Our jam from Trader Joe's recently ran out, and since we don't have a TJ's here, we thought we'd go to the local store to find a good jam. Nope. All had these crazy ingredients like FRUCTOSE (he he to Dave Quinn). No, seriously, all jam needs is berries, pectin, sugar and lemon juice. The jams with only those ingredients were like $4.50 for a small bottle. To make a long story short, we decided to make our own jam. Simple recipe... 1 3/4 cup sugar, 10-12 oz berries, 3 oz liquid fruit pectin and 1 tbs of lemon juice. Then cook for an hour. The tricky part is putting it in the jars. You have to sterilize them by boiling, then put the jam inside. Then you cap them and invert for 5 minutes. Then you let them cool in their normal upright state. You hear a "pop" which means the the lid is airtight and it is ready for storage. Our first jam was blackberry. Mmmmm... it was sooo good.
So, a not so interesting post, but it's what's on my mind today.
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7 comments:
How did you learn to make jam? Sounds yummy. By the way, where do you buy liquid fruit pectin and what is pectin?
I feel so lucky to have about 4 different Trader Joe's that I can go to easily at any time.
I had a recipe in my bread machine for jam, so I used that to make the actual jam. I was worried about the jarring, but that turned out to be pretty easy. I got the pectin and the jars at Kroger (our equivalent of Ralph's).. they had a whole section of jars and pectins. I got "Ball Liquid Pectin". I think pectin is the fiber that holds fruit together, but I'm not sure. I know that it's what gives the jam it's consistency.
The fun part is when you hear the "pop" of the jars sealing knowing that your jam is save from microbial pathogens!
For the record, fructose is nothing more than a very sweet sugar. Coincidentally it occurs in many fruits and honey and is sometimes used as a preservative for foodstuffs and as an intravenous nutrient. So how bad can it be? : )
pectin? To make jam I just insult chuck norris and throw various fruits at him until he roundhouse kicks them to the face. Oddly enough this also takes care of sterilizing the jars.
I actually tried your recipe. It turned out fabulous and possibly better than a lot of jams out there.
Hey thanks! I like it too.. really simple. Do you have any other good recipies?
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