lower sugar peach jam

 I've got heaps of peaches and they are so good.  I went low on the sweetener with this peach jam and I think it's great.

Follow the Pomona Pectin recipe but use only 1/2 c of sugar for 4 jars (that's 25 grams per jar, which is usually at least 6 servings).

• 4 cups peaches
• lemon juice  
• calcium water
• pectin
• 1/2 cup sugar 

So basically I'm just memorializing this here so I don't forget I went even lower sugar than the recipe because the peaches are so good!

raspberry jam (no pectin)

 Just made a batch of raspberry jam from the berries picked yesterday, and it seems fabulous so far.  

Ingredients

• 3 pounds raspberries (48 oz)
  
• 3 cups sugar (21 oz)
  
• 3 T lemon juice

Process

 Get fresh raspberries and clean them (rinse under gentle stream of tepid water, put on towels to dry).  Put raspberries and sugar into a large pot, stir, leave to macerate (I put into the fridge if macerating more than a couple of hours). 

The next day, take pot out.  When ready to begin, turn heat to low-medium and let them slowly heat up, stirring occasionally.  Once there's some bubbling, crank the heat to higher until a full rolling boil for 2-3 minutes and add the lemon juice.  Put the heat back down to just warmer than simmering, stirring regularly, for about 20 minutes.  The color will deepen and texture will become more gel.  There are heaps of tests to use like freezer plate, temperature, etc., but those never quite work for me. 

While this is happening, sterilize jars and warm up lids.  When ready, fill jars to 1/4" and water bath or steam can for 10 minutes out of abundance of caution.  Shelf stable for at least a couple of years, refrigerate once open.  

Yield: 8 + 8 + 6 + 13 + 13 = 48 oz (6 jelly jars, but I reused some Bonne Maman jars and one jelly jar didn't quite fill).

strawberry jam

 This is what I'm working on now, will report back.

Clean and sterilize jars.  Clean and warm lids on stovetop.  This batch made about 5.5 cups (four jelly jars and a tall jelly jar) which is less than I expected, but more hot strawberry sugar would have hit me if I tried to double.) 

Clean strawberries.  Soak in vinegar water (maybe 1/4 cup per gallon of water) for 10 minutes, rinse and drain.  Lay out on towels to dry.

• 3 pounds strawberries (some less ripe strawberries in the mix for natural pectin is good)
  
• 3 cups sugar
• 1/4 cup lemon juice

Put cleaned strawberries into large pan and stir in sugar.  Allow to macerate overnight.  Pull out to warm to room temperature and stir.  Allow sugar to full dissolve.

Heat mixture then add lemon juice.  Bring to boil.

Bring to 220 degrees and hold for 10 minutes.  (Note:  I never get it to 220.  Once I get to full rolling boil, go 20 more minutes.) 

Allow to sit about 10 minutes for fruit to be dispersed.  Put into sterilized jars.

Optional: 10 minute water bath.  

Note: it can take time (a day or more) for the jam to thicken up.  If it doesn't thicken, it can be syrup or it can be reprocessed. 

quince jam

I could only get the ornamental quince, but I'm sure this is still lovely.  Cooking now.  From a variety of sources.

- 2# of prepared quince (cleaned, seeded, cored, sliced)

- 4 cups water

- 1 lemon, juiced (2 T bottled)

- 1 1/2 cups sugar

Heat water and sugar until sugar dissolves.  Add prepared fruit and simmer for about two hours.  

Put into sterilized jars and process for 10 minutes if storing long-term. 

damson plum jam

 It looks like my new house has heaps of damson plums - or to be more accurate from a landscaper who came by, some sort of hybrid on-nongrafted stock that likely developed right here. They're in large clusters so heavy as to pull down the thin branches. Everyone says the tree needs trimming back and I warn them to wait until after harvest.  I'm quite excited about these plums.

I made my first batch of jam and it seems very tasty though I have to let it cool first for maximum effect.  

