Jams and Jellies

Making jam can be a very fun process especially when the fruits are very fresh and ripe.  You may even have trouble eating the fresh fruits before we get to make the delicious jams out of them.

There are a lot of recipes that are available to make wonderful sweet jams.  A recipe needs to be found that will fit the type of fruit that will be made into jam.  There are recipes that are simple and some that will have several steps to preparing the fruit and getting it ready for the jam.

Any fruits that will be used to make jams will need to cleaned, washed and have all of the stems and leaves removed from them.  Some fruits will also need to be peeled before they are ready to make jam out of them.  It is also a great idea to not produce large batches of jam and to do them in small batches.  When the jam is made in smaller batches it will help the fruit keep color and flavor because the fruit will not have to be cooked as long.  When making jam there will also need to be plenty of sugar on hand since each recipe will call for different amounts of sugar to be added.

There are hundreds of recipes available to make great tasting jams such as Peach, Blackberry, Strawberry, Pear and there is even a recipe for tomato jam available.  There is also a great product called pectin that will help jams set up and become jelled faster and ready for the jar.  This product will reduce cooking time when just adding sugar to the fruits.  Jam can be canned in pint or half pint jars and will also make wonderful house warming presents or gifts at Christmas and other holidays.  Jars will need to cleaned thoroughly before placing prepared jams into them and will need to be sealed tightly so that the jam will stay fresh and will stay preserved.  Jams are great because they will be fresh and the cook can regulate what goes into them and can make sure that there are no additives in them to make them stay fresh longer.  Making jam is wonderful and will be great to eat on freshly toasted bread in the mornings when the weather is cold and crisp and will also make us feel great knowing that we have grown or preserved the fresh taste of the fruits.