Making Jams and Preserves: What Ingredients do I Need?

Some people think of jams and preserves as being one in the same. However, there is technically a difference. Jams are made from crushed fruit and have a thick consistency, while preserves have pieces of fruit and are cooked in syrup that forms into a gelatine-like consistency. To make jams and preserves there are some essential ingredients that you will need. If you are starting out making jams and preserves for the best results you will want to follow a recipe.

Fruit is the main ingredient in any jam or preserve and you can use just about any fruit depending on your taste or desire. A lot of fruits contain natural pectin which helps to give jams their consistencies, while others require added pectin.

As mentioned above, pectin is what gives us the consistency we desire when making jams and preserves. Depending on what type of fruit you are using, you may need to add pectin to your mixture. For example, apples contain enough pectin naturally that you will not need to add any, while strawberries and blueberries do not have a lot of natural pectin and thus you will need to add pectin. Pectin can be bought in a liquid or powdered form and should not be used after its expiration date as old pectin will not yield the desired results.

In order to obtain the desired consistency there must be acid present in your mixture. If you are not using a citrus based fruit, you will need to add lemon or citrus juice in order for your jam or preserves to “gel.”

Lastly, you will need sugar. Sugar also helps your mixture to gel and also acts to as a preservative. You may substitute half of the sugar required for your recipe with corn syrup or a light honey, but you will want to be careful not to use to much as these items can overpower the flavour of your fruit and deliver the wrong consistency. So, for the best results it is recommended that you stick with sugar. Need a hard drive to store your favourite recipes on? Click here.