Why, in general, is it worth making mayonnaise at home, if the choice of various mayonnaises in stores today is simply huge?

There are several reasons. Firstly, we all know that today all manufacturers sin by the fact that they like to "cheat" with their products. It is difficult to find any product on store shelves that does not contain any preservatives, dyes and other non-natural components that are far from harmless to our body.

One of my acquaintances, after working at a mayonnaise-producing enterprise, completely refused to use this company's mayonnaise. And then she completely stopped buying mayonnaise in stores, completely replacing it with homemade.

I will not tell you why she refused store-bought mayonnaise, so as not to discredit the producers. But after her stories, for some reason, I also felt like buying mayonnaise in stores. And then I tried to cook this product at home.

To be honest, I thought that making mayonnaise at home is not an easy task. Maybe this was the case before, when housewives did not have such kitchen appliances that they have today. I can't imagine how it was possible to cook before good mayonnaise without a blender. I remember my parents had a hand mixer. I just doubt that with its help it was just as easy and quick to make good mayonnaise at home.

So how do you make good mayonnaise at home?

Very simple. But only if you have such a wonderful tool as a blender. Well, I don’t even admit such an idea that some hostess doesn’t have this instrument today. And therefore we go further and proceed to the recipe and preparation of mayonnaise.

In order to cook homemade mayonnaise, you will need quite a bit:

- 1 chicken egg;
- 1 cup unfried vegetable oil;
- 1/4 teaspoon of mustard;
- 2 pinches of salt;
- 1-1.5 teaspoons of 9% vinegar.

Vinegar and mustard have big influence taste like mayonnaise. If you overdo it with vinegar a little, then the mayonnaise will smell strongly of vinegar. If you overdo it a little with mustard, then mustard will come out on top in the taste of the resulting homemade mayonnaise. Therefore, if the first time something goes wrong for you, do not worry - next time, just try to reduce or increase the portion of vinegar or mustard. No need to just change the amount of vegetable oil.

At first, I thought that the thickness of the mayonnaise may depend on whether it is coarse or small egg I put in mayonnaise. However, experience has shown that the size chicken egg, which I put in the prepared mayonnaise, does not affect the thickness of my homemade mayonnaise.

Some recipes recommend diluting vinegar up to 3%. When I tried to follow this recommendation, that's when I got liquid mayonnaise. Therefore, I refused to dilute the vinegar and now my homemade mayonnaise always turns out thick.

And now the procedure for making mayonnaise at home.

I cook mayonnaise directly in a jar, in which it will be stored until eaten (this is literally a couple of days). I used to make mayonnaise in the plastic cup that comes with the blender. But this is an extra waste of time and effort that is spent on transferring mayonnaise to another container and washing a plastic cup. At the same time, part of the mayonnaise is simply smeared over the glass in which I cooked it. Now I immediately cook in a half-liter glass jar. Do not be afraid that the bank may break or burst. Nothing like this happens if you work carefully.

So let's get started.

Pour a glass of vegetable oil into the jar. Separately, in a bowl, mix 2 pinches of salt, vinegar and mustard. After everything is well mixed, pour into a jar of oil. Now beat the egg into the mixture.

Important! The egg must be broken carefully so that the yolk does not spread.

Now we do everything quickly. We pick up a blender, put it in a jar so that the egg is covered with a cap. We lower the blender to the bottom and immediately turn it on. Sometimes 10 seconds is enough, and sometimes you have to work a little longer - look at the density of the mayonnaise being prepared.

Everything, mayonnaise is ready.

When you learn how to make mayonnaise at home, you can improvise. For example, I sometimes add dry chopped greens to it. Sometimes I add a pinch of mushroom seasoning. It all lends to my mayonnaise new taste and brings variety.

You can also sometimes add lemon juice instead of vinegar - 1 teaspoon. It turns out a wonderful mayonnaise and completely harmless to the liver. However, this mayonnaise should not be stored for more than three days. Even in the refrigerator.

Sour cream cake is a classic homemade recipe. Confectionery factories also produce desserts with this popular impregnation. That's just professional bakers manage to thicken sour cream, whereas at home it turns out to be more liquid, “wet”. It seems to be the same ingredients, the highest quality of products - so what's the matter? Is it really impossible to make sour cream thick at home? Yes, you certainly may. It is enough to know and take into account a few recipe subtleties that help thicken the sour cream to the desired consistency.

