Jam, Jellys, Reserves, Preserves and Chutneys

Fruit in the Kitchen
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This will be for the above, feel free to contribute your recipes
Basic Pectin-Free Jam Recipe

4-6 cups of fruit large/medium dice (I like my jam chunky) (mix and match)
2-4 cups of sugar give or take (2 at the minimum for super sweet fruit)
1/2 lemon squeezed
Yields 5-6 Pints Jars

Combine sugar and fruits in bowl, let sit for an hour or so to macerate.
Transfer to heavy bottom non-reactive pan, I like a rondo
Bring everything to a boil, stirring frequently
Reduce heat and simmer until jam thickens, I use the plate in the freezer trick*,

ceramic plate in freezer for 10 mins, place a drop or two of warm jam on plate, let sit for a second, then turn it 90 degrees and see how you like the flow of the jam, it should move, but not run

While still simmering transfer to Jelly Jars
Process in your canner for 5-10 minutes

Things i Know work:
4 cups Raspberry 1 cups stone fruit (peach/apricot/plum all work well) 1TB Cinnamon 1 TB Nutmeg
4 cups Strawberry 1 cups Kiwi 2 TB Black Pepper
4 cups Blueberry 1 Vanilla Bean split and scraped 2 whole Anise stars ground, 2 TB lemon Zest

The Notorious F.I.G Jam Jam

2 LB Figs stemmed and chopped
1 Orange Squeezed and zested
1/2 Lemon Squeezed
1 TB Fresh Ginger, zested
1 TB Cinnamon
1 TB Nutmeg
1 TB All Spice
1 Cup Sugar

Follow Basic Jam Procedure


Spiced Red Raspberry/Plum/Kiwi and Yellow Raspberry/Apricot/Peach fresh from the canner

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Jalepeno Jelly

1/2 ounce Powdered Pectin
1 cup Hot Water (180-190 degrees)
1 pound Jalapeno, washed & stemmed
2 large Bell Pepper, seeded and fine diced
2 1/2 pounds Sugar
1 1/2 cups Cider vinegar

Blend dry pectin with hot water for 1 minute, let rest 30 seconds and then blend 30 seconds more. Fine chop jalapenos in food processor. Cook in sauce pan with bell peppers, sugar and vinegar. When mixture comes to a rolling boil for 1 minute add pectin. Cook exactly 1 minute more when returned to boil. Remove from heat, let cool, put in container and store in refrigerator

This is one my favorite restaurant recipes, this goes well with a lot of things like Eggs Benedict, Assorted Sauteed Fish, Turkey, Bacon and Cheddar Club.

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Serious stove :heart_eyes:

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One of the problems I have with say preserves is that the chunks tend to float. So it separates some from the liquid. I have to figure out how to correct that. After sitting some I shook them up, and that seemed to work. Still soft enough to mix. Once mixed I refrigerated to hold mix. I will see how it works? (I just made some tonight).
I usually use pectin as I like the consistency of the jam with pectin. Although not needed at times, I prefer the gel consistency with pectin. Also the longer you cook the jam, the more nutrient poor it becomes. Sometimes you have to simmer for a long time to get it at an acceptable consistency. With pectin cooking time is minimized.
I’m not much of a fan of spiced jams. Clove is another spice one could use. I prefer not to use them.

Black Pepper!? OK, that’s a new one! What is the purpose of the black pepper?

I try to use a 2 to 1 ratio of fruit to sugar. Most of my jams are bright, and tart even. The fruit flavor is not buried like in sugar saturated jams. I have had some that were terrible, with hardly any flavor.

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Please allow me to commend you for your pectin-free jam recipe on top! I guess I’m old fashioned and probably just how I was raised, but I have always felt jams and jellies made with nothing but fruits (or their extracted juices) and sugar are far superior! I know most people use pectin these days and I know it has some advantages (less likely to crystalize over time, easier to get the right consistency, etc.). And I know its considered a “natural” additive since its usually derived from fruit. But I am always drawn toward recipies that rely on sugar, fruit, and juice and I appreciate yours.
As for the black pepper…that one caught me off guard too when I saw you post it in an earlier recipe!

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I’ve been making crab apple jelly the last few years with no pectin. The crab apples are wild and only 3/4" diameter. Way too much work, but really good. I was thinking of putting them through a juicer this year instead of pulling all the stems and cutting them up. Any reason why this wouldn’t work?

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anyone can make a strawberry jam, but adding black pepper (or any other spice), accents the sweetness of the berry and allows the earthy spiced peppery notes to envelope your taste buds on the back end. in one bite, you get sweet, tart, spice and heat, that’s a lot in one bite.

