Ok, first of my experiments in canning.... Jam!
So, if you've seen me lately, you probably know I've been making jam this spring/summer. Probably the little jars of jam that are popping up in your homes after I visit may have been a clue. Sometimes it has been less subtle ("Here, takes this off my hands, Plz!"). The biggest thing I have been working on is fine tuning how sweet I like my jam, and I think I've got it nailed at this point. So let me share my recipe and reasoning for doing this....
Like many folk I know, I made the switch to mainly diet products several years ago, and my taste buds have adapted to the point that anything that is full strength sweet/sugar is now wayyyyyy to sweet for me. This happened with my batch of strawberry jam this Spring following a traditional jam recipe. This may be an indicator of Yule presents to come.... Then shesqueals convinced me to try a no sugar / low sweet method for our canning class. This made me nervous since generally doing something untried for a class is risky, especially when they're expecting to take home the results (also the old science teacher axiom "Thou shalt not use thy class as Guinea pigs", but that's a whole 'nother story...). We used Stevia in the Raw (a natural zero calorie sweetener) which can be measure in the same amounts as sugar. We ended up adding 1/2 cup of Stevia to 7 cups of crushed blueberries to achieve what everyone felt was the right level of sweetness. One thing to keep in mind is that whenever using a low to no sugar recipe you can't use pectin as the thickener. shesqueals introduced me to Pomona's Universal Pectin which uses calcium as the activator. I have to admit this stuff seems fool proof, and since I started using it have had 100% success, unlike some of my experiences with liquid pectin (blackberry sauce anyone?).
Going back to the Stevia, I have not had a chance to fully test the flavor component of this over time in storage. I have 2 jars of Stevia blueberry jam in my cupboard and will open one in a few months to do a taste test. One thing you will need to be aware of though when using it is that it has much less mass than sugar, so will reduce the amount of jam you get as an end result. A cup of sugar with a cup of fruit will yield 2 cups (16oz) of jam. Using a cup of Stevia yielded closer to 1 and 3/4 cups from what I could see.
As to the natural sugar vs. zero calorie sweetener debate, that's a personal choice I let others make for themselves. Low sugar is generally healthier all around for the average person compared to full sugar (I will expand on this in a later post dealing with the body's insulin response). From my own experiments I have found Sugar in the Raw to be an excellent sweetener since it adds to the flavor as well as the sweetness, and it isn't processed as much. If you have a history of diabetes, cardiovascular issues, or obesity, then the Stevia route may be better. Because it is a natural product there a general feeling that it will be better for your body than artificial sweeteners. I hope so, though I always worry that there is a tendency 20 years later of some study turning up an unknown detrimental effect that no one thought of..... (1891: "Coca leaf is natural, right? Let's put it in a drink and mass market it....")
So here's the recipe I've hit on that seems to be the right level of sweetness for my tastes. Feel free to give it a try and let me know the results. If you have been recently gifted with a tart cherry or blueberry jam from me you have tasted the results already.
Fruit Jam - blueberry, strawberry, tart cherry, blackberry (will test on more fruits to come)
Recipe makes ten (10) 8oz jars of jam.
8 cups crushed fruit
2 cups Sugar in the Raw
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (rule of thumb 1 tablespoon per cup of fruit)
1 Package of Pomona's Universal Pectin
1. Make the calcium water following Pomona's directions and set aside.
2. Wash and stem all fruit. Discard any fruit that is discolored, mushy, or fuzzy.
3. Crush fruit (either by hand, blender, or food mill depending on texture preference) and measure out 8 cups. Add lemon juice to the first 2 cups of crushed fruit, and stir in subsequent cups of fruit (preserves color and will provide enough acid to hinder bacteria).
4. In a separate bowl mix the 2 cups of sugar with appropriate number of teaspoons of pectin powder as specified by Pomona's, and set aside.
- Blueberry, Strawberry, Sweet Blackberry, Tart Cherry - 4 teaspoons for 8 cups of fruit
5 Place crushed fruit in a sauce pan, stir in calcium water (4 teaspoons as well), and heat while stirring continuously until mixture comes to a boil. Skim off any foam that you can and discard (don't worry if a little foam is left, just try to get most of it)
6. Once boiling, sprinkle in the 2 cups of sugar/pectin mix while stirring. Stir continuously until the sugar is completely dissolved and the mixture comes back to a boil that can't be stirred down. Once it is boiling again, remove from heat.
7. Follow the steps outlined by the Ball Jar company, or any authoritative canning book, to process and can the jam safely.
www.freshpreserving.com/pages/step_by_step_high_acid_foods/34.php
The National Center for Home Food Preservation is a good link to have as well since it goes into detail about why certain methods and ingredients have to be used (like lemon juice) for safe canning and preservation.
www.uga.edu/nchfp/index.html
So that's the first installment of my food preparation, preservation and canning experiments. Don't know how many of these food experiments I'll get around to this year, but I do know cheese making is on my to do list in the near future, and I'll be waiting in anticipation to hear how shesqueals does with her new fermenting jar. Hope this was helpful, and let me know if you run into any problems trying this out. Feedback is welcome.