How is sour cream cake made? Composition and features of sour cream
Sour cream is one of the simplest and most affordable confectionery fillings. And this applies to both the set of ingredients and the technology of preparation. Perhaps that is why the use of sour cream is so common. Most often they make sour cream for biscuit, for honey cake, directly for sour cream, for eclairs and other cakes. Sour cream can be mixed with cocoa, syrup, jam. The only thing that cannot be done with sour cream is to give it a stable shape. Because sour cream is by default an impregnation, that is, a mass that is liquid enough to moisten dry dough.

Classic sour cream consists of only two or three essential ingredients:

1. Sour cream.
   
2. Sugar (sand or powder).
   
3. Vanillin or vanilla sugar- these are already flavorings, without which you can do without when preparing sour cream.
   

Of course, you can use the fattest sour cream you can find. You can also hold before use ready cream in the refrigerator so that it "grabs". But all this will not make sour cream really thick - perhaps a little more viscous. To noticeably thicken the sour cream, you will have to use other tricks and / or additional components.

How to make sour cream thick
There are more or less effective ways thicken sour cream. Which one to choose and implement depends on your gastronomic preferences, requirements for the cake and other possibilities. Here are the tools of your choice that allow you to make sour cream thicker than usual:

1. Sour cream quality. Experienced housewives sure that thick sour cream is obtained only from homemade sour cream, and the store is not suitable for this. To check, buy at least 30% fat sour cream for cream on the market. To increase your chances of success, place the sour cream in a four-fold cheesecloth and hang over a bowl for at least 3 hours. This method will relieve sour cream of excess whey, that is, liquid, and the cream will turn out to be thicker.
   
2. Time and conditions of preparation. Even the fattest thick sour cream on contact with sugar becomes thinner. The longer you whip the cream, the longer this contact lasts and the less likely it is that the sour cream will turn out thick enough. Use a mixer to whip the cream as quickly and intensely as possible. The temperature of food and tools also affects the consistency of the cream, so pre-chill the sour cream, bowl and beaters.
   
3. Starch. Potato or corn, it will make the cream a little thicker without affecting the taste. After adding starch, it is advisable to keep the cream in the refrigerator. You can even replace starch with flour.
   
4. Gelatin. Universal thickener, including for cream. Will require refrigeration and may affect the flavor of the cream if gelatin is used in in large numbers. But it will definitely work.
   
5. Butter. Inevitably affects not only the consistency, but also nutritional value cream. Sour cream with butter is heavier and richer. By and large, this is a different cream, but it completely replaces sour cream in cakes and pastries.
   
6. Cream thickener. This is the most modern and easiest way to make sour cream thick. Thickeners of different trademarks may differ in names and concentration, but the method of application is similar for everyone.
   

These methods allow you to make thick sour cream at the cooking stage. You can try to thicken the already prepared cream only if you beat it again by adding a thickening ingredient. Perhaps it is easier to abandon this idea and cook thick cream for a cake according to a different recipe. But if you want to make sour cream thick, read on.

Thick sour cream: recipes
For one medium cake, a cream is prepared from 500 grams of sour cream, plus or minus. For this amount you will need 1 cup of sugar (200-250 grams) or half a cup of powdered sugar (about 100 grams) and a drop of vanilla essence. Other components and / or thickeners are indicated in detailed recipes:

1. Thick sour cream with gelatin. In addition to these components, you will need a bag of gelatin (10-15 grams) and 100 ml of water. Pour water into a glass and dissolve the gelatin in it. After 15 minutes, heat the water with the dissolved gelatin, but do not bring to a boil. Cool down at room temperature. While the gelatin is cooling, beat the sour cream with sugar or powdered sugar in a deep bowl. When peaks begin to trail behind the whisk (this will happen after about 10-15 minutes of beating), add vanilla essence and pour in the cooled liquid gelatin in a thin stream. Beat the cream again for 1-2 minutes.
   Before use, place the bowl of cream in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours, preferably overnight. During this time, the gelatin will harden, and the sour cream will become thick. If you want to further enhance the thickening properties of gelatin, dissolve it not in water, but in fatty confectionery cream. You need to heat them carefully so that they do not curl up, but the sour cream with gelatin and cream will turn out to be very elastic.
   
2. Thick sour cream with starch. For the above amount of ingredients, you will need 2 teaspoons of starch. Put fat sour cream in a chilled bowl and beat with a mixer with / or a chilled whisk. After 10-15 minutes, the sour cream will increase in volume. Then add sugar or powdered sugar, vanilla and/or other aromatic essences. Beat for another 5 minutes until the sugar dissolves. If time allows, put the cream in the refrigerator for 30-40 minutes. If in a hurry, immediately add starch and beat again. It takes some time for the starch to swell and act. Put the bowl of cream in the refrigerator for at least 20-30 minutes.
   
