blackberry jam

[i_beckygardens]

I was reading through "not your mother's slow cooker" and came across recipes for jams and jellies. I've never made jam before, mostly because I'm afraid of canning and killing us all with some horrible germ, but this makes small batches that you keep in the fridge.

2 pints blackberries, rinsed
2-3 cups sugar depending on taste
3 tablespoons lemon

Comments

[mbif]

No gelatin?

[i_beckygardens]

No, the author says she doesn't like gels but you can add it, this is fairly soft... some of the other recipes do call for pectin

this is soft but thick enough to stay on toast. And it's good:) I'm making biscuits tonight

[mbif]

I haven't made jams or jellies in a very long time. How much do you think it would take to thicken up a batch like this one?

[i_beckygardens]

I have no idea, I have never made jam before. I just followed the recipe and it seems pretty thick

[new_world_smurf]

I found a similar recipe for strawberry jam. OMFG SO GOOD!

[i_beckygardens]

she has a strawberry jam too. Also, the author says almost any jam recipe will do, but don't fill the slow cooker more than half full as the jam can foam up

[zette]

Oh, great recipe!! I may have to try this out! I'm low on jam and I love homemade, but hate the price.

[i_beckygardens]

I was really happy with the results, and the smaller batch because I've never canned, and with this amount I don't have to. Ours is already gone, I'm trying strawberry next

[jelazakazone]

If you don't like adding sugar to jam, try using Pomona Universal Pectin. We've made delicious jams with it (I don't think you'd have to can it, but it gets so hot, I don't see how anything could survive in it. Low acid stuff is what gives me the willies;)).

[kiarrith]

I've never made these before, so please excuse the silly question, but what would happen if one just attempted to boil down fruit [like the above recipe] without any added pectin or little to no sugar? would it not be thick enough to be used?

[jelazakazone]

Um, I'm not the one in the house who makes jam, so I don't really know the answer to your question, but I'll make a stab.

I think that if you don't use any kind of thickener, it will be more like a syrup. Why don't you try it and report back?:)

It is an interesting question though because I'm pretty sure you can make fruit leather without adding extra sugar or pectin.

[i_beckygardens]

actually, once I cooked it down and ran it through the foodmill and let it set in the fridge a couple hours it was thick enough for toast, not as thick as the gelled stuff in stores but definately not syrup:)

[kiarrith]

that's awesome! i'd never think to use my crock pot for jams...
what other kind of recipes you do not usually see are in that book?

[i_beckygardens]

You can look at amazon.com for the ratings, it seems to do well ratings wise and I've been happy, in fact I like it so much I also bought two more books by her, one for the rice cooker and one for the bread machine. It's Beth hensperger and julie kaufmann. You can try half.com too and see if they have any cheap.