http://newgreenerfamily.com/bigger-than-a-bread-box/ greening my family one day at a time Mon, 14 Jun 2010 16:29:44 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 http://newgreenerfamily.com/bigger-than-a-bread-box/comment-page-1/#comment-75 Shannon Sat, 09 Jan 2010 16:02:32 +0000 http://newgreenerfamily.com/?p=154#comment-75 Summer, I have only made jam once, but my research revealed that you don't actually have to put pectin in the jam. Some fruits are naturally high in pectin, others aren't. You can google to find lists of what is what. What I read seemed to suggest that the real issue about whether or not you use pectin is how long it's going to take your fruit/juice to set up; 5 or 10 minutes with pectin vs. 45 minutes or an hour without (more or less). Your fruit and juice and sugar should cook down to the right consitency sooner or later either way. It seems that the preservative agent in jam is the sugar, which is why the sugar content is so high. I'm no expert, but that's what I learned this past year when I looked into it a little. If you follow the recipe it should be ok whether it has pectin or not. Summer, I have only made jam once, but my research revealed that you don’t actually have to put pectin in the jam. Some fruits are naturally high in pectin, others aren’t. You can google to find lists of what is what. What I read seemed to suggest that the real issue about whether or not you use pectin is how long it’s going to take your fruit/juice to set up; 5 or 10 minutes with pectin vs. 45 minutes or an hour without (more or less). Your fruit and juice and sugar should cook down to the right consitency sooner or later either way. It seems that the preservative agent in jam is the sugar, which is why the sugar content is so high. I’m no expert, but that’s what I learned this past year when I looked into it a little. If you follow the recipe it should be ok whether it has pectin or not.

]]>