3. Thick sour cream with butter. For a pound of sour cream, 50-100 grams is enough butter(not spread). Take it out of the fridge ahead of time to warm and soften. Mash in a deep bowl soft butter with half sugar or powder. When the butter turns white and the sugar dissolves, put the sour cream, the rest of the sugar and vanilla into the same bowl. Beat with a chilled whisk at high speeds. After 15 minutes, the cream will thicken and become dense and elastic. You can use it immediately or put it in the refrigerator, cooling it later along with the cake.
   
4. Thick sour cream with condensed milk. Condensed milk adds volume to the mass, so the cream is more than other recipes. For a pound of sour cream, take a standard can of condensed milk, 50 grams of butter and you can do without sugar. Whisk sour cream in a chilled bowl for 15 minutes. In a second bowl, mix the butter softened at room temperature with condensed milk and also beat until a homogeneous fluffy mass is formed. Combine the contents of both bowls, mix evenly and beat thoroughly. Such sour cream can be used for cakes and pastries or as an independent dessert, sprinkled with crushed nuts.
   
5. Sour cream with a thickener. Confectionery dry thickener concentrate for cream is also suitable for sour cream. Be guided by the volume of the product indicated on the specific packaging. As a rule, for a pound of sour cream it is 1-2 bags. Put the sour cream in a bowl with the sugar and beat until a noticeable increase in volume, or beat only the sour cream, and add the sugar after 10 minutes and continue to beat until it dissolves. Then add vanilla and 1 sachet of thickener. Beat everything together for another 7-10 minutes and put the cream in the refrigerator. After 15-20 minutes, remove the bowl of cream and check the consistency. If it suits you, you can start using the cream. If you want to make the sour cream even thicker, put a second bag of thickener into it, beat again and refrigerate for 15-20 minutes.
   
6. Thick sour cream with cottage cheese. Dairy products successfully combined with each other, and such a cream tastes almost the same as classic sour cream, but it becomes much thicker. For a pound of sour cream, you will need 300-400 grams of cottage cheese. It is advisable to use homogeneous cottage cheese in packs or rub crumbly cottage cheese so that it becomes soft and uniform. Put grated cottage cheese and sour cream in one deep container, add sugar and vanilla. Beat with a mixer first at low speed. When the mass becomes like a cream, switch the mixer mode to the maximum and beat until a thick cream forms.
   

To make thick sour cream, you do not need heat treatment- this is a definite plus. In cookbooks, you can find advice to thicken sour cream by boiling it with sugar and / or starch syrup, but this will be already custard, which is a completely different product. You can also whip sour cream with ripe banana or other fruit pulp. This will thicken the cream only slightly, but will make it acceptable for baby food. But the main thing you need to remember is the direct dependence of the consistency of the cream on sour cream. The fatter and thicker it is, the thicker the sour cream will turn out. Good luck with your culinary experiments!

Despite the fact that Hungary is considered the birthplace of goulash, Soviet housewives were able to modify this dish so that it really became ours, national dish. How to cook delicious goulash in Russian style?

In Russia, goulash is called chopped small pieces meat cooked in a large amount of thick and aromatic gravy. Served with the most different side dishes- rice, potatoes, stewed vegetables and more.

To make goulash juicy and tasty, you need to carefully approach the choice of meat. If you take beef to prepare goulash, you need to take the shoulder blade, the pulp of the hind leg or tenderloin, a very tender goulash is obtained from the kidney part of the hip cut. If you are preparing a pork dish, it is better to take the neck or tenderloin, low-fat tough parts - loin and ham - are not suitable for cooking goulash, as in this case the meat will turn out to be too dry and tough. Important point: the meat must be completely cleaned of films and cartilage, thin fatty layers can be left.

The meat will turn out more juicy if it is fried a little before stewing. Stew such meat for at least one and a half hours.

If you want to cook goulash with vegetables, you need to take as much of them as you have meat.

Goulash is prepared in dishes with thick walls and a bottom, for example, in cast iron pan or duckling.

For getting thick sauce starch can be used instead of flour, stir in cold water a teaspoon of starch and, stirring, add the liquid to the dish. If the sauce does not seem as thick as you need, dilute an additional half a teaspoon of starch in cold water and also add to the goulash.

