100 mile eating

The Secret to Making Jam

By Sam Mooney ⋅ July 18, 2008 ⋅  Email This Post ⋅  Print This Post ⋅ Post a comment

Strawberries are in season and I’ve made a few jars of strawberry jam.

Years ago I made jam a few times but stopped because it was more trouble than it was worth.  All the recipes were for huge amounts, I’d have jam for a decade even after I gave a lot away.  We really weren’t huge jam eaters.

The kitchen would look like a war zone, sticky puddles of jam on the surfaces that weren’t covered with sugar, jars of jam, fruit peelings, and the containers the fruit came in.  Probably bushel baskets!

That was in the days of adding pectin and I remember that it took no time at all to make the jam.  Certainly there didn’t seem to be time to clean up as I went.

Here’s how to make perfect jam –
Get a scale! 
Weigh the fruit – don’t measure it.
Then weigh an equal amount of sugar. (I think you could use less than an equal amount and it would be ok.  I’m going to try that next week)

Put the fruit and sugar in a pot and bring it to a boil.  Turn down the heat but keep the mixture boiling gently.  Cook it for about half an hour.  You can mash the fruit if you want or let it break down as it cooks and have chunkier jam.

Stir it once in a while.  You’ll know when it starts to gel.

You can check to see if it’s ready by dipping a spoon in the jam and then letting the it cool.  You’ll be able to see if it’s gelled.  It seems to set more once it’s in the jar so next time I’ll probably cook it a little less.  I like strawberry jam to be a bit runny.

The thing about jam is that it’s a bit like making stock; you can cook it til it’s the way you want it.

And the best thing?  You can make one or two jars at a time.

Tags: homemade jam, making jam, strawberry jam