Can You Freeze Jam: Why It Can Make Sense

How to freeze jam – this is what you should know about it

Sugar keeps jamming for months. For this reason, our favorite spread contains a lot of it. Even a slight reduction in sugar would result in a major loss in terms of shelf life. We tell you how you can change that.

• When it came to the shelf life of jam, the motto used to apply for a long time: a lot helps a lot. For this reason, the fruits were mixed with the white “gold” in a 1:1 ratio. Nowadays you can buy gelling sugar in every supermarket.
• Thanks to the gelling of sugar, the sugar content in homemade jams has been significantly reduced. The mixing ratio is only 2:1 or even 3:1. Despite the large reduction, jams are not low-sugar products.
• In addition, the added palm oil and the preservatives in the jam sugar should not be forgotten. They are crucial for the shelf life of the jam, they improve the gelling ability of the fruit and reduce excessive foaming when boiling.
• Would you like to live with reduced sugar, avoid palm oil and preservatives and still not do without your beloved jam in the morning? Then freeze your jam at -18 degrees.
• At this temperature, the enzymatic processes of the jam are slowed down so much that it can be kept for months – despite the reduced sugar, no palm fat, and no preservatives.

How to freeze the fruit spread

Especially if you make a jam yourself, it can be worth freezing some of it. But you can also store purchased fruit spreads in this way without any problems.

• Recipe: Put 1 kg of strawberries and 3 dashes of lemon juice in a saucepan and boil the mixture down. The lemon juice improves the gelling ability of the fruit and lets the color of the strawberries shine in a rich red for longer.
• Add sugar to taste and stir in. To make your jam firm despite the reduced sugar content, you can add a tablespoon of starch. First mix the starch in 50 ml of cold water. Add the starch to the boiling jam, stirring constantly. Let the jam cool down completely. Pour the jam into mason jars.
• To ensure safety when freezing the jars, they must contain air. They should therefore not be completely filled. Store the jam jars upright at -18 degrees in your freezer.
• Thanks to this method, your homemade jam can be kept for up to 12 months and tastes like it was freshly made. Of course, you can also freeze store-bought or high-sugar jams in this way.
• Tip: Fill your jam into ice cube trays. You can defrost them in portions as needed.