Preserves calculator
Pick a preserve and say how many jars you want or how much produce you have. The calculator works out the rest, from sugar to vinegar, and shows what local producers have today.
What to put up now (October)
All preserves
Ajvar
Jams, plum butter and quince cheese
Plum butter (pekmez)
Plums cooked for hours without water until they turn into a thick, dark spread. The Slavonian way, with little or no sugar.
1 kg (Plums) makes 0.25 l Out of season
Apricot jam
Apricots, sugar and a little lemon. The summer jam most eaten in winter.
1 kg (Apricots) makes 0.9 l Out of season
Strawberry jam
The first jam of the year, from ripe May strawberries.
1 kg (Strawberries) makes 0.85 l Out of season
Plum jam
Pekmez's quicker cousin: plums with sugar, cooked for half an hour rather than half a day.
1 kg (Plums) makes 0.9 l Out of season
Blackberry jam
The dark jam of late summer, with its seeds or sieved.
1 kg (Blackberries) makes 0.95 l Out of season
Fig jam
Ripe figs with less sugar, since they are sweet on their own. There is nothing better with cheese.
1 kg (Figs) makes 0.9 l Out of season
Quince cheese
Quinces cooked with sugar until firm enough to cut into cubes. An October treat.
1 kg (Quinces) makes 0.7 l The right time is now
Fermented in brine
Pickled in vinegar
Pickled cucumbers
Small cucumbers in a sweet and sour brine with dill and garlic.
1 kg (Cucumber) makes 1.7 l Out of season
Mixed pickled vegetables (turšija)
Peppers, cauliflower, carrots and cabbage in a sour brine. A bright winter salad from the jar.
1 kg (Pepper) makes 3.3 l Still possible
Pickled beetroot
Cooked beetroot with horseradish and caraway in a sour brine. The salad for every winter dish.
1 kg (Beetroot) makes 1.2 l The right time is now
Pickled peppers
Small whole peppers in a sweet and sour brine, crunchy beside meat or beans.
1 kg (Pepper) makes 1.9 l Still possible
Questions
- How many peppers do I need for ajvar?
- Roasting and cleaning takes about half a pepper's weight, so 10 kg of peppers and 2 kg of aubergine fill 9 to 10 jars of 370 ml. For 20 jars count on a little over 21 kg of peppers.
- How is the number of jars worked out?
- For each preserve we know how much finished product a kilogram of fresh produce leaves: about a litre for jam, a quarter of a litre for plum butter, and more than a litre for pickles, because the brine fills the jar too. How each figure was reached is written beside it.
- When is the best time to make preserves?
- When the main fruit or vegetable is in full season: it tastes best and costs least. The dates come from our seasonal calendar for continental Croatia, so ajvar falls in August and September, quince cheese in October and sauerkraut in the autumn.
- Do I need a preservative?
- No. Sterilised jars, hot filling and pasteurisation, with the sugar, vinegar or salt the recipe already asks for, keep preserves until next season.
Seasonal calendar → AI assistants can use this calculator as an open tool too: /api/tools/zimnica
We also specialise in technology built specifically for short supply chains. Get in touch if that is something you need!
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