How To Make Jam At Home

T he sticky fingers, the fruity aroma, and the pleasure of making your own jar of jam are real and satisfying. The colorful tints of fruits on the summer days brighten up everyone's mood and tantalize the taste buds. It definitely isn't difficult to learn how to make jam at home, but do note that following tested guidelines of reliable channels is important. There are many factors to choosing your jam flavor, so expand your vision! Thyme, ginger, and rosemary all add a different taste and smell to your jar. 

Jams And Jellies Are Different!

While jams are pieces of fresh fruit cooked in sugar, jellies are fruit juices cooked in sugar for a long time, which makes them much sweeter than jams. If jams are overcooked, they get a charred taste. Jellies need to be set using pectin. Jams are our trusted friends for breakfast, desserts, snacks, and pies. 

Home-made jams are more authentic and have a genuine taste. A number of tips and tricks on how to make jam at home are listed below. Make sure you follow them closely:

• Prepare jam in a smaller batch to make sure the fruit cooks in a timely manner and the flavor and color are suitable to taste. Increasing the quantity of the recipe you are following may make the jam softer than necessary.
• Use under-ripe, fresh, and dry fruit. If damaged fruit is added while cooking, the taste and end results will not be up to the mark. The shelf life will also be reduced and your jam will decay sooner. Underripe fruit will have the highest amount of pectin.

• Use preserving sugar to avoid using lemon or extra pectin to let your jam set. Make sure to dissolve the sugar entirely before the boiling point is achieved. There has to be the perfect balance between sugar, acid, and fruit. Mastering the exact proportions is worth the training! 

• When the mixture is thicker and a glossy surface is attained, that is when your jam has reached the setting point. To test if the setting point has reached, put a saucer or plate in the fridge for 20 minutes. Pour hot jam into the plate and refrigerate for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, check the edges if they are crinkly and crumpled.

• You will see the scum once the setting point has been reached. Skim butter and slightly stir to dissolve the scum.

• Undercooked jam can be cooked again. Make sure you do not overcook your jam. You don't want your family and friends to have scorched jam! 

• Seal using a twist on lids and keep the lid 5 mm away from the top. A waxed disc cover will avoid any mold formed during storage 

Equipment For Making Jam At Home

• Cook your jams in a flat and tall saucepan. To reduce the water content of the fruit, a thick-bottomed saucepan with a wide diameter will help result in quicker gelling and evaporation. 
• Tall heat-proof jars with straight sides work well for freezing jams as they allow expansion. Sieving the seeded fruits is necessary to avoid lump formation and clustering.
• A thermometer is important to get your mixture to the crucial time. A mercury-free thermometer has the balance and markings so you don't risk making a runny or a very solid jam.
• To avoid your jam getting moldy, pour it into a sterilized container when hot.

The end product would be much more delicious than the commercial jars due to your own choice of fruit, the preservatives, additives, and the mixture of flavors. Wondering how long the shelf life could be? Well, even after a year of cold, dark storage, the jam should last and stay fresh. The final product should have half of the quantity of sugar. Keep trying the different jam recipes until you get the one you absolutely love.

Try out different combinations to get your tastebuds excited try a huge array of flavors. Jam of saffron and white peaches is known for its sour and sweet taste. Almond and pear jam is definitely a treat to the soul. Experimentation is allowed and you can try out as many combinations as you like for irresistible products. People may have different opinions on how to make jam at home, but it is a myth that jam-making consumes the entire day! There are ways you can reduce the time such as by using thickeners (pectin) and using a bread machine for jam preparation.