Plum jam for diabetics information

[judydawn]

In today's Adelaide Advertiser 'What's your problem' someone wanted to make jam for a diabetic and asked advice.  The answer was as follows

for every 900g plums you will need 1 x 226g can frozen apple juice concentrate. Pit and chop plums, combine with juice.  Cook in a heavy duty saucepan or stockpot with the lid off over medium heat for 1 hour.  Stir occasionally.

I found this interesting and I'm sure it would be easy enough to do in the TMX.  Where would you buy the frozen concentrate though, have never seen it myself.

They didn't say this would apply to all fruit, only mentioned it for plum jam.  Worth a try though.

[cookie1]

Sounds interesting Judy. Like you I'm unsure where you could buy the concentrate.

[faffa_70]

almost sounds American...they have frozen cans of concentrated everything lol. I wonder if you would be able to use apple sauce made in the TMX. I am sure as the apple is only for sweetness,  a little consistency of the apple in the jam would be just about undetectable. Would be worth a try...better than having that horrible artificial sweetener after-taste!!

[Sundari]

You can buy apple juice concentrate in some health food shops. If you need it frozen not hard to do.


Are fruit sugars that much better than other sugars if you are diabetic?

[judydawn]

I have no idea Sundari but I imagine the small amount of jam you would use wouldn't do you any harm. I can't see why the concentrate needs to be frozen for the recipe so if you can buy it fresh, that would do the trick. Thanks for that info.

Kathryn - yes I agree with you re the Americans having everything frozen/concentrated.  I see recipes for frozen lemonade concentrate even??  When I was in America I just loved going around the supermarkets looking at things we have never seen here.  There was one shop in Las Vegas where you could taste so many of the items and I even suggested to them that they open a shop here as the items were far too heavy to bring back with me.  It is another world over there. What with clothes and food shops - I was in heaven 

[Thermomixer]

Apples should be fine to cook with the plums - just need some pectin and extra sweetness.  Just need to cook it a bit longer if you use apples.

[judydawn]

Made this plum jam with the apple concentrate last night (want to use it in the worcestershire sauce recipe today).  Bought a 250ml bottle from a health food shop for $4.65.  Cooked it for 60 minutes 100^o on speed 2 with MC off the whole time but it was still a bit runny so gave it a further 10 minutes on varoma on speed 2.  Nice and thick, 5 minutes probably would have done the trick.  It is not very sweet so may not suit the taste buds of most people but I think it would be an excellent substitution for the plum sauce you use in Asian dishes and should suit the worcestershire sauce recipe too. $12.96 for around 2 cups jam - pretty expensive though!!

[andiesenji]

Here's a recipe for homemade pectin  made from apples but this still requires the addition of sugar and this  site explains why and how to calculate proportions.
http://www.wildflowers-and-weeds.com/The_Forager/pectin.htm

The following side also has information about pectin and also has an Australia link at the bottom of the page.
http://www.pickyourown.org/pectin.htm

I'm diabetic and I use a product available here (Pomona Pectin) that does not require sugar to produce jelly or jam.   I make coffee (espresso) jelly and use Splenda artificial sweetener. 
You might contact PYO farms to see if they carry it or would be willing to.  If there is demand, eventually there will be supply.

I should add that I have also used agar-agar, kuzu (kudzu) root powder and other thickeners, including gum tragacanth, gum arabic and a commercial product only recently available to consumers here in the U.S.  name is Ultratex
http://willpowder.net/tapioca.html
It certainly holds pie filling together and I am testing a jar of peach cobbler filling that I canned in September.  I left an inch of headroom in the jar so I could see how it behaved and the jar can be inverted without movement of the contents. 
Next I am going to see how it works with cranberry jam.

[Thermomixer]

I am not sure why you have to add sugar to the pectin mix - if it is boiled down enough it should form a very firm jell?  I have used apples to thicken mixtures before - and not always with sugar.  Might have to go back a do some  more trials.

[andiesenji]

Think of it as a chemistry experiment.

The specific ratios involved have to be close to correct for everything to come together in the desirable consistency. 

Prior to the advent of commercial pectin in 1908, most cooks would save the peels and cores from apples that were prepared for pies, etc., cook until mushy and force the juice and pulp through a perforated strainer. ( Most of the pectin in apples is found in the peel and core.)
They would save this to add to fruits that had less pectin - some berries have practically none. 
They also saved the peels of citrus and treated them the same way as these too have higher levels of pectin, especially the Seville orange that has a much higher percentage than sweet oranges. 
Quince, particularly when unripe, have a very high level of pectin and the word marmalade comes from the Portuguese marmelada, as their name for quince is marmelo. 
As far back as Roman times, the quince was combined with other fruits to make jelled fruit dishes.   

[Thermomixer]

OMG - reminds me that I am supposed to do a quince paste recipe.

[andiesenji]

OMG - reminds me that I am supposed to do a quince paste recipe.

Did you see my post in the other jam topic about my "smoked" quince jam to serve with cheese?

During the holidays when I have guests, I put a quince studded with cloves in a small hanging cookpot in the fireplace and it will perfume the entire house. 

[Tebasile]

I soak my dehydrated plums over night and blend them in the TMX. This is best sweet unsweetend plum jam.
I also cooked plums in the slowcooker for more than a day and sweetend it with a little agave.

[Thermomixer]

Did you see my post in the other jam topic about my "smoked" quince jam to serve with cheese?

Sure did, like the sound of the burnt fig jam too.  Think I replied to that thread? 

[cookie1]

All these flavours sound lovely. I love sweet pastes but the rest of the family turn up their noses. I could do some for the festive season visitors though.