So to prepare classic goulash from beef, you will need 1 kg of meat. Rinse it under running water, cut into small cubes (about 20 grams each), put on a napkin to drain the water, sprinkle with black pepper. Heat up the pan, add vegetable oil. Throw the meat into the pan, fry until golden brown, transfer the meat to a saucepan or pan. To prepare the sauce, you need to take another pan. Pour 2 tablespoons of flour onto it, fry, the flour should acquire a beautiful golden hue. Finely chop 2 onions and the same number of carrots, fry them in the pan in which the meat was fried. Add a few tablespoons to onions and carrots tomato paste, calcined flour, mix everything. Add the resulting mass to the meat, add water - it should completely cover the meat, salt and pepper. Stew the dish over low heat for an hour and a half, remembering to stir the goulash occasionally.

So, what exactly is the benefit of coffee - and what results can be expected from its regular use:

• Promotes weight loss by stimulating metabolism and reducing appetite
• Normalizes cholesterol levels, thereby preventing the development of many pathologies of cardio-vascular system as well as Alzheimer's disease. Not so long ago, the program “Live Healthy” with Elena Malysheva was aired, where it was recommended to drink from two to four cups of coffee a day to prevent Alzheimer's disease.
• It is a preventative measure for some oncological diseases able to prevent cirrhosis of the liver. It has been proven that the active substances contained in coffee enhance antioxidant protection and have an anticarcinogenic effect.

In addition, this noble drink With exquisite taste stimulates the functions of the central nervous system, tones the body, increases resistance to stress, improves cerebral circulation. In a word, it has a very versatile beneficial effect on the body. And if you really love coffee and cannot imagine your morning without it, then you can enjoy your favorite drink without a twinge of conscience.

Among the avid coffee drinkers, such great personalities as Peter the Great, Catherine the Great, Napoleon Bonaparte, Honore de Balzac, Beethoven and Victor Hugo were noted.

A Voltaire - an outstanding philosopher of his time - generally consumed up to 50 cups of Arabica a day. At the same time, he had excellent health and lived up to 84 years, which was considered an excellent indicator in the 18th century.

Of course coffee is different. highest concentration active substances that have a beneficial effect on the body are characterized by fresh roasted grains. Not a store at all. (and, especially, not sublimated) coffee that is stored on the shelves for a long time and is brewed directly in the cup by pouring boiling water.
In this article, we will tell you how to cook a truly delicious, thick and flavored drink using Turkish. This is the name of a special vessel designed for brewing coffee beans. Ideally, it should have a small volume and a conical shape.

As for the material, experts recommend choosing Turks made of copper - and always with a thickened bottom. The fact is that the liquid poured into copper dishes heats up for a long time. Due to slow heating, coffee reveals its flavor composition much better and transfers its properties to water more actively. Therefore, a drink prepared in a Turk turns out to be truly saturated - no worse than in a coffee maker.
To increase the duration of heating, you can put a little crushed ice. This will lower the water temperature* further. And it will take longer to heat up.

*Important note: in no case should the water be pre-boiled, as this will distort the taste of the coffee. The one that flows from the tap will also not work. Therefore, it is better to take drinking purified or at least pre-filtered.

Now directly about how to brew thick coffee in a Turk - the simplest and most effective of all existing recipes:

• First you need to prepare a certain amount of grains of the finest grinding - at the rate of 1 tbsp. spoon for 100 ml of water
• Pour coffee into a Turk, add sugar to taste
• Now you need to put the vessel on the fire and ignite a little. And only then pour water, but - in such a way that the vessel is not completely filled. Otherwise, in the process of boiling, when the foam starts to rise, the drink will run to the stove

To make the flavor composition even more noble, you can add your favorite spices - for example, a pinch of ground cinnamon.
And in order to neutralize the fortress and reduce the level of caffeine, you need to put a couple of cardamom seeds on the bottom of the cezve. It has a pronounced aroma with camphor tones, so the taste of your drink will turn out to be more elegant - and not as sharp and bitter as a classic espresso.

During cooking, keep a close eye on the Turk. When the temperature of the coffee rises, a light brown crust forms on its surface. At first, the consistency of the foam will be homogeneous, and then it will begin to bubble. At the stage of boiling, the cezve must be removed from the fire.

Wait for the Turkish coffee to cool down a bit. Then return it to the stove again.
When the crema level begins to rise a second time, pour half of the coffee into the cup. First, it must be doused with boiling water: in a heated dish, the aroma of the drink appears more clearly.
Return the rest of the coffee to the stove - and heat again. Do not forget that you need to be near the stove all the time while your Turk is on fire. Do not be too lazy to take ten minutes to prepare coffee, even if it happens in the morning and you are in a hurry to get to work.

