Made a big pot of tomato jam yesterday. My second try and this one turned out really good..

B

barbara-in-va

Well-known member
(gotta come up with something to do with half a dozen jars of not so good tomato jam now...). I have a question, I slowly simmered for several hours to reduce and thicken. It worked great, jam is delicious. But when I put a spoonful on my plate, a ring of clear juice forms around the jam. I thought by cooking low and slow I would avoid that. Any thoughts of what I can try next please? Thank you!

 
I make green tomato jam. What recipe are you using for yours?

I use mine for putting over chevre for appetizers rather than a breakfast use since it is a bit sweet/sour in a way.
As to your question, it sounds as if while it it delicious as is, it isn't really to the "jelled'' stage. The temp should be 220* for gelling, if you don't do it by the other methods of telling it is gelled. But if it's good...... ;o)

 
Yes, it is still good! When making jam W/O added pectin, you need to boil it down until it . . .

tests jelled. If you have seepage around a spoonful when placed on a plate, it has not quite jelled all the way. The test recommended (no thermometer needed) is to put a plate in the freezer, and then after rapidly cooking down (stirring frequently and watching to keep it from burning) and after it has thickened, you put a dab on the cold, cold plate and then push the side of the jam-dab and see if it wrinkles--if it wrinkles, it is done.

Don't worry if it is some what weepy, just stir in the juice before using. Have no fear, it will still taste delicious!

 
Another test for gelling which I use is to take a spoonful of the jam/jelly and let it drip off the

side of the spoon. When it doesn't drip in distinct drops but the drops coalesce on the side of the spoon and come off together, it is gelled. Once you see it, you will know it immediately. Next time doing jelly, do the plate or temp, and then try this to see what it looks like.

 
Thank you mistral, I did not take the temp. Just stopped cooking when it felt like

it was starting to stick a bit on the bottom. It was quite thick. I didn't can it yet, maybe I will try to cook it down a bit more before I do can it. (We had it on sandwiches for dinner tonight, WOW!)

 
It's an easy recipe--this one was Italian origin

3 # green tomatoes, finely chopped
2C sugar
2TBS lemon juice
grated lemon zest
Stir all together and simmer, stirring often until it is of gelling consistency. it might take a half hour?
I have added vanilla bean, saffron, jalapeno to the mix for different flavors. I like to put it in the little 4oz. jars for gifts.

 
I think also since you pureed it, you didn't cook it quite long enough

for it to gel. You can re-cook it for sure.

 
Charley, thank you very much! It indeed looks very simple, and I have lots of tomatoes coming. . .

So I will need to make a couple of batches for gifts for Christmas!

 
Barbara, just by looking at that picture at the link I could tell it was not cooked down enough. . .

The stuff looks watery. I think that since your pureed it, it came out more like a ketchup (aka "fruit butter", but not so thick) and so would take longer to cook down. And jams are defined by the fact that they have discernable chunks in a jelled "product".

I betcha it tastes good though. I am saving this recipe and making it to be used as a jam or ketchup--I like the looks of the cumin in there. Thank you!

 
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