Contents 1 FAQs 2 Basic Recipe 3 Basic Kit 4 Tips & Tricks

Jam is delicious on toast, on warm crusty bread, on a crumpet, or in a tart – there really is nothing quite like heaps of sweet and fruity preserve for lifting the spirits.

The precise origins of jam have been lost in the mists of time, and are a subject for historical debate. The reasons though I believe are clear; it is an excellent way of preserving fruit from a bountiful harvest in the summer months, that can easily last throughout the long cold winters without the need of refrigeration or freezing.

Unfortunately, like a lot of things, jam making is not widely practised, and we are subjected to the mass-produced sugar-laden (often 60% or more), preservative-ridden, commercial products. Once you have tasted home-made jam and realise how easy it is, then I promise you, you won’t go back.

There may appear, to a novice, a lot of questions and confusing terms, so let me try and answer those first.

What is the different between the different fruit spreads?

• Jam – Jam is made using the juice and pulp of the fruit. It is usually quite opaque and retains enough of the pulp to be firm, but is soft enough to spread.
• Jelly – Jelly is made using only the strained juice of the fruit. It should be translucent and colourful. It sets firm, but is still soft enough to spread.
• Conserve – Conserve is made by stewing fruit in a hot sugar mixture to extract the fruits flavour, and is commonly made with dried fruit. It is thick and chunky, but still works as a spread or as an accompaniment to meat and cheese.
• Preserve – Preserve is served as a jelly with chunks of fruit.
• Fruit butter – Fruit butters are made with the whole fruit, sugar and spices, and is cooked low and slow, often for up to 10 hours, until majority of the moisture is removed and the desired smooth creamy consistency is reached.
• Marmalade  – More commonly made from citrus fruit. As well as the pulp of the fruit, it is made using the peel, which gives it the slightly bitter taste. It is cooked slow and long.
• Fruit Curd – Curds are usually made with lemon, lime, orange or raspberry. It is made using egg yolks and butter, along with the juice and zest of the fruit together with sugar. Once cooked and cooled, it should set to a smooth creamy consistency.

Do I need to heat the sugar? – No, but the secret to great tasting jam is to get the sugar to setting point as quickly as possible. Adding cold sugar to hot fruit means you will have to boil for longer. Heating the sugar before adding to the fruit can help getting to setting point quicker resulting. Place the sugar into a oven-proof dish and in a moderate oven for about 15 minutes or until it is hot to touch, but do not let it start to caramelise.

What is meant by ‘setting point’? – Setting point is when the jam mixture reaches 104°C/220°F. With the sugar at this temperature, combined with pectin and acid, then you should achieve set.

What is meant by a ‘rolling boil’? – Rolling boil is when the mixture bubbles furiously and cannot be stirred down.

What is the frothy scum that appears when I am boiling my fruit? – This is caused by impurities in the sugar. It is completely harmless and nothing to be worried about. It does not affect the taste at all but can affect the aesthetic once it is set. Either skim off the scum, or add a knob of butter which prevents the foam from forming.

Where can I get Jam Jars? – You can buy a range of jars from various suppliers such as Lakeland or Amazon. You can combine them with wax discs if you like. For a more cost effective method, there is nothing wrong in re-using jars as long as you ensure that you sterilise them thoroughly. Any nasty bacteria can seriously shorten the life of your jam. It is worth noting that according to EU regulations, you legally cannot sell jam that is in re-used jars. You can give to family and friends, but you cannot sell them, even if it is at your local village fête.

How do I sterilise my jars? – My preferred method is to heat the jars in the oven. Place the washed jars on a baking tray right side up, and place in a cold oven. Turn your oven to 140°C/275°F/Gas 1 for 30 minutes. Switch off the oven but leave the glass jars in there. To clean the lids, place in a pan of boiling water for at least 10 minutes, retrieve with tongs and leave to drain on kitchen paper.

