Yet Another Jam Making Question

Cafe Society
1

After searching through the archives I couldn’t the answer to my questions…

I have been making different kinds of jam during the summer months for a few years now, and the results have been at best, inconsistent. I’m talking about either cherry or some kind of berry (wild raspberries, cultivated raspberries, blackberries or fresh strawberries). I live in NW Montana at about 3,500 feet if that makes any difference and wild fruit is abundant all around me in July and August.

I follow the standard recipes, but the end product can vary greatly. It can come out anywhere between a loose sauce to a firm jam, even though I think I am doing the same thing every time.

I always add pectin to the boiling fruit, but it doesn’t seem to make a difference. The difference, I assume, has to do with how much liquid there is after the fruit is mashed.

So here are some questions for the experts out there (you know who you are):

  1. How much do you drain the washed fruit before putting it into the pot? I hate to throw away the natural juices but perhaps that’s part of the problem… too much liquid.

  2. How long do you boil the fruit down? Something tells me I’m not cooking it enough as it’s still watery by the time I am ready to can. Should I boil more of the liquid off so it’s not quite so watery?

  3. I don’t add as much sugar as the recipe calls for. I usually only use half as much which is sweet enough for me. Could reducing the amount of sugar being added cause it to not firm up properly?

  4. When do you add the pectin? Some recipes say to add it during the fruit cooking process and others say wait until the end right before you are ready to do the canning.

  5. What does the lemon juice do? I don’t usually add it and it’s not always called out in the recipe. Does lemon juice help with firming up jam?

Any guidance you can provide a newbie would be greatly appreciated!

2

You’re using a thermometer, right? You can eyeball it, but that’s not always reliable. At 3500 feet, you need to get the jam to just over 213F (8 degrees above boiling), or it won’t gel. This usually can’t happen until most of the moisture has cooked off and the jam becomes viscous. We don’t usually use pectin, although I have done so. There are recipes for both methods. You should check your thermometer in boiling water to see if it’s accurate, and adjust accordingly. Too hot, the jam will be heading toward candy stage; too cool, and you’ve got ice cream topping.

Lemon juice adds acidity and helps prevent spoilage, but not all fruit requires it. FDA approved recipes will tell you when it’s needed (as with tomatoes). Not sure about your question on the sugar, but it’s not a good idea to deviate from tested canning recipes.

3

#3 is your problem. You can’t just leave out half the sugar. The sugar makes a matrix with the pectin which gives jam it’s consistency. For a less-sugary jam, use a specific low-sugar recipe, usually featuring low-sugar pectin as well.

Some fruits have lots of natural pectin, like plums, citrus (in the pith and seeds), apples, pears. All your lovely berries don’t have much pectin, so for a firm set jam, you will need to add it. I don’t personally like adding commercial pectin, so I try to make do with what’s around. Sometimes I collect lemon pips in the freezer and add them to my jams (I remove and discard before jarring), or grate an apple into it. But I don’t mind a softer set. It’s, uh, more European? :slight_smile: