Daddy's Jam Session

Ok with the canning I gave you the basics of jam.  This Christmas I made a bunch for the family & friends and used primarily frozen fruit.  Do not sneer at the frozen.  The fruit is picked at the peak of ripeness and flash frozen to protect it.  When frozen fruit thaws the juices tend to leak out due to damage to the cell walls from ice crystals.  Juice leaking is horrible in a parfait, but it is what we want in a good jam. 

Texture is another important part and is where the pectin comes in.  I like my jam to be between a pudding and a jelly consistency.  If you simmer your fruit before you add sugar you will develop the natural pectins and will not need to add as much processed pectin (it's a natural fruit extract so don't worry about it).  I don't have the patience for that as it's a long enough process already.  Also with pectins there are two types powder and liquid.  I use powder is that is what is available & cheap at my grocery store.  The big thing is after you add the pectin, test it out on a spoon full before canning/storing.  If your jam is too thick for your add some water (a little at a time) and re-test, if it's too loose add some more pectin and re-test.  Each bag of fruit will be a little different so you will need to fiddle with it some with the amount of sugar and pectin. 

What can you jam?  Anything in the veggie aisles of the store or your garden.  There are three basics in addition to what you are jamming: sugar, lemon juice and pectin.  everything else is variable or optional.  Some fruits are hard to give up the juice so you need to add some liquid like water apple juice or a liqueur.  Other items like hot peppers (made that too it was yummy but way too hot for me) like a splash of vinegar.  Some items like the oranges I jammed supplied their own pectin and a ton of juice but needed extra sugar as cooked orange peel gets very bitter.

For storage you have three options: canning (described in the prior post), freezing and refrigeration.  Remember you are basically making a sugar jello here (it's what they use to culture bacteria) so some means of preservation is required.  This stuff is safe to refreeze and reboil so you can take your blueberry jam and turn it into a GREAT ice cream topping with just a little heat, then throw the rest back into the fridge (assuming for some reason you didn't eat it all).

So experiment with what you have and what you want. Also remember to taste as you go along.  A great advantage (other than cost)  to homemade jam is that you control what goes inside.  So you can make a lower sugar version than what you can get in the store that will taste so much better.  One question I still have to answer is with papayas and pineapples.  I know that the natural enzymes inside will dissolve gelatin but i am unsure about pectin.  So wait for a good sale on the frozen goodies and go to town.


My Christmas List of Jams:
Peach
Blueberry
Mixed berry
Strawberry (it's a must)
Pepper (home grown hot peppers)
Planned for this year (if the garden cooperates)
Pepper (not as hot this year)
Tomato & Tomato pepper
Canteloupe
& Maybe Cucumber