# What's the difference between Jam, Jelly, and Marmalade?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-jam-jelly-and-marmalade/647663
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [January 19, 2013, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-jam-jelly-and-marmalade/647663 "2013-01-19T00:06:54Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)
#### Post date: [January 19, 2013, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-jam-jelly-and-marmalade/647663/1 "2013-01-19T00:06:54Z")
Just what the title says
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### Author:  [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)
#### Post date: [January 19, 2013, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-jam-jelly-and-marmalade/647663/2 "2013-01-19T00:11:02Z")
I am no expert, but my understanding is:
jelly = boil the fruit, strain and use only the juice
jam = boil and puree the fruit
preserves = boil and coarsely mash the fruit
marmalade = I’m not sure - I belive you include the citrus rind
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### Author:  [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)
#### Post date: [January 19, 2013, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-jam-jelly-and-marmalade/647663/3 "2013-01-19T00:17:05Z")
\*\*\*What’s the difference between Jam, Jelly, and Marmalade? \*\*\*
You can’t jelly (or marmalade) your c\*\*k up someones ass.
You can thank my uncle Andrew for this piece of enlightenmet.
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### Author:  [@colander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colander)
#### Post date: [January 19, 2013, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-jam-jelly-and-marmalade/647663/4 "2013-01-19T00:21:54Z")
> [@zoid](#):
>
> \*\*\*What’s the difference between Jam, Jelly, and Marmalade? \*\*\*
>
> You can’t jelly (or marmalade) your c\*\*k up someones ass.
> You can thank my uncle Andrew for this piece of enlightenmet.
Actually, you can, but take my advice and don’t use the habanero jelly.
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### Author:  [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)
#### Post date: [January 19, 2013, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-jam-jelly-and-marmalade/647663/5 "2013-01-19T01:19:09Z")
> [@Motorgirl](#):
>
> I am no expert, but my understanding is:
>
> jelly = boil the fruit, strain and use only the juice
> jam = boil and puree the fruit
> preserves = boil and coarsely mash the fruit
> marmalade = I’m not sure - I belive you include the citrus rind
Got it in one. Jelly is traditionally juice only, jam pureed fruit (or fruit that cooks down into mush during the process; you don’t really have to puree raspberries for jam), preserves whole or mashed but not pureed, and marmalade is a citrus jelly, jam or preserves that includes pieces of the rind.
Marmalade used to mean \*any \*fruit preserves, and was probably first made with quince, naturally high in pectin. Sometime in the 1800’s, English started using it just for citrus.
Of course, life being what it is, there are exceptions!
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### Author:  [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)
#### Post date: [January 19, 2013, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-jam-jelly-and-marmalade/647663/6 "2013-01-19T01:33:39Z")
Jelly also has added sugar, while preserves do not.
I had some preserves the other day. I shan’t be eating jelly again.
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### Author:  [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)
#### Post date: [January 19, 2013, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-jam-jelly-and-marmalade/647663/7 "2013-01-19T01:50:25Z")
> [@monstro](#):
>
> Jelly also has added sugar, while preserves do not.
Huh. This must be a regional difference; I’ve never met a preserves recipe that didn’t include sugar, unless it was specifically for sugar free preserves.
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### Author:  [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)
#### Post date: [January 19, 2013, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-jam-jelly-and-marmalade/647663/8 "2013-01-19T01:55:48Z")
You might be right, **WhyNot**.
I swear I didn’t find anything ending in -crose on the label of preserves I was staring at the other day. But maybe I just missed it.
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### Author:  [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)
#### Post date: [January 19, 2013, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-jam-jelly-and-marmalade/647663/9 "2013-01-19T01:56:50Z")
> [@WhyNot](#):
>
> Huh. This must be a regional difference; I’ve never met a preserves recipe that didn’t include sugar, unless it was specifically for sugar free preserves.
Looking at the ingredients lists on my Knott’s apricot preserves, strawberry preserves, and boysenberry jam, all three list both high fructose corn syrup and [just plain] corn syrup; the strawberry preserves also has sugar.
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### Author:  [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)
#### Post date: [January 19, 2013, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-jam-jelly-and-marmalade/647663/10 "2013-01-19T05:37:38Z")
The key difference with jelly is that it’s, well, gelatinous. It has the semi-solid, ‘set’ consistency of Jell-O. The others do not. (It’s also why I find it gross!)
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### Author:  [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)
#### Post date: [January 19, 2013, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-jam-jelly-and-marmalade/647663/11 "2013-01-19T05:45:58Z")
> [@monstro](#):
>
> Jelly also has added sugar, while preserves do not.
>
> I had some preserves the other day. I shan’t be eating jelly again.
I eat something called Simply Fruit, which is basically fruit juice without any added sugar. It’s BETTER than jelly, even though it’s of the same consistency. It has a more intense flavor. Now, it still has the sugar of the original fruit, so I have to limit my intake of it. It’s not a sugar free food by any means.
