Top 10 Secrets Of The Perfect Jam From The Chef

Jam is a must-have summer preparation for the winter! Apricot, raspberry, apple, plum, currant, cherry, grape

Jam is a must-have summer preparation for the winter! Apricot, raspberry, apple, plum, currant, cherry, grape ... But how to make a truly delicious jam that can be stored for a long time, the jars do not explode and mold does not appear? Read about this and much more in our article!

1. Fruit selection

 

The first and main nuance is the choice of fruits. Our advice: choose clean, beautiful, unspoiled fruits or berries. If you collect fruits in your garden, then do it in dry weather. To make the jam homogeneous, choose fruits / berries of the same maturity. If you want the berries or fruits in the jam to remain intact, choose fruits that are small in size. 

2. Fruit preparation

 

Any berries and fruits must be carefully sorted out, remove motes, stalks and ponytails. If we are talking about washing berries, then you should pay attention to the variety of berries. "Soft" berries, such as strawberries, raspberries, should be washed very carefully: put a small portion (so that the berries do not crumple) in a colander and wash in the shower for about 5 minutes. Then let the water drain, about 15 minutes. Wash berries with strong skins in the same way, the only thing you can do is under a regular tap. Important note: wash all fruits and berries under cold water.

3. Choice of dishes

 

Give preference to enameled dishes (no chips or damage) or stainless steel dishes. The fact is that scientists have proven the harm of using copper and aluminum utensils for making jam. You probably noticed a dark coating on copper utensils after making jam? This plaque appears due to the acid contained in berries and fruits, which is able to dissolve copper oxides. And it was also found that jam cooked in copper utensils will not contain vitamin C, the reason for this is the destruction of ascorbic acid by copper ions. Under the influence of fruit acid, the oxide film of aluminum utensils is destroyed, as a result of which aluminum molecules get into the jam. If you have a choice between a saucepan and a basin, choose a basin! Firstly, in the basin, the jam will warm up faster, since it is wider than the pan, moreover, warms up evenly, and the fruits do not lose their shape, and the jam will turn out homogeneous. Secondly, if you want to keep whole fruits and berries, it is best not to mix the jam. Therefore, we choose a shallow basin with a thick bottom, and so that the jam does not burn, we turn it clockwise and gently shake it from side to side. The optimal pelvis is 3-5 liters in volume.

4. Cooking

 

The standard proportion of ingredients for the perfect jam: 1 kg of sugar per 1 kg of fruit / berries. If you take too little sugar, the jam will turn sour. Otherwise, the jam will turn into solid sugar. In order for the berries to retain their shape, the jam must be cooked in several stages, each time completely cooling. In the case of "soft" berries, you can get by with a single boil. The only caveat: the berries must be covered with sugar and left overnight, so later they will remain whole, and the jam turned out to be emerald. To prevent the berries from chapping during the cooling of the jam, cover the pan with a lid or parchment paper. To make the jam perfect, be sure to cook it after boiling on the lowest heat. Do not boil jam while cooking other dishes on the stove, otherwise it will absorb unnecessary flavors.

5. Features

 

Large fruits such as apples and pears should be boiled and boiled in boiling water for 1-2 minutes before making jam. This contributes to a better impregnation of fruits with sugar and the preservation of the shape of the fruit. So that the currant berries in the jam do not become dry, they must be blanched in boiling water for 1 minute. If you want to keep the shape of apricots and plums (so that they do not spread), soak the fruit in a solution of water and soda (1 teaspoon of soda for 1 liter of water) for 5 minutes. So that the apples do not darken during cooking, do the following "fraud": dip the apple slices in salt water for 3 minutes (1 liter of water - 1 teaspoon of salt), then dip in boiling water for the same period of time. It is convenient to do this by placing apples in a colander. If you are making jam from whole plums or hard-skinned berries (for example,

6. Cooking method

 

Classical

Boil the sugar syrup: pour water into a saucepan / basin, add sugar and cook until the sugar is completely dissolved, boil for 2 minutes, remove from heat, add fruits / berries and set aside for 5 hours. After a while, put the basin on the fire and cook after boiling for 10 minutes. Having completely cooled, put the jam back on the fire, boil and boil for 3 minutes. Pour cold jam into sterilized jars, roll up and store in a cool place.

Five Minute

Put fruits / berries in layers in a bowl, sprinkling each with sugar and leave for 5 hours. Put the fruits / berries on the fire and, stirring constantly, bring to a boil, boil for 5 minutes and leave to cool completely. Then distribute into sterilized jars and store in a cool place.

7. Determining the readiness of jam

 

Overcooked jam changes in taste and is often not attractive at all. Therefore, be sure to check the jam for readiness!

How to check?

If the jam has become translucent, and the foam collects in the center of the pan / basin, remove from heat, the jam is ready.

Take a little jam with a spoon and drop it into cold water - if the jam curled into a droplet, it is ready. If it spills, continue cooking.

8. Rolling jam

 

To avoid flaking fruits / berries from the syrup - pour the jam chilled. When chilled, the jam will be evenly distributed in the jar. Also, our strong advice: if you pour hot jam into jars, do not roll it up, cool it in jars first! Otherwise, water droplets will collect on the lid from the steam, and mold will form on the jam.

9. Sterilization

 

In the oven: wash the jars thoroughly and send them to the oven, heated to 100-130 degrees, for 5 minutes, so that the jars are completely dry. In the microwave: wash the jars, pour some water and put them in the microwave for 2 minutes. In the multicooker: pour 400-500 ml of water into the multicooker bowl, put clean jars on a special mesh and set the "steaming" mode. Sterilize jars for 5 minutes after boiling water.

An important nuance: pour the jam only into dry jars, otherwise the jam will become moldy or ferment.

10. Storage

 

First of all, it should be noted that the shelf life of jam is 1 year, no more. Store jars of jam in a dark, cool place, the optimum temperature is 10-15 degrees Celsius.

Useful Tricks

 

To prevent strawberry jam from being bitter, add raw peeled carrots to the jam 10 minutes before the end of cooking. At the end of cooking, remove the carrots, and cool the jam and pour into jars. To avoid sugaring the jam, add citric acid 5-10 minutes before the end of cooking. For thick jam, add a thickener - pectin at the end of cooking. Proportions: for 1 kg of fruit / berries - 5 g of pectin. Also, at the end of cooking, you can add a few slices of lemon to the jam, then remove it. If you notice that the jam is burnt - you can save it! Pour into another container and cook until tender, this way you will save the jam from bitterness.