Making Jam & Jelly at Home - Ingredients -
Fruit & Pectin

Fruit

Choose fruit which is dry, sound and not over ripe. Fruit which is wet or damaged will cause the jam to go mouldy and over ripe fruit lacks pectin and acid and the jam will not set properly

The fruit should be thoroughly softened by simmering to extract the pectin which, when boiled with sugar, will cause the jam to set. If the sugar is added before the fruit is properly cooked, the jam will not set, the skin of the fruit becomes tough and the jam is often a dark colour.

To obtain jam that will set properly, it is necessary to extract the pectin by simmering the fruit and the acid naturally contained in the fruit will assist the pectin extraction.

For fruit that lacks acid and pectin, the deficiency can be made up by:

• Mixing the low or medium pectin fruit with a high pectin one, e.g. apple and blackberry.
• Adding a pectin stock made from fruits such as apples, gooseberries or redcurrants.
• Adding commercially made pectin which is supplied in liquid or, sometimes, powdered, form.
• Adding lemon juice or citric acid.

Jam Making Pectin Chart for Fruit:

Pectin stock

Use cooking apples, redcurrants or gooseberries. Place the prepared fruit in a pan with around ¾ pint (450ml) of water to every 2 lbs (1kg) of fruit and simmer until tender. Strain through a jelly bag or muslin. Set the juice aside. Leave for a few hours and then cook the pulp again with half the original water. Simmer for about 1 hour and then strain thoroughly again and combine the two batches of juice.

The amount of pectin to add varies according to the fruit used but a general guide is about 5 fluid ounces (150ml) of pectin stock to 4lbs (2kg) of fruit.

When using commercially made pectin, follow the manufacturers instructions. Generally 2 to 4 fluid ounces (50-125ml) of liquid or 2 teaspoons of dried to each 1lb (450g) of fruit is sufficient.

If using lemon juice, 2 tablespoons to 4lbs (2kg) of fruit is normally adequate.

Sugar

Any type of white sugar may be used but it will dissolve more quickly if warmed and the finer types are used.

To warm the sugar, put into a cool oven, Gas Mark 1 (140°C/275°F), for a few minutes before adding to the fruit.

Preserving or lump sugar creates less scum but the amount of scum can be reduced considerably by adding a knob of butter or a few drops of glycerine during the cooking process.

The sugar must dissolve in the simmered fruit before it is brought to the boil, otherwise the jam may become crystallised and sugary.

The amount of sugar needed for setting depends on the amount of pectin present. For fruits with plenty of pectin, allow 1½ times the amount of sugar to fruit. If there is just enough pectin, use equal amounts of sugar and fruit.

Add pectin to low-pectin fruits. The best combination for setting and keeping qualities is obtained in a jam that contains 60% of added sugar.

Water

Making Jams, Jellies & Sweet Preserves Guides

There are recipes, methods and tips for jams, pickles, chutneys, sauces, jellies and more in our book.

For more information about the book see
Easy Jams Chutneys & Preserves

• Making Jam & Jelly - Equipment
• Making Jam & Jelly - Ingredients
• Making Jam & Jelly - Methods
• Making Marmalade
• Making Fruit Butters & Fruit Cheeses
• Making Fruit Curd

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