Damson Hybrid Plum Jam 

Ingredients:  

• 1.5 kilogram of damson plums.  It seems fine to pick when slightly underripe and there's more pectin in there
• 2 cups water
• 750 g sugar (is what I used and I want to try even less sugar)

Directions

Pick and clean the plums. Clean jars and lids; put lids in hot water to prep and sterilize jars. 

If more than 1.5 kilograms, make in batches.  

Put the plums in a big pot with 2 cups of water.  Turn on low-medium to let the plums cook a bit to soften, like 5-10 minutes.  Let cool enough.  Pour into a colander on a bowl and pick out the pits.  Then return the pulp and juice to the pan.

Warm again and add sugar, stirring well.  

Keep stirring as turning up the heat.  Once it gets to boiling, stir very well and let it boil for ten minutes. 

Pour into clean jars and lids.*  Process if you wish**

 

*Re jars & lids: I reuse.  Not just mason jars, but jam jars.  I especially like the Bonne Maman jars, they're a great size.  I've reused the lids numerous times without issue, and I like that I can give them away and if they're recycled instead of returned to me it's no big deal. 

**Re processing: I grew up with homemade jam poured into sterlized jars and letting them seal on the countertop.  Since I've learned they're supposed to be water bathed for 10 minutes.  Shrug.  Either way.  If I water bath, I"m a little less fanatical about everything fully sterilized, and just clean is good enough.  

mulberries

 Got a bunch of mulberries and I'm having some fun.

Mulberry jam - I use Pomona pectin and their instructions because it always works great for me and it gives me a low-sugar option.

• 4 cups mashed mulberries
• 1/4 c. lemon juice
• 2 tsp. calcium water (needs to be made up from the powder in the pectin package)
• 2 tsp. pectin, in a separate bowl, added into
• 1 c. sugar
  

Mash fruits and add lemon juice, bring to boil, add calcium water, bring to full rolling boil.  Add the bowl of sugar/pectin and stir it in well for a couple of minutes and bring to full boil again.  Put up in sterile jars, water bath for 10 minutes.  

Mulberries for yogurt

I then took the rest of mulberries and heated them up again.  (Because I gathered them from a dirty tarp, I wanted them cleaned thoroughly and cooked.)  I added some honey then put in clean jars to refrigerate and add into yogurt or other such things. 

loquat jam

I have a beautiful loquat tree in my backyard.  Here in New Orleans they're called "misbeliefs" and they are also known as Japanese plums.  They're not something you'll buy in the supermarket because they don't travel or store well, but they are very tasty.  The dog and I have eaten countless loquats this year, as well as birds who like to come peck at them, and it just keeps producing.  So I grabbed a heap to make loquat jam and remembered that they are not fun to process.  Picking is easy, deseeding not so much.  I skinned probably about half or more because of marred skins, and I removed seed and tried to remove the dark part of the seed sack that goes to the hard blossom end part.  I kept a variety of ripenesses, from barely ripe to very ripe, for pectin and flavor differences.  Cut in half, I then put them with sugar overnight in the fridge.  Recipe below, taken from my own jamming knowledge and various websites.

Ingredients

• loquats - about 4.5 pounds prepared - seeds removed, etc.)
• sugar - about 1.5 pounds (a 3:1 ratio is what I'll try)
• lemon juice - 3.5 Tablespoons
• cardamom - 1/2 teaspoon (or more)
  

Directions

• Mix sugar into prepared loquats and allow to sit at least an hour.  Add lemon juice and cardamom.  Put into a large heavy bottomed pan.
• Prepare jars and lids at this time (sanitize, warm up, etc.).
• Gradually heat up the ingredients.  Bring to simmer until skins burst and juices start to boil.
  
• Increase heat to medium high and cook to a slow, thick boil (about 35 minutes or so). Stir often.
  
• Hot pack water bath process for 5 minutes.

Yield: about 6 jelly jars (half pints)

jam oatmeal cookies

As I look around my kitchen at things to use up, I spy ... a lot of jam.  And oats.  And brown sugar.  And so on. 