Do I need to ‘process’ my jam after potting? – There are differing view points on this depending on which side of the pond you are from. Food safety is very important but as this article is strictly about jam making, and not the canning or preserving of other more high-risk food stuffs, the advice following is only relating to the handling of fruit jams. There is a very small risk that food can be contaminated with Clostridium botulinum, a bacteria that can lead to botulism. Boiling of the fruit to setting point will remove most contaminants. Fruit is an acidic food, and this bacteria cannot thrive in an environment that has a ph level of 4.6 or lower. Sugar, like salt, is also a natural preservative and makes an extremely inhospitable environment for bacteria. In the US, they commonly ‘process’ jam after potting by boiling the filled and sealed jars in a water bath. Personally, I find this method can over-cook the fruit. The longer you cook your fruit, the more of the natural flavours are lost. If however you are concerned, you can process your jam by boiling the sealed jars in a high-sided tray half filled with water for at least 10 minutes.

What is Pectin? – Pectin is a natural polysaccharide soluble dietary fiber found in all fruit, however, some have more than others. It is an essential part of the ‘magic’ that makes jam set. When making jam, you can combine fruit that has little pectin with some that have high amounts of pectin. Alternatively, you can add pectin that can be bought in powdered form, liquid, or (my preferred method for those low pectin fruits) you can use jam sugar which has pectin added in, so you always have the right amount. A soft set can still be achieved for low-pectin fruits without added pectin by adding lemon juice, and longer boiling. This method does risk boiling away the fresh taste of the fruit however.

A list of fruit and their pectin content

High	Medium	Low
apples (cooking) citrus (peel) crab apples cranberries currants (red,black) gooseberries plums (sour) grapes quinces loganberries	apples (dessert) chokeberries loquats cherries blackberries (early) blueberries mulberries	apricots figs cherries elderberries peaches pears pineapple raspberries strawberries rhubarb plums (sweet) citrus (fruit) blackberries (late)

Basic Recipes

• Raspberry Jam – as Raspberries are low in pectin, this recipe uses jam sugar
• Rhubarb & Strawberry Jam – another recipe using jam sugar. Alternatively, you can use a slightly larger quantity of caster sugar, and boil for longer. Set point can be checked with the ‘freezer plate’ method
• Blueberry Jam – this is a soft set jam using caster sugar. You can always use jam sugar if you want a firmer set
• Blackcurrant Jelly – no added pectin is needed for this recipe as blackcurrants are high in pectin.
• Lemon Curd – this curd is smooth and full off flavour.

Once you have mastered the above, feel free to experiment with other fruits. Follow the basic method of boiling the fruit, then weighing the mixture and adding the equal weight in sugar. Heat gently until the sugar is dissolved, then boil until setting point is reached. Remember if you are using added pectin follow the packet instructions.

Basic Kit

• Preserving Pan – A wide bottom so that your fruit heats up quickly is essential so that you don’t cook away valuable flavour. High sides are important as you will be surprised how high the mixture grows as it boils. It’s quite an investment, but can be used for other things such as fudge and toffee making.
• Large Preserving Spoon – The temperatures you will be getting your mixture to are very high. A long-handled large-paddled spoon is essential for keeping your hands away from the fruity lava. A regular wooden spoon won’t cut it.
• Sugar Thermometer – You can make jam without this, but believe me, it is a lot easier with one as it takes out so much of the guess work. It is also very useful for other things too such as fudge and toffee making
• Jam Jar Funnel – Perfectly for ensuring that you get your hot jam cleanly into the prepared jars
• Jelly Bag – Essential for making a beautiful crystal clear fruit jelly
• Jam Jars and lids – It is perfectly fine to re-use old jam jars, as long as they are thoroughly cleaned, but be careful of those with a rubber seal as this does degrade
• Jam Labels – Once you have a rainbow of jams in your cupboard, you will need to know what is what and how old they are. And remember the First In First Out rule.

Tips and Tricks

• Contrary to popular belief, slightly under-ripe fruit is much better for making jam than over-ripe. As the fruit ripens, a lot of the pectin degrades and PH levels rise.
• NEVER add hot jam to cold jars as they will explode and potentially cause injury
• For beginners, stick to a 1:1 ration of cooked fruit to sugar to begin with. As you practice, you will learn which fruit you are able to drop the sugar yet still achieve a good set.
• If your jam does not set, you have either not boiled it enough to get the sugar to setting point, or you have boiled it for too long and cooked out all the pectin. This is why a sugar thermometer is advisable.
• If you are making jam in an area high above sea level, you need to drop the setting point temp by 2°F per 1000 ft