Morning all,
I made jam for the first time yesterday and it didn't go too badly, but if anyone can answer any of the questions below I'd be very grateful - I've read a lot of things on the internet about jam making and I think i've just confused myself!
- Apparently high pectin fruits need a lot of sugar. If low pectin fruits don't need lots of sugar, what is it that makes them set? I've read that adding acid using lemon juice is important, but I thought that was just intended to draw the pectin out of the fruit, and then you're back to needing sugar for the pectin? I'm confused.
I used a 50% sugar, 50% fruit (plums) recipe, no other ingredients, not even lemon juice. I had to reboil a few times because I was doing the cold saucer wrinkle test and couldn't see any wrinkles. The recipe said 10mins of hard boil, but I ended up doing more like 16mins, and even then I wasn't sure if the jam was wrinkling on the saucer. I potted it anyway as I didn't want hard jam. I sterilised used jars and lids from shop-bought stuff. The lids had seal buttons on them and all of them popped down after a few hours.
I opened one this morning as I actually had run out of jam, but also wanted to see what my first attempt was like. I'm pleased with the set, not too runny or hard, but a couple of problems:
- it's too sweet for my liking. If I reduce the sugar content what else do I need to add in order to ensure that it still sets, and do I need to cook it for more or less time if i add other ingredients? I don't want to add commercial pectin or use jam sugar. I don't mind adding some cooking apple if that's the only way - do I just substitute the plum for apple in equal measure? I've heard that you can substitute all sugar for fruit juice, can you do that without adding commercial pectin? Would I need to add loads of apple, too?
- there are quite big pieces of plum skin in it. The recipe said to halve the plums, but I assume it won't matter if I cut the plums into smaller pieces?
Last thing, I read that lemon peel has a lot of pectin. How do you use it in jam recipes? A lot of recipes include lemon juice but not lemon peel.
Thanks!
I made jam for the first time yesterday and it didn't go too badly, but if anyone can answer any of the questions below I'd be very grateful - I've read a lot of things on the internet about jam making and I think i've just confused myself!
- Apparently high pectin fruits need a lot of sugar. If low pectin fruits don't need lots of sugar, what is it that makes them set? I've read that adding acid using lemon juice is important, but I thought that was just intended to draw the pectin out of the fruit, and then you're back to needing sugar for the pectin? I'm confused.
I used a 50% sugar, 50% fruit (plums) recipe, no other ingredients, not even lemon juice. I had to reboil a few times because I was doing the cold saucer wrinkle test and couldn't see any wrinkles. The recipe said 10mins of hard boil, but I ended up doing more like 16mins, and even then I wasn't sure if the jam was wrinkling on the saucer. I potted it anyway as I didn't want hard jam. I sterilised used jars and lids from shop-bought stuff. The lids had seal buttons on them and all of them popped down after a few hours.
I opened one this morning as I actually had run out of jam, but also wanted to see what my first attempt was like. I'm pleased with the set, not too runny or hard, but a couple of problems:
- it's too sweet for my liking. If I reduce the sugar content what else do I need to add in order to ensure that it still sets, and do I need to cook it for more or less time if i add other ingredients? I don't want to add commercial pectin or use jam sugar. I don't mind adding some cooking apple if that's the only way - do I just substitute the plum for apple in equal measure? I've heard that you can substitute all sugar for fruit juice, can you do that without adding commercial pectin? Would I need to add loads of apple, too?
- there are quite big pieces of plum skin in it. The recipe said to halve the plums, but I assume it won't matter if I cut the plums into smaller pieces?
Last thing, I read that lemon peel has a lot of pectin. How do you use it in jam recipes? A lot of recipes include lemon juice but not lemon peel.
Thanks!