I just did some neighborhood foraging and picked 30 pounds of red plums. They are delicious, but even I will have trouble eating them all this week.
Last year we made jam/preserves but it ended up tasting very prune-like, i.e. not the tasty fresh plum flavor. We tried varying amounts of heat and sugar and the prune flavor prevailed. We're open to canning, freezing, drying, making jam, etc. but want to do the best job to capture that tasty plum flavor. I've read some other answers on what to do with tart plums and peaches, but our plum challenge is a little different.
Question: what is the best method to preserve the fresh plum-like flavor?
Best Answer
I think freezing would be your best bet - not fantastic for the texture, but when defrosted you could make a pie/cobbler or other cooked item with them. Plenty of web sites (eg http://www.fruitexpert.co.uk/using-up-a-plum-glut.html) say you can just halve them and freeze them on open tray, then when they're frozen move them into plastic bags. It's the lowest-effort option so probably worth trying on at least a fraction of your harvest.