactly a total failure, definitely not what I had intended. I had studied a variety of recipes and, being lazy, opted to go with one which used commercial pectin. Even though I measured the amounts of figs and sugar carefully, I wound up with a product only slightly thicker than syrup as a result of the proportions not being correct for the ripeness of the figs. This is a fairly common occurrence when using pectin to set jams made with apricots, peaches, figs or other low-acid fruit. After giving the jam 48 hours to set, I decided to remake it using the old-fashioned reduction method, i.e., boiling it down. However, I had at least another gallon of ripe, fresh figs in the refrigerator which needed immediate processing, so I decided to dehydrate them. I blanched them first to soften the skins, then cut them in half. They filled all eight trays of my 50-year old Harvest Maid dehydrator to capacity! At 135 degrees (the recommended temperature), they took a little over 50 hours to dry to a chewy state. Because they still contain some moisture, I've packed them in containers to be frozen for enjoying this coming winter. Meanwhile, I turned a third of the failed jam into a delicious thick and spreadable fig butter, supplemented with frozen figs from last year's harvest.