-BBQ Bill
Like many folk I know, I made the switch to mainly diet products several years ago, and my taste buds have adapted to the point that anything that is full strength sweet/sugar is now wayyyyyy to sweet for me. This happened with my batch of strawberry jam this Spring following a traditional jam recipe. This may be an indicator of Yule presents to come.... Then shesqueals convinced me to try a no sugar / low sweet method for our canning class. This made me nervous since generally doing something untried for a class is risky, especially when they're expecting to take home the results (also the old science teacher axiom "Thou shalt not use thy class as Guinea pigs", but that's a whole 'nother story...). We used Stevia in the Raw (a natural zero calorie sweetener) which can be measure in the same amounts as sugar. We ended up adding 1/2 cup of Stevia to 7 cups of crushed blueberries to achieve what everyone felt was the right level of sweetness. One thing to keep in mind is that whenever using a low to no sugar recipe you can't use pectin as the thickener. shesqueals introduced me to Pomona's Universal Pectin which uses calcium as the activator. I have to admit this stuff seems fool proof, and since I started using it have had 100% success, unlike some of my experiences with liquid pectin (blackberry sauce anyone?).
Going back to the Stevia, I have not had a chance to fully test the flavor component of this over time in storage. I have 2 jars of Stevia blueberry jam in my cupboard and will open one in a few months to do a taste test. One thing you will need to be aware of though when using it is that it has much less mass than sugar, so will reduce the amount of jam you get as an end result. A cup of sugar with a cup of fruit will yield 2 cups (16oz) of jam. Using a cup of Stevia yielded closer to 1 and 3/4 cups from what I could see.
As to the natural sugar vs. zero calorie sweetener debate, that's a personal choice I let others make for themselves. Low sugar is generally healthier all around for the average person compared to full sugar (I will expand on this in a later post dealing with the body's insulin response). From my own experiments I have found Sugar in the Raw to be an excellent sweetener since it adds to the flavor as well as the sweetness, and it isn't processed as much. If you have a history of diabetes, cardiovascular issues, or obesity, then the Stevia route may be better. Because it is a natural product there a general feeling that it will be better for your body than artificial sweeteners. I hope so, though I always worry that there is a tendency 20 years later of some study turning up an unknown detrimental effect that no one thought of..... (1891: "Coca leaf is natural, right? Let's put it in a drink and mass market it....")
So here's the recipe I've hit on that seems to be the right level of sweetness for my tastes. Feel free to give it a try and let me know the results. If you have been recently gifted with a tart cherry or blueberry jam from me you have tasted the results already.
Fruit Jam - blueberry, strawberry, tart cherry, blackberry (will test on more fruits to come)
Recipe makes ten (10) 8oz jars of jam.
8 cups crushed fruit
2 cups Sugar in the Raw
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (rule of thumb 1 tablespoon per cup of fruit)
1 Package of Pomona's Universal Pectin
1. Make the calcium water following Pomona's directions and set aside.
2. Wash and stem all fruit. Discard any fruit that is discolored, mushy, or fuzzy.
3. Crush fruit (either by hand, blender, or food mill depending on texture preference) and measure out 8 cups. Add lemon juice to the first 2 cups of crushed fruit, and stir in subsequent cups of fruit (preserves color and will provide enough acid to hinder bacteria).
4. In a separate bowl mix the 2 cups of sugar with appropriate number of teaspoons of pectin powder as specified by Pomona's, and set aside.
- Blueberry, Strawberry, Sweet Blackberry, Tart Cherry - 4 teaspoons for 8 cups of fruit
5 Place crushed fruit in a sauce pan, stir in calcium water (4 teaspoons as well), and heat while stirring continuously until mixture comes to a boil. Skim off any foam that you can and discard (don't worry if a little foam is left, just try to get most of it)
6. Once boiling, sprinkle in the 2 cups of sugar/pectin mix while stirring. Stir continuously until the sugar is completely dissolved and the mixture comes back to a boil that can't be stirred down. Once it is boiling again, remove from heat.
7. Follow the steps outlined by the Ball Jar company, or any authoritative canning book, to process and can the jam safely.
www.freshpreserving.com/pages/step_by_step_high_acid_foods/34.php
The National Center for Home Food Preservation is a good link to have as well since it goes into detail about why certain methods and ingredients have to be used (like lemon juice) for safe canning and preservation.
www.uga.edu/nchfp/index.html
So that's the first installment of my food preparation, preservation and canning experiments. Don't know how many of these food experiments I'll get around to this year, but I do know cheese making is on my to do list in the near future, and I'll be waiting in anticipation to hear how shesqueals does with her new fermenting jar. Hope this was helpful, and let me know if you run into any problems trying this out. Feedback is welcome.
-BBQ Bill