So, I will make this recipe which is taken from a book called the Treats Truck.  I'll use up bits of what's in the fridge - some strawberry, some quince, some raspberry. 

Ingredients:

• 1 & 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1/8 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 3 cups old-fashioned oats
• your favorite jams or preserves

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Grease or line baking sheets.
2. Whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Set aside.
3. Beat butter and both sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Mix in vanilla. Gradually add flour mixture, mixing until fully incorporated. Mix in oats.
4. Scoop dough onto prepared pans, placing them about 2 inches apart. Using your thumb, make a hollow in each cookie. Fill each hollow with jam (or preserves).
5. Bake each baking sheet 12-14 minutes, until cookies are fully baked and the edges are golden.

strawberry honey jam

(originally posted on other blog March, 2009)

Pre-work: prepare the jars & lids. Wash them well, then put them in separate pans. You want to boil the jars to get them very sterile, but do not boil the lids because that can destroy the sealing rubber gasket part. Get the lids to a simmer then turn off the heat; boil the jars about 10 minutes and then keep them in the pot. You'll use the same pot to boil them in later when they're full of jam, so don't dump the water out. [I have a problem with a film developing on the jars when they boil - my guess is from minerals in the water. Will need to figure it out.]



Then, wash the strawberries. Be gentle. Get organic strawberries, or at least unsprayed, so you're only washing to get off dirt, leaves, etc. Dry on a clean tea towel. Let them get to room temperature so that their flavor is very full.



Then, hull them. I take the stem off with my fingers, then use a huller for the tough attachment part. (Can also use a knife, but I find that seems to take off too much of the good berry.)



Slice until you think you'll have about 4 cups mashed (my best guess is about 2 1/2 pints). (You probably don't have to slice before mashing, but I think it makes the mashing easier.)



Then mash, leaving some yummy big chunks but getting out the juice. Measure into a pan to be sure you have 4 cups. {*I do multiple batches as well - see below.}


Get out your other supplies. I use Pomona's Universal Pomona because it doesn't require table sugar and has fantastic customer service (yeah, I've called twice). I use local honey because it tastes like ambrosia. I've never been all that into honey before, but this Westwego (on the West Bank) honey from Mynick's farm pushes me into paroxysms of pleasure. And the combination of local strawberries and honey is so wonderful!



The directions are clear for Universal Pectin, which I appreciate. You have to make "calcium water" (just adding some liquid to water to keep in a jar). You add 2 tsp of that to your 4 c of mashed berries, and then add 2 tsp from the other packet (pectin) to however much honey you want to use (I use 1/2 c to 3/4 c of honey per 4 cups of strawberries.)


Bring the fruit to boil while stirring so the bottom doesn't burn. Then add the honey mixture, stirring well to dissolve the pectin. Return to a boil and then remove from heat.

Fill the jars to 1/4" of top (it really helps to have a canning funnel). Wipe the rims clean, screw on the two piece lids, and put the jars in the boiling water to cover. Boil five minutes if you're at (or below, in my case) sea level, longer at higher altitude. Remove with the special tool for that (jar handler tool) and set on a towel on the counter to cool. For four cups of mashed berries, I filled three 1/2 pint jelly jars and then a larger jar that isn't for canning to use as fridge jam (I sterilized the jar & lid and will keep in fridge and use up right away).



And then you have jam! Yum! It's fantastic to eat throughout the year, and I especially like it in homemade yogurt.

****
It is definitely possible to quadruple batches with this pectin (as long as you have enough pots, etc.).

3/24/09 - A whole flat of strawberries yielded about 18 1/2 c mashed strawberries (probably more but I measured generously). I put in about 2 1/2 c honey and 10 teaspoons each of calcium water and pectin.

It made 7 pints plus an applesauce jar, a jam jar, and another glass container I use for food leftovers.

****
3/23/10 - A whole flat yielded about 17 c mashed berries (yeah, I nibbled on quite a few), which yielded 9 pint jars of jam plus a little bit.