jam

[lindahoney]

Okay, I admit it. I can't make jam or jelly that sets up properly to save my life. I've tried powdered and liquid Certo. I've followed tried and true blue ball book recipes and made up one's of my own since my family loves jam and doesn't care if it sets up or not. I have quite a bit of really yummy blueberry and cherry fruit syrups on my shelves but SO FAR. Nothing I would call jam, jelly, or preserves....So, strawberries are in season here in Ohio and I'm ready to try yet Again!!!! Is there anything I am looking for to Know that it is thick enough to jar up? Recipes say stuff like boil for 2, 5 or even 10 minutes AND I DO THAT, but it doesn't set up. Someone told me it must thickly coat a spoon and what I made yesterday stood thick on the fresh clean spoon but while it turned out too thick for syrup, it also doesn't stay on toast like it should. So ladies of the jars, what am I doing wrong or how do I know when it's thick enough to be jam???

[Darlene]

One thing that I learned in making jam years ago was that when I was washing my fruit, to keep the contact with the water to a bare minimum. I used to have my strawberries in a bowl of water as I would cut off the tops and quarter them and I too, ended up with many, many jars of strawberry syrup. I figured out if I rinshed the strawberries and let them drain quickly and then cut them up from there, that I had more success at getting my jams to set. Also, sometimes fruits are more juicy than at other times, and that extra water content to me, could make a difference, so I sometimes would boil it for an extra minute or so.

 

Also, I have the best success with jams doing single batches at a time. Sometimes I push and try to do double batches, but I open myself up for more failures (syrup again) there. I also have the best results with the liquid pectin.

 

I don't know if it was my elevation back in Miami (11' above sea level) or the humidity, or a combination of everything, but I had to work with my jams to figure them out because it seemed that sometimes they could be finicky.

 

Maybe someone else has some more ideas to help.

[Violet]

If you order Pomona's Universal pectin it will gel even water ! It is really different, but works. If it doesn't gel as you want you simply recook according to their directions. You can use it for no sugar, low sugar, Splenda, honey sweetend, stevia, etc. You can double or triple recipes. You can make up your own. There are a couple downfalls, it you call them that. The jelly and jam turns out more cloudy, not clear like the other pectins. Plus,you need to follow the instruciont so it won't clump all up.

The jams taste more like fruit, not just sugar. I love it for using Splenda, as I am diabetic. Makes wonderful tasting jams and jelly. You normally order it online from Pomona's Universal Pectin site. You can order in bulk, too.

[Darlene]

Violet, I bought some of that but haven't ever used it yet. I'm going to try it when I find it in one of these boxes lol.

[lindahoney]

Thanks Darlene and Violet, I'll get some Pomona's and try try again. But Darlene, I think you have hit the nail on the head of my problem. I am SO Afraid of jamming up a bug off my fresh picked berries or somthing else nasty, that I soak, cut out bad spots, and wash them all to death. I think I'll just have to let them drain longer instead of tossing them dripping wet (but clean) into my cooker. I recently made up a FANTASTIC tasting jam (even though it needed more cooking time) with the following recipe. It doesn't sound good with the added rhubarb but believe me when I say, it's WONDERFUL!

 

2 C pitted cherries

2 C chopped rhubarb (3-4 stalks)

2 C blueberries

1/4 C lemon juice

1 package pectin

5 1/2 C sugar

Bring everything but sugar to a boil, add sugar and stir util dissolved. Boil hard for 1 minute stirring constantly. Skim foam. Ladle into jars leaving 1/4 headspace. Process 10 minutes in a hot water bath.

 

[lindahoney]

I DID IT!!! i DID IT!!! I just let the berries Drain a while before starting my jam. It was too much water in my cooker all along. Ladies, do you have a recipe for strawberry diabetic preserves using Splenda and Certo? I haven't ordered the Pomona's yet and I was wondering if I could try to make diabetic jam for my husband with regular pectin.

[Violet]

If you want low sugar/no sugar jams you need to use lite pectin or Pomona's. Regular pectin won't gel without all the sugar.

I made some sugar free grape jelly yesterday with Splenda, using the Pomona's. It is really good. I think I will have half of a peanut butter sandwich with it for a snack tonight.

You can buy Sure Jel light in the stores if you don't want to wait for the Pomona's. I know that some health food stores have Pomona's. If you have Kroger or Fred Meyer, they should have it in their health food sections.

 

 

[Darlene]

Congratulations LH! That is so awesome and I know how happy you are with all your jars of jelled jam!

[lindahoney]

I am just delighted! I made the jalapeno pepper jelly with peppers fresh from my garden, a zucchini-pineapple jelly recipe I got from a friend, and the cherry-rhubarb-blueberry again so it actually gelled this time, and some strawberry. My husband isn't in fullblown diabetes yet because he doesn't take anything but he has been warned by the doctor to watch his sugars and carbs and avoid the mountains and valleys of fasting/feasting which is his preferred methods of eating. He likes to eat a huge breakfast and work hard all day then eat the fatted calf for supper. So we are working on that, getting him used to smaller well spaced meals, and I thought some jelly made with Splenda might also be a good place to start. Since he loves jelly so much. I'll look for the lite pectin or the Pomona's otherwise, I'll just have to wait and order it. Siiiigh. I hates waiting.

[Leah]

It's been years since I made jam, but I located this information if it might be of interest.

-

I saw a recipe for marmalade somewhere a few days ago. It used the orange pips in a muslin bag. Put that in your fruit while you are cooking it, and that is what is used for pectin.

---

Christine Ferber's recipe paraphrased

Strawberry Jam

2 1/2 pounds (1.1Kg) small strawberries or 2 1/4 lbs (1Kg) after hulling

4 cups /850g sugar

Juice of 1 small lemon

 

Wash and dry the strawberries and hull them.

Macerate with the sugar and lemon juice covered in the refrigerator overnight.

Next day bring to a simmer, then cool and refrigerate again overnight.

On the third day drain off the syrup and boil the syrup over high heat in a preserving pan until it reaches 221F (setting point).

Add the partly cooked strawberries and return to boil over high heat, Skim and boil for no more than 5 minutes, stirring gently. Check set. Place into jars and seal immediately.

-

The LA Times printed a strawberry jam recipe, here's an excerpt from the article:

 

"The best strawberry cook I've ever met is Edon Waycott, former jam maker to Campanile restaurant. Waycott made other jams, but her genius was with strawberries. Typical jam recipes, especially fast ones, call for one part sugar to two parts fruit, with the sugar acting as the setting agent. The sweetness too often upstages the strawberry. By contrast, Waycott used one part sugar to six parts fruit. By macerating the fruit overnight, then cooking it for a long time, slowly and gently in a broad, shallow pan, the berries retained their form and flavor, and came out tasting more like themselves than themselves — like strawberries squared, rather than, as she called it, "merely red." Several years ago, she gave us her recipe, but somehow when it was published a four-hour jam became a one-hour jam."

[lindahoney]

OoooOOooo Leah! That sounds Good! The main reason I don't like strawberry jam as opposed to other fruits is that the berries get all mushy. This sounds like they will retain much of their flavor and shape. I'll have to try this one! Thanks!