Help me make jam & jelly

TastyReuben said:
Poking around on the internet, the generally accepted meaning of a fruit spread is 100% fruit, no sugar added, though it may be sweetened with sweet fruit juice.

I do think marketing plays a big part in labeling, especially with jam/preserves/conserves/compote. If you're going for "something my little old white-haired grandma in the Blue Ridge Mountains made," maybe you'd call it jam. If you want to go more "Old World," then maybe preserves or conserves or compote. It just sounds more artisanal and maybe upscale.
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I think a compote is a fresher item that needs to be used more quickly? I have reduced fruit before to make stuffed French toast and I called it a compote. I dunno if I named it correctly, LOL, but it sounded good!
 
rascal said:
.Jam I make is 50/50 fruit and sugar.
And its gooood.

Russ
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That´s the proportion my mum uses, and it works great with beet sugar. However, with pure cane sugar,(which is what I get in Venezuela) there´s too much sugar in the jam, which is why I lowered the proportions.
As for "compote" - that´s a French term for fruit cooked in sugar syrup. It needs far less sugar, because it´s usually a fresh product designed to be used within a few days.
 
Small update, because incremental changes are good!
2 heaping cups of very ripe fruit
Approximately 1.75 cups of sugar
1/2 packet of pectin
A sliver of butter (maybe a 1/4 tbs?)
One piece of ginger, as big as my thumb, grated on a microplaner.

This didn't gel together as fast as the previous batch, so I was worried at first. Maybe its because I didn't cook the fruit as long as last time, or maybe because I decreased the pectin. I bottled it up half expecting a failure this morning, but checking the fridge this morning reveals they set very well.

Flavor... YES! This is what I wanted! And the addition of ginger compliments the starfruit so well without overpowering the jam. I'm glad I froze some fruit so I'll be making this for my parents when they come to visit next time :)
 
We went out for dinner last night and had an appy of phyllo (kataifi) wrapped shrimp with a piri piri sauce. The shrimp were either pan sauteed or brushed heavily with butter/oil and cooked under the broiler. It was great, but I'm going to steal the basic idea and make a pepper jelly glaze/sauce.

80065
 
So this is weird.
Wife said she didn't like it and it was too strong in the ginger department. I was upset... until I tasted it on toast.

When tasting the jam alone, its perfect. When tasting the jam on toast, the flavor delivery... changes? Somehow, the act of spreading it out on a toasted piece of whole grain bread dilutes the fruit and sweetness but not the ginger, which becomes overbearing.

So the result was not as intended. I'm both fascinated and disappointed. The saga continues...
 
FowlersFreeTime said:
So this is weird.
Wife said she didn't like it and it was too strong in the ginger department. I was upset... until I tasted it on toast.

When tasting the jam alone, its perfect. When tasting the jam on toast, the flavor delivery... changes? Somehow, the act of spreading it out on a toasted piece of whole grain bread dilutes the fruit and sweetness but not the ginger, which becomes overbearing.

So the result was not as intended. I'm both fascinated and disappointed. The saga continues...
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I'd probably like it - could you use is as an accompaniment cold meats or cheese instead of spread on toast?
 
Well done anyway for trying. That´s part of the pleasure of making jam making; trial and error.
A bit more of this, a bit less of that, until eventually you get the proportions right and everything is well-balanced.
Plus of course, not everyone tastes things the same. Too much ginger for your wife might well be just right for your neighbour!
 
Well, my original goal for this thread was to document my lessons in Jams and Jellies, so here is yesterday's failure:
Pepper Jelly
1 cup diced yellow bell pepper
1/2 cup diced hot peppers (I used Jamaican Scotch Bonnet)
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup white sugar
1/2 packet (24grams) Pectin

To be honest, I was winging it, but taking notes as I go along. The consistency wasn't what I wanted, the end result was too hot, and it didn't set, even after resting in the fridge overnight. Next time I will:
  • Use fewer hot peppers
  • Blend finer with a stick blender and then strain the mixture.
  • Simmer longer to reduce the liquid content, as I'm sure that's the reason it did not set
When I get this right, I'll move on to incorporating fruit into the pepper jelly recipe as it is mango season and they should be ripening in about a month.
 
Observations from someone who´s made thousands of pots of pepper jelly:
1) You need more fruit
2) You definitely need more sugar
3) You need to add the pectin last, not cook it through
4) Blitz the peppers before cooking; it´s a whole lot easier.
5) Sometimes the set takes 24 hours or so. No problem.
Here´s the recipe I posted for Red Pepper Jelly.
Follow the instructions exactly and you won´t go wrong.
You can exchange the red peppers for jalapeños, Scotch Bonnet, green peppers, rocoto peppers... whatever takes your fancy. I even made a Balsamic Vinegar Jelly once
 
karadekoolaid said:
Observations from someone who´s made thousands of pots of pepper jelly:
1) You need more fruit
2) You definitely need more sugar
3) You need to add the pectin last, not cook it through
4) Blitz the peppers before cooking; it´s a whole lot easier.
5) Sometimes the set takes 24 hours or so. No problem.
Here´s the recipe I posted for Red Pepper Jelly.
Follow the instructions exactly and you won´t go wrong.
You can exchange the red peppers for jalapeños, Scotch Bonnet, green peppers, rocoto peppers... whatever takes your fancy. I even made a Balsamic Vinegar Jelly once
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From your recipe and tips I can see what I did wrong, I will give it another try this weekend!
Edit: good points about the pectin. I did not cook the pectin; I didn't sufficiently reduce the liquid before adding the pectin, and that's primarily why it didn't gel.
 
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FowlersFreeTime said:
end result was too hot
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Remember that heat will reduce as the jelly is stored. I'm finding this very noticeable with the chutney I made a month or two ago. Stuff I thought was too hot and not going to be useable is now hardly noticeable at all and given that we also don't eat it by itself, but on things, that further dilutes the heat.

I reckon I found easily make the next batch twice as hot as I'm currently making them and it would be fine by the time we eat it.
 
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