Owly055
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Feb 28, 2014
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Years ago I abandoned all pretense of following the instruction making jams and jellies. This year I had a bumper crop of raspberries and decided to make freezer jam. I use only a minimal amount of sugar, and more than double the pectin called for. The cost of pectin in the store is prohibitive. I purchase bulk pectin from Nuts Online nuts.com One pound of pectin is $4.49, less than the cost of two boxes of MCP. It doesn't come in a cute little box with an instruction sheet, but in a nice big bag, and works just as well. I've purchased pectin in bulk elsewhere, but I highly recommend these guys. I've purchased other products from them and always been happy.
Drastically cutting the sugar results in an incredibly tasty rich product that bears no real similarity to typical jam. I do freezer when I can to retain more of this beautiful fresh flavor. The downside is that you get far less product, and it's far more expensive due to the quantity of berries and pectin. Sugar is a cheap filler.
You can't be shy about remixing to add more pectin if it isn't thick enough for you, or about reheating canned preserves while you fine tune your proportions. It's best to do a small test batch to discover the proper proportions, and document everything.
H.W.
Drastically cutting the sugar results in an incredibly tasty rich product that bears no real similarity to typical jam. I do freezer when I can to retain more of this beautiful fresh flavor. The downside is that you get far less product, and it's far more expensive due to the quantity of berries and pectin. Sugar is a cheap filler.
You can't be shy about remixing to add more pectin if it isn't thick enough for you, or about reheating canned preserves while you fine tune your proportions. It's best to do a small test batch to discover the proper proportions, and document everything.
H.W.
