Jams and fruit preserves are among the best spreads—regardless of whether they are paired with peanut butter toasts, crackers, or biscuits. They can perfectly transform a snack into a treat for the sweet tooth. Furthermore, jams and fruit preserves are fairly simple to make at home. A great thing about homemade jam recipes is that one knows for sure that the preserve comprises only fresh fruits and sugar and no artificial additives.
1. Choose and prepare the fruits
The process of preparing jams and fruit preserves at home starts with the simple step of choosing good-quality fruits. When picking fruits, one must ensure they are fresh and not overripe. Furthermore, fruits that are in season make for even tastier jams and preserves since they tend to be more flavorful.
After picking the fruits, one can proceed to prepping them to make jam. Begin by washing the fruits thoroughly and peeling the ones that need to be. One would also need to remove pits and seeds from the fruits unless the seeds are too small or part of the fruit’s texture—like strawberries. If one does not like strawberry seeds, one can even remove those by first pureeing the berries and then straining the seeds out.
For strawberry jams, pureeing the berries is also a part of the recipe. For smooth jams, one must mash or puree the fruits completely. The same goes for other fruits as well. They would need to be cut or mashed to make jams. But for preserves, one can leave out small chunks of fruit instead of completely mashing them.
2. Gather other essential ingredients
To make jams or preserve fruits at home, one would need a few more ingredients besides the fruits. These include granulated sugar, lemon juice, pectin, and butter (optional). The sugar adds more than just sweetness to the jams—it mainly acts as a preservative and prevents mold growth. One can also consider making sugar-free jams without this one ingredient, but those spreads will not last as long and must be consumed within a week.
Pectin helps thicken the jam and create a gel-like consistency. While fruits naturally contain some pectin, it is not exactly enough to set the jams. Adding some lemon juice also helps in setting the jam, thanks to its natural pectin content. Along with that, the lemon juice’s tartness helps balance the sweetness and enhance the flavor. Butter can help reduce the foaming in jam preparation, but it is still an optional ingredient. One can adjust the quantity of the ingredients based on one’s requirements.
3. Mix the fruit with sugar
Add the fruits to a big pan and mix them with sugar and lemon juice. Choosing a big pan, even for a small batch of jam, ensures that there is a few inches of gap above the mixture so it does not spill over during the boiling process. Those making sugar-free jams only need to add lemon juice and directly proceed to cook the mashed or chopped fruit.
4. Cook the fruit
Once the fruit is mashed and mixed with sugar, place the pan on high heat and bring the mixture to a boil. Make sure to keep stirring the mixture constantly so it keeps boiling. If one is making the jam with pectin, one may need to add it at this step when boiling the fruit mixture. The process of boiling and constant stirring will activate the pectin to thicken the jam consistency. The boiling and stirring may need to be continued for about 30 minutes, depending on the batch size.
Those who wish to add butter to the jam to prevent foaming would need to do it after taking the mixture off the heat. Once the pan is removed from heat, simply stir in the butter.
5. Test the thickness of the jam
Before the mixture cools down completely, it is important to test its thickness. But since it won’t be possible before the mixture actually cools down, a little trick will help. Scoop out some of the jam and place it in the freezer. After a few minutes, if the jam has chilled, check the thickness by swiping a finger through it or holding it with a finger. If the jam holds together and does not fall apart, it has the ideal thickness. If not, one may need to continue boiling the mixture for a while.
6. Prepare the jars
Before pouring the jam into jars, make sure the containers are clean. One can do it by washing them in warm, soapy water and then rinsing them well. Next, put the jars on a baking sheet and place them inside an oven to dry completely. This step takes around 10 minutes.
7. Pour the jam into the jars
Once the jars are cleaned, pour the hot jam mixture into the containers, leaving a little bit of space at the top. This space is necessary to allow the jam to expand. Close the lid tightly and refrigerate the jars. Storing jams and preserves with this method is fine if they are meant to be consumed within a month or two.
8. Can the jam
If one intends to gift homemade fruit preserves or jams or store them in the pantry for future use, it is best to store them in cans to extend their shelf life. Canning the jam helps create an airtight seal, which stops the growth of bacteria and mold.
