Plum Jam Recipe (No Peel, No Pectin!) (2024)

FAQs

What thickens jam without pectin? ›

The secret ingredient to making jam without pectin is time. The fruit and sugar need plenty of time to cook and thicken. A long, slow boil drives the moisture out of the fruit, helping to preserve and thicken it at the same time. Fruit varies in water content as well, and some fruits may take longer to jam up.

This jam can be made with plums of any ripeness as long as they are not gone rancid. Very ripe and squishy plums can be used, as can under ripe and harder plums. Under ripe or barely ripe plums do tend to have more pectin in them which helps the jam to set.

You don't have to, but proceed carefully. "If you are really anti-pectin, you can omit it, but you'll need to cook the jam longer. Doing so will remove most of the water content in order to get it to set up properly and in turn, will result in a smaller yield," adds Wynne.

Add pectin.

Whisk a tablespoon of powdered pectin (preferably the no-sugar-needed variety) into the pot of cooking jam. Test for thickness and add another tablespoon if needed. Learn More About Pectin: What's the Deal with Pectin?

Lemon is crucial to balancing those sweet flavors, but it also helps the pectin to firm up the jam. It can be added at the start of the cooking process or towards the end, but what must be taken into account is that adding liquids to the jam mixture will inevitably require the jam to cook for longer.

Strawberry jam with added pectin can be cooked in as little as ten minutes, preserving that fresh berry flavor and quality. Strawberry jam without added pectin needs to be cooked up to four times longer to reach the gel stage, resulting in a much sweeter, less fresh-tasting jam.

If you are using frozen plums to make jams or cook into a pie, there is no need to defrost the plums first, just start cooking with the frozen plums. Freezing plums allows you to set them aside and turn them into jam or chutney when the weather has cooled down and you have time to mind the bubbling pot.

The two main types of commercially grown plums are European (prunus domestica) and Japanese (prunus salicina). European plums, aka prune plums, are mainly grown to be turned into dried plums. Their thick skins, high sugar content, and dense flesh make them ideal for drying, and best for baking and jam-making.

If, on the other hand, the jam is rock solid, that means you've gone too far and cooked it too long. You can try adding a little water to thin it out, but bear in mind that after overcooking a jam, you can't really get those fresh fruit flavors back.

Pectin supplements may cause gas or bloating in some people. If you are allergic to apples or citrus, avoid these supplements.

What did pioneers use for pectin? ›

In the United States, early New England settlers preserved fruits with honey, molasses or maple sugar. In those days, pectin (the substance that puts the “jell” in jelly) was made from apple parings.

Some people have reported mild stomach cramps and diarrhea while taking MCP. People who are allergic to citrus fruits should avoid MCP. Also, MCP may interfere with certain cancer treatments and should not be taken without supervision. Pectin can reduce the body's ability to absorb beta-carotene, an important nutrient.

So if you use pieces of fruit or whole berries, you are actually using less fruit than if it were mashed, or cooked to a mash and then measured, and you will get a firmer jell. Or you may have used more pectin than the recipe called for. For example, if you used Tablespoons of pectin rather than teaspoons.

Jam is set by a combination of pectin and sugar. Pectin occurs naturally in fruit but in differing levels, if you are having trouble getting your jam to set then it could be due to the pectin content in the fruit being too low.

You followed a recipe, you checked for set, you used reliable pectin, the jars have been out of the canner for a few days, and still, the jam is too darned soft. Put a jar in the fridge and check the consistency in 24 hours. Cooler temperatures often help the jam find its way to a firmer consistency.

If you simply take fruit and cook it with some sugar to sweeten it a little, it will get thick enough to turn into jam by the naturally occurring pectin in the fruit and the process of reduction. Reduction occurs when we simmer the fruit, and the liquid turns to steam and evaporates, which thickens the jam.

If you prefer a softer set, you can always use less pectin than called for in our recipes. We would suggest you experiment by using ¼ to ½ teaspoon less pectin than the recipe calls for, or perhaps up to a teaspoon less for recipes that call for 4 teaspoons of pectin.

Before the availability of commercial pectin products, traditional jams and jellies were made by cooking fruit or fruit juice with sugar until the mixture reached a jelly-like consistency.

Pectin is often used as a thickener in cooking and baking. It is a natural polysaccharide (starch) product extracted from fruits and is commonly used as a natural thickening and setting/gelling agent that shouldn't affect the taste or smell of your recipes.