Jam – Preserving like great-grandma

Ingredients for 1 servings:

• 1,000 g fruit
• 800 g sugar
• 50 g lemon juice

Instructions

Working time approx. 15 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 30 minutes; Total time approx. 45 minutes

Only made from fruit and sugar

In our great-grandmother’s day, there were no gelling agents. Pectin-containing fruits like apples, quinces, or currants could be made into jellies. Strawberries, raspberries, and sour cherries, however, were “cooked down” to make jam, which often required very long stirring. It took experience; otherwise, the jam would be too thin or, once all the water had evaporated, syrup. Since today’s digital scales make it easy to determine how much water has been used, all it takes to make jam like our great-grandmothers did is a little calculating and weighing. Most fruits have a high water content (80%-90%), and the right consistency is achieved by reducing the fruit weight by about 20%: Weigh the empty 5-liter saucepan and note the weight. Add the chopped fruit and lemon juice and note the total weight. The difference is the weight of the fruit mass. The above quantity makes 1050g, which needs to be reduced by about 20% to about 800g. Bring to a rolling boil on the highest setting, stirring constantly. Reduce to a good medium heat (electric stove mark 6+) and reduce by about 250g, stirring occasionally. Important -> When weighing, place a wooden board on the digital scales to insulate the scales to prevent heat from damaging them. After reducing, add the sugar, bring to a boil on the highest setting, stirring constantly, and boil for another 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove the pan from the heat, skim off the jam if necessary, and immediately fill into screw-top jars. These quantities make about 4 jars of jam.