My family and friends go nuts for the stuff, I have to hide two pints in the back of fridge to avoid them being taken/given away.

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anyway to get the apples into smaller pieces, for butter, jelly, jam, doesn’t matter. For more delicate fruit, i just hit it with the immersion blender (stick blender) for a second while its cooking.

Yes my Home kitchen is fully outfitted with commercial appliances, we can feed a restaurant if we had too, I have 4 ovens: 2 convection gas & 2 convection electric. Thank god for floor models :pig:

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No, it should work fine. Juice can be used to make jelly.

After posting I thought probably the idea. My tastes are just not sophisticated enough to appreciate it though. I find the spices actually quite boring. I do like them when pickling though.

True, but one when one has unique fruit to work with, accenting it is not needed.

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Moley. thanks for sharing the receipt. Do you happen to have a good old fashioned english gooseberry jam receipt? And at what ripen stage should berries be picked to make jam/jelly?

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Drew, this white strawberry looks nice. what they taste like? Do they taste like regular strawberry or has different taste or aroma? I have a no-runner alpine white strawberry that has pineapple aroma, but the berry itself is very small

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Pineberries are very aromatic. They have a citrus tone to a strawberry base. They taste like a strawberry with some pineapple flavor, hence pineberry. The texture is softer than regular strawberries, but not as soft as alpines. Also the taste is not like alpines. Musk Strawberries taste like alpines except the flavor is much more intense. I didn’t really get enough musks for a batch of jam. I may combine them with alpines.
When making jam with Pineberries the color comes out a shade of brown. Not very appealing. So it’s best to combine with something to give it a better color. Some reds would make a pink. Or blackberries would make a more interesting color. I’m still trying to find the best combo. Rhubarb might work well. Kiwi would taste great, but the color would be very unappealing.
Next year I’m going to try blackberries or black raspberries. The pineberries are more acidic than reds, so maybe mulberries, or black raspberries would work as they are low acid types.

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Drew, Aromatic and citrus tone all sound so delicious just eat fresh, I will try to grow some next year.

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Moley,

Thanks for the recipes. I never cooked with figs, and the spices here sound really good. I hoping one day to have enough figs to try it!
Also your basic jam recipe is excellent. I pretty much do it exactly like you do except I always add lime juice and pectin. The acid from lime helps the gel process, and also preserves color.
I also like making combo jams and the use of peaches with yellow raspberries, that will work for me.
I mentioned them before but will again the combos that have worked for me are.

Blackberries and blueberries - Black and Blue jam.
Mulberries-blackberries-red currants - This tastes like candy. My best jam.
Blackberry-Kiwi - Not bad, but not as good as the above two.

Also if one has the blackberry-raspberry hybrids. I grow these hybrids: Wyeberry, Boysenberry, Tayberry, Newberry, and Columbia Star, those work really well in the above combos. Wyeberry is first to ripen so I’m using them now. I just picked some today in the rain. I’m leaving for 4 days so picked them for jam at various stages of ripeness.

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I do eat as many fresh as possible. One major problem with pineberries is they have no shelf life. If I don’t eat them the day of harvest, I freeze them. I have a routine where I freeze yesterday’s berries in preparation for today’s berries. The photos are of the one’s I couldn’t eat, and froze. 2/3’s of the harvest was eaten fresh.

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Stole this one from a well respected chef.

Pickled Strawberry Jam

By Christina Tosi

Makes 3 cups

1 3/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon powdered pectin
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups strawberries, hulled
2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
5 pieces coriander seeds
1 piece cardamom pod

I like to double the spices I also add some cloves, does well on simple toast points, some kind onion product and balsamic redux

In a bowl, whisk the sugar, pectin, and salt to combine. If a seedless jam is desired, purée the berries in a blender and strain through a fine-meshed sieve. Otherwise, leave them whole, or cut large ones into quarters.

In a medium saucepan, combine the sherry vinegar, rice wine vinegar, coriander, and cardamom. Bring to a boil over medium heat, and immediately remove from heat. Remove and discard the coriander seeds and cardamom.

Return the saucepan to medium heat and add the sugar mixture, stirring with a wooden spoon until blended; it will be dry at first. Add the strawberries or strawberry purée, and continue to stir, crushing the berries with the spoon, until the mixture is liquefied and comes to a boil. Continue to boil, stirring constantly, until thickened, about 3 minutes.

Pour the jam into a heat-proof bowl and let cool completely. Store it, covered, in the refrigerator. The jam can also be frozen for up to six months.

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Here is the pineberry jam. Next time I will combine for a better color.

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Looks great Drew!
Thanks for the recipes Moley. I will have to try some seeing what I make is ordinary. It’s still very delicious ordinary though lol!

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That sounds like heaven!