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The old way of making jam is to keep boiling the fruit until you’ve boiled all the nutrients out of it while adding cups of sugar until the fruit has thickened enough to be considered jam. This is time consuming and messy, which isn’t a bad thing, but it’s also making your jam nutrient deficient and heavy in sugar, which is definitely not good!
So if you want to avoid boiling your fruits to a paste and lower your sugar intake, then introduce pectin. Pectin is the naturally occurring substance in fruits that gives them their consistency and allows your fruit to jell together. High pectin fruits include citrus fruits, pomme (apples, pears) fruits, and berries, which you can throw in the sauce pan (it doesn’t change the flavor), or you can just buy pre-packaged pectin.
Note: You can use the below recipe for many different kinds of fruit jam, though the cooking time will vary depending on the fruit chosen.
Ingredients you will need
- 4 cups of the fruit of your choice, roughly chopped
- 1 whole juiced lemon (or another form of pectin whether natural, store bought, liquid, or dry, up to you! Just make sure you proportionate it correctly)
- 1/2 cup of sugar
Equipment
- Large pot
- Large spoons and ladles
- 1 Canner(a large pot to sanitize the jars)
- Mason Jars(including the lids)
- Rings- metal bands that secure the lids to the jars. They may be reused many times.
- Jar grabber(to pick up the hot jars)
Optional
- Food Mill - not necessary; but it is useful if you want to remove seeds
- Lid lifter it is used to pick the lids out of the boiling water after you sanitize them.
- The Kit
The kit sold below has everything you need, and at a pretty good price which includes all of the must-have tools suggested.
It includes a
- Jar Brush to make sure your jars are clean.
- 2-Cup Measuring Cup, with graduated measurements.
- a Jar Funnel which fits perfectly inside any wide or regular mouth canning jar
- A Magnetic Lid Lifter which is actually two tools in one, as it doubles as a bubble remover.
Instructions
- Firstly, you can either sterilize your mason jars and lids by boiling them for 10 minutes before you begin making your jam, or you can do this during the simmering process.
- Place the chopped fruit and the ½ cup of sugar in a pot, and place on medium heat.
- After around 10 minutes, the mixture will start to boil, reduce the heat to simmer and stir.
- Keep stirring the pot periodically to make sure no fruit gets stuck to the bottom or sides of the pot and stir more frequently once the jam begins to thicken.
- If you are having trouble getting the jam to reach the consistency you like, then now is the time to and your source of pectin, which in this case is the 1 whole juiced lemon. NOTE: You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to, but then you’re going to be boiling your jam for a very long time, which will destroy all the minerals and take away a lot of the taste in the fruit, as well as having to add in more sugar.
- Once the jam has set to your desired consistency, pour the hot jam into your mason jars, let it cool and then store in your fridge (for up to a month) or freezer (up to around 6 months).
The Following steps are for canning the jam if you plan to store your jam for months
- Instead of tightening the lid securely, just tighten them slightly. You don’t want the rings to rust on the jar, or the jar to crack while boiling.
- Now line the bottom of a large pot with a kitchen towel and fill the pot with enough water to cover the jars completely, lids included. Bring the pot to a simmer and then lower the jars one at a time into the pot.
- After around 5-15 minutes (a large time range, but it just really depends on your altitude, fussiness, how long you want to store the jam, and other factors), remove the jars with a lifter & place them on a kitchen towel overnight, or for around 12 hours. Make sure the area is cool and out of sunlight and not exposed to any drafts.
- As the jam cools down, the seal will make a popping sound, signifying that the jar is sealed. You can also test the seal by pressing on the lid in the center and making sure it is not flexing up and down.
- Once you have confirmed that the jam is sealed tight, you can now place the jars in a cool dry place for up to 12 months or you can refrigerate them for immediate use.