Basically, what I was taught was already said…jelly is made from juice, jam is made of smushed fruit, and preserves are made from whole fruit, or large pieces of fruit. Just about every recipe that I’ve seen has sugar or sweetener added, no matter what shape the fruit is in.
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### Author:  [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)
#### Post date: [January 19, 2013, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-jam-jelly-and-marmalade/647663/12 "2013-01-19T08:01:41Z")
As I understand it, marmalade was prepared not with sugar but with salt. And it was bitter as hell.
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### Author:  [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)
#### Post date: [January 19, 2013, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-jam-jelly-and-marmalade/647663/13 "2013-01-19T12:37:12Z")
They way I’ve always understood it:
Jam is made from pulped fruit (like strawberries) and sugar. It goes well on toast, crumpets, scones and other such prandials. Very sweet.
Jelly is gelatinous and typically a dessert food. Contains no actual fruit unless you mix some in before it sets. Goes well with ice-cream.
Marmalade is basically jam made from oranges, but it’s not sweet because it doesn’t have much (any?) sugar in it.
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### Author:  [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)
#### Post date: [January 19, 2013, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-jam-jelly-and-marmalade/647663/14 "2013-01-19T13:30:44Z")
Any input on a claim I have heard (from my adult son) that “jelly” is specifically an American word in this context? “Jelly” to other English speakers (U.K., Australia, for example), he claims, means the gelatin dessert, and “jam” is used for the whole group other than “marmalade.”
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### Author:  [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)
#### Post date: [January 19, 2013, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-jam-jelly-and-marmalade/647663/15 "2013-01-19T13:49:33Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#):
>
> I eat something called Simply Fruit, which is basically fruit juice without any added sugar. It’s BETTER than jelly, even though it’s of the same consistency. It has a more intense flavor. Now, it still has the sugar of the original fruit, so I have to limit my intake of it. It’s not a sugar free food by any means.
>
> Basically, what I was taught was already said…jelly is made from juice, jam is made of smushed fruit, and preserves are made from whole fruit, or large pieces of fruit. Just about every recipe that I’ve seen has sugar or sweetener added, no matter what shape the fruit is in.
That’s what it was that I had! Simply Fruit. And it should be called Simply the Bomb because it was delicious.
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### Author:  [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)
#### Post date: [January 19, 2013, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-jam-jelly-and-marmalade/647663/16 "2013-01-19T14:50:03Z")
> [@DSeid](#):
>
> Any input on a claim I have heard (from my adult son) that “jelly” is specifically an American word in this context? “Jelly” to other English speakers (U.K., Australia, for example), he claims, means the gelatin dessert, and “jam” is used for the whole group other than “marmalade.”
Nah- if you say ‘jelly’, most English people at least will automatically think of the gelatin dessert, but it is also used for the clear jam-like substance made from strained fruit pulp. I have 70s English recipe books for ‘jams and jellies’.
Jelly’s also used as a description for rubbery sweets (candy), and that gloopy stuff you get between meaty chunks in cat and dog food, but that’s probably beside the point.
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### Author:  [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)
#### Post date: [January 19, 2013, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-jam-jelly-and-marmalade/647663/17 "2013-01-19T15:34:39Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#):
>
> Jelly is gelatinous and typically a dessert food. Contains no actual fruit unless you mix some in before it sets. Goes well with ice-cream.
> .
Americans don’t use “jelly” to refer to Gelatin desert (we call that by its American brand name: Jell-o). Jelly means cooked fruit juice set with pectin, that you put on toast.
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### Author:  [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)
#### Post date: [January 19, 2013, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-jam-jelly-and-marmalade/647663/18 "2013-01-19T15:48:52Z")
[It Must Be Jelly ('Cause Jam Don’t Shake Like That)](http://lyrics.lucywho.com/it-must-be-jelly-cause-jam-don-t-shake-like-that-lyrics-glenn-miller.html)
Sir Mix-a-Lot, you’ve been pwned by Glenn Miller. (Though actually written by his pianist, Chummy MacGregor.)
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### Author:  [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)
#### Post date: [January 19, 2013, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-jam-jelly-and-marmalade/647663/19 "2013-01-19T15:59:09Z")
> [@zoid](#):
>
> \*\*\*What’s the difference between Jam, Jelly, and Marmalade? \*\*\*
>
> You can’t jelly (or marmalade) your c\*\*k up someones ass.
> You can thank my uncle Andrew for this piece of enlightenmet.
Hmmm. But you can jelly roll somebody.
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### Author:  [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)
#### Post date: [January 19, 2013, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-jam-jelly-and-marmalade/647663/20 "2013-01-19T16:20:58Z")
It’s strawberry jam.
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