No, discourse, this topic is not similar to “Jambalaya advice”.
I just got into jam-making. I’ve made cherry/almond preserves, strawberry preserves, and apricot jam. All three of them are fabulous, but I like my jam a little softer. The recipes I used produced a somewhat stiff jam.
If I reduce the pectin by about 1/4 or 1/3 would that work? Or would this change somehow mess up the fruit/sugar/pectin relationship and produce a wonky jam?
Most fruits don’t need any pectin at all.
You can also change the consistency by changing how long you boil it for. The longer you boil, the more water you boil off, and the stiffer it gets.
But feel free to experiment. No matter what you do with the consistency, you’ll always end up with some sort of sweet goop you can put on bread with butter.
What Chronos said. Experiment and see how the consistency changes depending on a number of different factors. For me, recipes are mere suggestions, not strict requirements.
I should also mention that my mother has been making hundreds of jars of jam per year, from perhaps a dozen different kinds of fruit, for many decades. And she still never has any two batches that come out quite exactly the same. A certain level of variability is just part of the terrain, when it comes to jamming.
If you want your jam with a higher proportion of fruit to sugar but without tedious boiling down, I recommend Pomona pectin, which works by a different technique.
In either case, yes, you’re going to have to experiment a bit with the recipes; and will get some variation from batch to batch as the fruit will have some variation in its own sugar and pectin content from batch to batch.
A friend made peach&habanero jam last year and I’m just running out. Time to drop hints about the peach crop.
My mother-in-law makes her version homemade jam, and it is usually thin and watery. Flavorful but not thick enough to spread with a knife;… a spoon is required.
I have not made any but if I did I would start with a tool to tell me the sugar content of the fruit before I added any pectin. If you can control this I think you can predict how stiff or watery the result would be. Good luck!
I’ll wager that it’s predominantly due to variation within the fruit being turned into jam/preserves. Differences in sugar, acid, pectin content, water content, etc… will all make a difference.
I would bet that if you’re a huge outfit like Smuckers, those either average out consistently considering the amount of fruit they deal with, and/or they have the ability to test and adjust for all those variables in ways that the home jam-maker doesn’t.
They may be telling their suppliers what varieties to grow and what brix to harvest at.
Plus which I’m sure they’ve got lots of testing equipment.
This is what I use to measure sugar content. Although now I pretty much only use Pomona’s pectin to make lower sugar jams. It uses a calcium solution to set.
As opposed to my mom, who doesn’t even have suppliers. She mostly uses volunteer fruit.
I have 2 peach trees. One makes a decent jam the other does not.
Variety matters.
White peaches make what I call preserves. Chunky is the best descriptor. I’ve ground, mashed, processed and just cut small. Always feels chunky in the mouth.
Experimentation with what you have is the best advice.
Keep in mind that if you reduce the pectin and make it too runny you can always reheat it and add more pectin to firm it up.
I just failed at making red current jelly for the first time ever. It’s runny. Like, a thick liquid. It’s always been a jelly before, sometimes it’s been too stiff. I’ve never added protection and wouldn’t even know where to buy it. Same bushes as the last two years, too.
I like to make freezer jam. It tastes, to me, more like fresh fruit. It is also a much softer set.
If you meant pectin (not protection) you can buy it at virtually any grocery store. Find the canning area and its usually in little boxes like you’d see jello or pudding in. Many stores have brand name or generic. There is also lower sugar too. Or… you’ve got awesome ice cream topping.
How are you testing whether it’s done enough? Is it too old-fashioned to
put some saucers in the freezer and use them to test a teaspoonful after (say) 10-12 minutes (less if you’re using jam sugar or other added pectin) of boiling, and keep re-testing as necessary?
Pectin is sold in the the baking/spices aisle.
I used a thermometer. I used to pour dribbles off the spoon, like the illustration in the joy of cooking but that often led to overly rigid jelly.
So, i guess my question is whether i have damaged the pectin in the fruit and need to add more or whether i just need to add more sugar or cook it further. I don’t think my supermarket carries pectin, but the real issue is that currants don’t need added pectin. I’ve made currant jelly at least a dozen times without adding pectin. And this juice felt thick and gooey and, frankly, somewhat gelatinous before i even cooked it.
So if i didn’t damage the pectin already there, i don’t need more, it’s some other problem.
But if i could have somehow broken down the pectin, maybe that is the answer.
Certo brand pectin – the only one endorsed by Bruno Gerussi! (Happy Canada Day!)
