Help from jam makers please!

[CarolineW]

thanks

[brazen20au]

tonight i'm making peach and almond jam. i used around 1kg of peaches (frozen), less of sugar and 1 whole packet of jam setta (about 30% more than i supposedly need).

I had to drop the fruit onto the blades because it was frozen, then cooked for about 40 mins on 100'c and then for about another 1.5 hours on varoma.

it has probably ended up a little too thick but is very nice, i think knowing it will take longer than 20 minutes i can cope with it lol

[CarolineW]

   I made raspberry jam the day before yesterday.  I defrosted the rapberries first (although I often don't, but I know the time taken is longer then), weighed them in and added an equal weight of jam sugar.  I cooked them on 100oc/20 mins / speed 2.  That had cooked everything nicely, but 100oC doesn't get it to setting temperature.  So then I did 7 minutes on Varoma. 

I'm used to doing that after the jam's cooled a bit and needs to get back up to temperature, or I've used frozen fruit, but neither of those was the case this time, so in fact it was slightly long for my personal taste.  The result is a very nice, but very set jam.  I prefer my jam just shy of runny, rather than really set.  There's nothing wrong with it, though.  It's set the way that most commercial jams are.  I did the final stage at speed 3, by the way, as my daughter doesn't like chunky bits of fruit in her jam.

[JulieO]

Sounds nice Caroline.  I'm new to the jam making thing too and so far have only made strawberry which I'm very happy with. 

So it's okay to use frozen fruit?, the water from the defrosting of the frut while cooking doesn't affect it at all?  That's good to know. 

Has anyone made apricot jam from dried apricots?

[cathy79]

I've made one batch of jam from frozen strawberries.  I defrosted them, and used the "juice" and berries.  The result was much more sauce than jam, but perfect for adding to yoghurt.  If I made jam again from frozen berries, I'd drain off the "juice" and use in yoghurt, then I'll get a jam consistency.

[Thermomixer]

Has anyone made apricot jam from dried apricots?

That really should be a piece of cake - you shouldn't need to soak the fruit first.  Very fast jam

[andiesenji]

If your apricots are a bit too dry and leathery, the best way to "refresh" them is to steam them.

I prepare a lot of glace fruits, starting with dried fruits (mostly I dry my own) and I always begin with steaming for a few minutes as I find it speeds up the process of getting sugar syrup into the fruit. 

[brazen20au]

i'm annoyed now, last night i thought i cleaned down my thermomix, but disocvered today that my jam had overflowed everywhere down the back of it where i couldn't see and it looks like it's gotten back inside the machine again why is it so close to the bench?

[JulieO]

Thanks guys for your advice, I will give a try and when I do I'll let you know how I go.  

[cookie1]

Karen, that's horrid.

[judydawn]

Doesn''t it drain out through the hole before it gets into the workings Karen. 

[brazen20au]

judy, it wasn't running into that part of the machine (where the bowl fits in)
it was running down the outside back and then in under the feet and as it was really thick and sticky it slowly seeped under and through the holes in teh bottom of it . sorry, hard to describe! i should have taken a pic but i was all sticky too LOL

i think it's not somehting that would happen with somehting less thick and sticky

[CarolineW]

I've made one batch of jam from frozen strawberries.  I defrosted them, and used the "juice" and berries.  The result was much more sauce than jam, but perfect for adding to yoghurt.  If I made jam again from frozen berries, I'd drain off the "juice" and use in yoghurt, then I'll get a jam consistency.

I've used frozen fruit a few times, and not had that problem Cathy.  When you say that the result was more sauce than jam, do you mean there weren't many fruit bits in it, or do you mean it was too runny?  If it was too runny, then it just needed to be cooked for longer / have a blast at the Varoma temperature to get it to setting point.

If, however, you like thick fruity jams, then you would be right to pour off the juice.  So much with jam making is a matter of personal taste and preferences. 

[andiesenji]

I'm going to add another hint that may sound a bit odd but I can assure you that it works.

Last year I made a batch of quince jam and for some "mysterious" reason (probably my mistake) it turned out way too sweet.
I know jam is supposed to be sweet but this was simply a tooth-aching concoction that was close to inedible for normal palates.

Not wanting to waste it, I brewed an extremely strong pot of Lapsang Souchong tea, added it to the jam, and continued cooking it until the liquid had reduced and a dollop was firm on a saucer after cooling. 

The smoky flavor countered the excessive sweetness and the result turned out to be terrific served with cheeses, particularly the stronger, assertive cheeses.  (I had a wheel of Bulgarian Kashkaval that fell into this category - with extreme assertiveness!)

My daughter thought it was better than her favorite cheese jam, a burnt-fig jam, and has gone through several jars.  I made another batch in September when the first quince appeared in a local middle eastern market and cooked it with the tea from the start.  Just as good as the first batch.

I have also used it in peach jam, apricot jam and plum jam.  The latter made with Elephant Heart plums as I have a tree that bears heavily and I can only dry so many as this particular plum ripens all at once. 

I use a sugar-free pectin available here that I buy in bulk.  http://www.canningpantry.com/pounpe1lbbup.html
I am sure a comparable product is available in Australia.   I began using it when I was doing commercial cooking because some of my caterer clients wanted jellies made from wine and adding too much sugar produced an insipid product. 

[Thermomixer]

I know what you mean about quince jam and sweetness.  Same happened to me with quince paste.  I just added some lemon juice, but have to try the tea.  It must be something in the quince that heightens the apparent sugar taste.

We can get pectin http://www.mfcd.net/store/categories.asp?cID=71&c=293941  The MFD has a range from Raymond Capaldi http://www.mfcd.net/store/categories.asp?cID=53, who has been one of the main chefs in Melbourne promoting TMX.

Of course there are lots of gels and gums that can be used now too for thickening the wine.  Whole new indusrty.