The resulting foam can be removed with a spoon and transferred to a cup.
By the way, the spoon that you will use should first be held in freezer your refrigerator. Thus, it will cool the coffee and prolong its heating time. That is, the extraction will turn out to be even longer - and, as a result, more intense.

After the foam creeps up again like a geyser, finally remove the cezve from the stove and pour the remaining coffee into a cup.
Thanks to this technology of preparation, the drink turns out to be really thick, fragrant, rich - with a velvety taste that reveals itself in each new sip and with a large amount of golden foam.

At the end of the article, we will answer some questions regarding brewing coffee in a cezve.

Q: Can milk be used instead of water?

Answer: yes, you can. Heat 250 ml of milk in a cezve, add coffee (2 teaspoons with a slide) and wait until the foam starts to rise up. Remove the vessel from the burner and pour into a cup. On top of a delicate latte, you can sprinkle with chocolate or coconut chips.

Question: what grind and what degree of coffee roast should be used for brewing in cezve?

Answer: the finer the grains are ground, the better. (Ideally, you should grind them "to dust").
As for the degree of roasting, it's a matter of taste. If you like rich espresso - invigorating and with noble bitterness- you can order a French or Italian roast from us. And for a more delicate composition, we will perform a light heat treatment of the variety you are interested in. Then it will open with elegant fruit and berry or refreshing citrus notes.
However, it should be understood that the flavoring bouquet of coffee depends not only on heat treatment. First of all, it is influenced by the climatic and landscape features of the region in which the plantations are grown. Therefore, in the bouquet of African Arabica, some notes dominate, and in the bouquet of Indonesian - completely different.

Question: how to store coffee?

Answer: in a cool and dark place. It is very important to avoid high humidity so that the coffee does not become soggy. That is, it is not recommended to store it on a shelf next to the sink. Also, the correct packaging should be equipped with a degassing valve that pushes out oxygen.

In August and September, almost all the cities and towns of our country have a delicious and sweet smell - jam is cooked in the kitchens. And although today there are many other ways to prepare berries or fruits for the winter, many prefer this old and time-tested method. Therefore, today we will talk about how to cook thick jam. So that it turns out, like our grandmothers, as they say, so that the spoon stands. And also share some recipes.

How to cook thick jam - preparation

Each process requires some preparation. And jam cooking is no exception. If you really want to make a good thick jam, you need to pay attention to the following points.

Jam is primarily berries and fruits. If you collect them yourself, then you need to do this in good, dry weather. If you buy in the market or in a store, then remember that for good jam needed good fruit or berries, no damage. Of course, you can cook jam from raw materials that are not of very high quality, but its taste will turn out to be much worse.

And, of course, do not forget to wash the berries and fruits. Even if you yourself have just plucked them from a bush or tree.

Chokeberry or blackcurrant can become too dry when cooking jam. To prevent this from happening, they need to be blanched - lowered for 30 seconds in boiling water, and then pour over cold water. The same is recommended for all berries and fruits with excessively hard skins, such as gooseberries or pears. You can also pierce them in several places with a thick needle or make small cuts with a sharp knife. Then they are better soaked in syrup.

Now let's talk about sugar. To cook a good thick jam, you need to use only granulated sugar white color. Pressed or reed Brown sugar not suitable for this purpose. In addition, before cooking jam, it is advisable to sift the sugar. If you want to. To make the jam thick, do not save on sugar. Usually it is taken as much as berries or fruits, kilogram per kilogram.

How to cook thick jam - a few general recommendations

When cooking jam, you can’t cook other dishes nearby at the same time - it will absorb their smells.

In order for the jam to turn out thick and boil well, you need to cook it over very low heat after boiling.

You can determine the readiness of jam by its appearance. If the berries were sent translucent, do not float on top, but are evenly distributed in the syrup, if the foam that forms when the jam is cooked does not scatter along the edges of the basin, but gathers in the middle - the jam is ready. You can also check the readiness of the jam in the following way: scoop a little with a teaspoon and drip onto a clean saucer. If the drop does not scatter, but retains its shape, then it is time to remove the jam from the fire.

If, despite the readiness, the jam turns out to be too liquid for your taste, you can use pectin to thicken it - 3-4 grams per kilogram of berries or fruits. Pectin is added at the very end, then let the jam stand on the fire for another five minutes and turn it off. Please note. That the action of the thickener does not appear immediately, in order for it to be noticeable, the jam must cool.

