Making Low and No Sugar Jams

Removing sugar from jam recipes will cause your jam to not set properly and can prove to be a failed task, unless you utilise special low and no sugar recipes and pectin products. Generally these recipes will call for you to replace the sugar with more fruit, which can actually result in a more fruitful tasting jam.

Jam recipes that do not use sugar most often have a less firm texture than jams that are made with sugar. These types of jams will come out more like a gelatine dessert than a traditional jam. Since sugar is an important part of the gelling process, when we eliminate it from the mixture we must replace it with a gelatine or special type of pectin.

When making jams with gelatine, the mixture is heated and then placed into hot sterilised jars. However, they are not canned in a boiling water canner or pressure canner as this will cause the gel to break down. Given this, these types of jams must be stored in a refrigerator and consumed within three weeks.

If you are to use modified pectin products to make your low to no sugar jam you may freeze or process the jars in a canner depending on the recipe that you are following. Therefore, these types of jams can be stored for later use. It is important to follow the directions on your recipe and on the label of the pectin you are utilising.

The basic ingredients for no sugar pectin jams are non-sweetened apple or grape juice, very ripe fruits that have not spoiled, and pectin or gelatine. Fruit that is very ripe has more natural sugar than ripe or under ripe fruits and will help to sweeten the final product.

Like with any jam recipe you will want to find tested and tried recipes and follow them exactly to ensure that you get the best results.