? About cooking time for making jam

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dawnnys

Well-known member
I made Aleta's/Charlie's spicy peach jam the other day using the recent tip in T&T for making small batches (recooking it after 8 hours) and I had to cook the peaches for a full HOUR before they jelled. And this was after the addition of a pouch of liquid pectin! I didn't skimp on the sugar (although I wanted to) because I know that can affect the jell time.

Does this seem about right, or did they take a long time because they were too ripe (I read in the post that underripe fruit has more pectin).

 
The thing that gets me is that in that recipe (in T&T) they don't even USE pectin

Mine didn't gel without the pectin.

How long do you cook the fruit before it gels, Steve? With or without pectin?

Next time if it doesn't work in a shorter amount of time, it's destiny is dessert sauce! Arghhh

 
Jelling time depends on what process you use & how you test your set. I use a combination

of eyeballing, cold plate, cold spoon and instant read thermometer. Certain jams don't fully jell until they've sat for 24 hours but most of my jams are partially set when they finish cooking.

I'd think peaches (with powdered pectin in them) would cook only as long as it would take to bring them to a second boil after adding the sugar. I'd think a total of less than 20 minutes unless you have no heat coming from your burner.

Proportions also dramatically affect your product. Too much or too little sugar, too, much or too little fruit in disproportionate amounts can affect the set.

I almost always weigh my fruit and dry measure the sugar. Then there's the matter of adding lemon juice at one point. My non-pectin recipes involve mixing the sugar with the fruit, bringing it up to temperature, boiling for a couple of minutes, add lemon juice and return to a boil. You then cook until it tests positively for set.

Finally, the amount of natural pectin in the fruit will SERIOUSLY effect the set. I don't think peaches have much natural pectin as opposed to blueberries, which have tons.

Like all the things we make, it takes practice and alot of screwing up.

 
Thanks Steve - anyone else care to ring in on how long they cook their fruit for jam?

I know it depends what fruit you are using, if you add pectin or not, etc. Just looking for some guidelines - every recipe I see just says "cook it till it gels/jells". I hate vague directions ;o)

 
Sorry, can't help. My wonderful raspberries turned into lovely raspberry syrup.

I followed the directions; used liquid pectin, did the spoon thingie, processed 10 minutes, sat overnight, YUMMY syrup. It is really good; but not what I intended. I chalked it up to high humidity and high heat... ; )

Will give it a shot again in the fall with apples; just so much work that goes into jammin. I am so impressed with the ability and passion that many of you have with jams. My experience is that when done correctly, the taste is unbelievable, but they really are a work of love!

 
Barb, you know you can easily turn that syrup into jam or jelly? Just pick up some Sure-Jell and

follow the instructions for repairing preserves that haven't set. Or, even easier, return your syrup to a pan, mix in a package of sure jel, bring to a boil, pour into jars and reprocess.

That should give you a good set (unless you under sugared them. If that's the case, buy Low-Sugar Sure Jel and use that.)

Never say "die".

 
Just finished another batch of Vanilla Almond Raspberry Jam

I timed it for you and found that it took 15 minutes until it came to a full boil which I "could not stir down" (as per the directions for the liquid pectin). After stirring in the pectin, it took another 3 minutes to come back to that full boil. I then boiled it for a full minute as per the directions. The leftovers in the small bowl are already setting up nicely.

I had noticed on Steve's label of Olallieberry jam that he had used lime juice instead of lemon, so I threw in some with this batch and it really gives it a nice flavor. You may want to give it a try in one of your next batches.

 
Jar Update... You can still get them at Walmart for $6.00!

A few weeks ago, Albertson's had the 8 oz jars on sale for $5.99 - even the wide mouth ones. Went to check yesterday and they're back up to $10.99.
So, decided to run out to Walmart this morning and they still have some for $6.00 (no wide mouth). Be sure to check the box - some of the 8 oz. jars are $8.16 (they have a different design on the top lid).
Ah - just opened the box... these jars are not the "quilted" ones with the "crystal cut" - they're the plain mason jar type. Bet Steve's jam tastes just as wonderful in these jars!

 
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