How to make thick strawberry jam

To make thick strawberry jam, you will need:

• strawberries - 1-2 kg;
• sugar - 1-2 kg;
• lemon - 1-2 slices.

Peel strawberries from leaves or stalks, carefully sort, rinse. Pour into a container in which you will cook it - preferably made of food steel, you can also use basins or pans with a special non-stick coating. But it is undesirable to use enameled dishes, since jam can burn in it. Sprinkle the strawberries with sugar and leave for a few hours to release the juice. How long this will take depends on the berry. It may be 3-4 hours, or it may be 10.

Then take a wooden spatula and mix everything well so as to raise the sugar from the bottom, where it will settle during this time. Place bowl with strawberries over medium heat, bring to a boil, stir, and reduce heat to low. To make the jam thick, it needs to be cooked only over low heat, stirring constantly. Keep the strawberries on fire for 10 minutes in this way, and turn off the stove. During this time, the sugar should have time to completely dissolve. Remove the formed foam.

Remove the berries from the syrup and set them aside for now. Put the syrup back on the fire, reduce it to a minimum and continue to boil the syrup for one hour.

Take a slice of cooked lemon along with the zest, cut it into small pieces and add to the syrup. Mix well and continue to simmer for another hour. Now add strawberries to the syrup again and continue to cook for another hour.

You should get a good thick Strawberry jam. After it is ready, remove from heat, cool and arrange in prepared jars. There is no need to roll such a jam. Just cover it with plastic lids or tie with parchment paper.

How to cook thick blueberry jam with gelatin

gelatin added to it gourmet jam from blueberries, in no way spoils it amazing taste On the contrary, it gives it a certain piquancy. To make thick blueberry jam with gelatin, you will need:

• fresh blueberries - 2 cups;
• granulated sugar - 2 cups;
• berry or lemon jelly - 1 sachet.

Sort blueberries, remove foreign matter, debris and rinse with cool water. This is best done using a colander and shower head. So you don't hurt tender berries. Let the water drain and lay the blueberries out on a paper towel to dry slightly. While the blueberries are drying, you can prepare the jars in which you will lay out ready jam. Rinse them well, wipe them dry with a towel and put them in a preheated oven for 15 minutes to sterilize.

When the blueberries are dry, pour them into a saucepan, add sugar and berry jelly. Mix well and put on a minimum fire. The sugar should dissolve and the blueberries should release their juice. After that, hold on low heat for a couple more minutes, and then pour into prepared jars directly while hot. Close with metal lids using a seamer and cover the top with a thick terry towel until the jam jars are completely cool. You need to store thick blueberry jam in the cellar or in the pantry.

How to cook thick apricot jam

To make thick apricot jam, you will need:

• half-ripe apricots - 1 kg;
• granulated sugar - 850 g;
• citric acid - 3 g.

Rinse the apricots, pat dry and cut in half. Remove bones. Divide the apricots in two. Put one of them in a saucepan, sprinkle with sugar, add half a glass of water, put on the stove. Bring to a boil and cook for about 10 minutes. The apricots need to be quite soft. Then rub them through a colander, add citric acid and the other half of apricots. If desired, they can be cut into smaller pieces.

Put on fire, bring to a boil and cook over low heat for about 40 minutes. Do not forget to stir and remove the foam.

Arrange the finished thick apricot jam in clean, sterilized jars and roll up with metal lids.

How to cook a thick jam of their pears

To make thick pear jam, you will need:

• ripe pears - 3 kg;
• granulated sugar - 2 kg;
• lemon juice - 1 teaspoon.

Wash the pears well, let them dry and, without peeling the skin, cut into small pieces. Put everything in a saucepan or a bowl for cooking jam, sprinkle with sugar and leave for 3-4 hours so that the pears release juice. After that, put a bowl of pears on the stove, stirring constantly, bring to a boil, and then reduce the heat to a minimum. Boil for 20 minutes, not forgetting to remove the emerging foam. Turn off the heat and leave the pears to cool - overnight.

The next day, put on fire again, bring to a boil and cook for 20 minutes, removing the foam that appears. Remove the pears from the heat again and let them cool completely.

Repeat all the previous steps again, boil the pears over low heat for 20 minutes and just before the end, add one teaspoon lemon juice. Let the pears stand on the fire for about 3 more minutes, then remove from heat and arrange in sterilized jars. Roll up, let cool and store jars of jam in a dark, cool place.