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Sunday, January 6, 2013

Plum Jam - Making Jam by Proportion

A lot of people think that you have to have a lot of fruit to make jam.  

Not so.   You can take any amount of fruit and make a great jam.    All you need is the right proportions of fruit and sugar and pectin. 

Jam Proportions for firm jam - fruit, sugar, pectin
www.rurification.com
  • 1 cup fruit
  • 1 Tablespoon low sugar pectin
  • 1/2 cup sugar

Jam Proportions for soft jam - fruit, sugar, pectin
www.rurification.com
  • 1 cup fruit
  • 1/2 Tablespoon low sugar pectin
  • 1/2 cup sugar
This means that you can make jam even if you only have 1 cup of fruit.   [If you have more than 6 cups of fruit, I'd split it in half and make two batches.     The temps go wonky if you try to make too much at time.]

I use these proportions all the time to make jam.   I just did with some plums.  Plums make a great simple jam - I love plum jam, especially the red kind, but I'll take any kind.    Plums are especially good because even the bruised and soft ones make fabulous jam.    You can get a box and stuff it in the fridge until you get a free moment and even if they're 'going bad' when you find them again, they're still really good for jam.    In fact, some say, they're even better when they're bruised a bit. 

I bought my plums, then forgot about them.  I finally found them again and cut them up.  I had 5 cups of plum pieces and I wanted a soft jam, so I used 2 1/2 cups sugar and 2 1/2 Tablespoon of pectin.    Perfect jam.