![\"pluot](\"https:\/\/www.skilletchronicles.com\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/pluot-jam1.jpg\" "\\"pluot")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
As much as I adore homemade jam, I’ve always considered it an enormous gamble.\u00a0 The more I invested in time and ingredients the higher were the odds I would end up with a runny syrup or a rubbery mass better suited for Gummi Bears than toast.\u00a0 Perfect preserves eluded me.<\/p>\n
Neither the old-fashioned cookbooks I inherited from my mom nor the new crop of canning guides and web sites were much help.\u00a0\u00a0 Most of their recipes relied on commercial pectin and called for specific amounts of sugar and fruit, stated in cups.\u00a0 All advised checking whether the jam had set by watching it drip off a spoon or cling to a chilled plate \u2013 imprecise measures at best for the uninitiated.<\/p>\n
Then I ran across Russ Parsons’ advice in the Los Angeles Times <\/a>this summer and everything began to make sense.\u00a0 He offered a simple ratio for making small batches of jam using equal weights of sugar and whatever fruit you have on hand.\u00a0 Because you cook a limited amount of preserves at a time in a non-stick skillet, it’s easy to tell whether it’s ready just by watching the syrupy mixture become thick and glossy as you stir.\u00a0 Flavors are also fresher.<\/p>\n I fare much better now that I employ an instant read thermometer to check my jam. The base line is 220 degrees at sea level and a couple of degrees less for each thousand feet of elevation \u2013 or 218 degrees at my house.<\/p>\n I’ve also given up on commercial pectin, which sets too quickly and firmly for me.<\/p>\n No longer do I make dense and sticky jam that I can barely pry out of the jar.\u00a0 Instead, my jams are soft and smooth, singing of ripe fruit and spice.<\/p>\n Using Parsons’ technique, making jam is no longer a daunting enterprise involving scary vats of scalding hot syrup and high odds of failure.\u00a0\u00a0 Small batches are easy to handle and encourage experimentation with flavors.\u00a0 The colorful jars on my shelves are filled now with the likes of strawberry, rhubarb and cardamom or blackberry, lemon and Asian pear jams. Most recently I’ve been playing with the season’s plums and pluots \u2013 a cross between plums and apricots \u2013 spiked with freshly grated ginger.<\/p>\n Cooking times are reduced, too, because the fruit and sugar sit unattended off the heat for hours after you’ve brought them to a boil.\u00a0 When you put a couple of cups of the macerated fruit mixture in a non-stick skillet, it only takes 5-10 minutes to get to the jam stage over medium heat.\u00a0 Even if you cook off several batches, it doesn’t take long.<\/p>\n I’m giving a formal recipe for the pluot and ginger jam here because it’s often easier to follow a step-by-step procedure the first time around.\u00a0 But feel free to substitute whatever fresh fruit is in season and any flavor accents that appeal to you.<\/p>\n Many fruits, such as plums, contain so much natural pectin \u2013 the thickening agent in jams \u2013 that you don’t have to worry about them setting up.\u00a0 Others, such as blackberries, can use a little help from mixing with a small amount of a high-pectin fruit like apples or Asian pears.\u00a0 It’s actually better if some of your fruit is a little under-ripe because it will contain more pectin and jell easier.<\/p>\n Have fun and let your imagination run free.\u00a0 Next winter, you’ll\u00a0 have the flavors of summer sitting on your pantry shelves just when you need them the most.<\/p>\n Ingredients:<\/strong> Special equipment:<\/strong> Chop the fruit into bite sized pieces, weigh and put into a large, heavy pot.\u00a0\u00a0 Weigh out an equal amount of sugar and add it to the pot.\u00a0 Bring the mixture to a boil over medium high heat, stirring to prevent sticking and burning.\u00a0 Remove from heat and let sit, covered, overnight or at least 8 hours.<\/p>\n If you’re going to can your jam, prepare jars and lids just before the final stage of cooking. Wash jars in hot, soapy water, rinse thoroughly, and place as many as will fit without touching right side up in a tall stock pot with a rack or folded dish towel in the bottom.\u00a0 Fill pot with enough water to cover the jars by a couple of inches, bring to a boil and boil for 10 minutes. Leave jars in the hot water while you make the jam.<\/p>\n Peel ginger and grate directly into the macerated fruit.\u00a0 Stir well.\u00a0\u00a0 Ladle 2-3 cups of the mixture into a non-stick skillet and cook over medium high heat until it begins to boil.\u00a0 Lower the heat to medium and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture becomes thick and glossy, about 5-10 minutes.\u00a0 The jam should reach a temperature of 220 degrees at sea level and a couple of degrees less for every thousand feet elevation.\u00a0 Or you can check with a cool metal spoon:\u00a0 When the syrup begins to sheet off the side of the spoon, it’s ready to put into jars for canning or storage in the refrigerator.<\/p>\n Remove a jar from the pot, drain out any water and insert the canning funnel.\u00a0 Fill jar with jam to within \u00bc-inch of the rim.\u00a0 Wipe the rim with a clean, damp cloth.\u00a0 Fish a lid out of the canning pot and place atop the jar with the rubberized ring facing down.\u00a0 Lightly screw the cap down with a ring and place jar back into the canning pot.\u00a0\u00a0 Repeat until you’ve used all the jam.\u00a0 Bring pot to a boil, adding more water if necessary to keep the water level at least an inch above the tops of jars.\u00a0 Boil 10 minutes, then turn off heat and let jars sit in pot for 5 minutes.<\/p>\n Remove jars with tongs and let cool undisturbed on a towel with about an inch space between them for 12-24 hours.\u00a0 You’ll hear little pings as the jars cool.\u00a0 That’s the sign a vacuum seal has formed.\u00a0 When jars have cooled, check to make sure the center of each lid is depressed.\u00a0 If you can push the center down and it pops back up, the jam hasn’t sealed properly.\u00a0 You should stash it in the refrigerator and eat it fairly soon.\u00a0 (For more detail on the canning process, check out the University of Missouri extension web site<\/a>.)<\/p>\n Repeat the cooking and canning process a couple of times until you’ve finished up all the macerated fruit.\u00a0 It doesn’t take that long since the water has already boiled in the canning pot.\u00a0 Just be sure to refill with boiling water when needed so the water level doesn’t drop.<\/p>\n Aleta Watson<\/em> <\/em><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As much as I adore homemade jam, I’ve always considered it an enormous gamble.\u00a0 The more I invested in time and ingredients the higher were the odds I would end up with a runny syrup or a rubbery mass better suited for Gummi Bears than toast.\u00a0 Perfect preserves eluded me. Neither the old-fashioned cookbooks I … Continue reading Jam making for the rest of us<\/span> ![\"pluot](\"https:\/\/www.skilletchronicles.com\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/pluot-jam4.jpg\" "\\"pluot")
Parsons still advocates the dripping spoon method of checking for jelling, it’s true, but the technique is beginning to make some sense to me as I make more jam.\u00a0 Just to be safe, I’ve also tracked down a couple of references<\/a> for jelling temperatures to compare against the signs of the spoon.<\/p>\n![\"pluotjam2\"](\"https:\/\/www.skilletchronicles.com\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/pluotjam2.jpg\" "\\"pluotjam2\\"")
This method of making jam requires little specialized equipment other than a kitchen scale.\u00a0 Because you’re only cooking a couple of cups at a time, you can avoid the hot water bath processing altogether if you like and just stash your preserves in the fridge. \u00a0 If you do opt for canning, you don’t need such a large pot of water since you’ll only be doing a few jars at a time.\u00a0 I’ve downscaled to a tall stock pot with a folding steamer basket in the place of my massive graniteware canning kettle.\u00a0 A canning funnel is helpful.<\/p>\n![\"pluoot](\"https:\/\/www.skilletchronicles.com\/content\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/pluoot-jam5.jpg\" "\\"pluoot")
<\/p>\nPLUOT AND GINGER JAM<\/strong>
\nMakes about 8 half-pint jars<\/em><\/p>\n
\nAbout 2\u00bd pounds pitted pluots or plums
\nAbout 2\u00bd pounds sugar
\n<\/em>2-inch length fresh ginger<\/p>\n
\n<\/em>Kitchen scale
\nInstant read thermometer
\nHalf-pint canning jars with lids and rings
\nWide-mouthed canning funnel
\nDeep pot for boiling-water processing
\nTongs for removing jars from processor<\/p>\n