This will be a running tally of the different kinds of fruit preserves I’ve made. Ratios for spices will be given for 1 cup of fruit, except later when I started to experiment more.
A note on making jams: you want to temp at least 218 F, 220 F if you have the patience. I recommend you invest in a good cooking thermometer. I’ve got one from Lavatool that works well, Thermoworks is also really well regarded.
You might be thinking that the boiling point of water is 212, and you would be right. In order to get the preserves to come out best, nice and thick, you need to boil out most of the water. The natural gelatin (pectin) in the fruit sucks up the rest of the water and now the fruit inside is “preserved.” It also means that toward the end you have to stir it like crazy to keep it from burning. Let it sit for a moment after stirring before you take the temperature.
Basic recipe:
Mix equal parts raw fruit and sugar with a few tablespoons of lemon juice and bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Simmer for 5-15 minutes upon achieving a boil, still stirring frequently. Leave yourself a lot of room in the pot, because the bubbles are crazy. Eventually the jam will start to stick to your spoon when you pull it out.
Once you remove it from the heat, transfer it to whatever container you want and put it in the fridge.
Combos:
Blueberries + 8-12 juniper berries, juniper ground in a mortar and pestle and cooked with the jam. Came out great, the blueberry hits first and the juniper hits later
Blueberries + 8-12 juniper berries, ground in a spice grinder, cooked with the fruit – Could barely taste it at all.
Peaches + 1-2 teaspoons grated ginger, added after cooking – Worked perfectly. Also works great with pineapple
Raspberries + 6 leaves of mint, finely chopped, added after cooking – There’s a little bit of mint flavor there, but not much. My mint was really wilted though, so I’ll try it next time with fresh.
Raspberries + 1/2 teaspoon mint extract, added during cooking – It’s what I was afraid of, the mint flavor just cooks right out and you end up not really tasting it. That always seems to happen if you apply too much heat to mint. So I added another half teaspoon of mint extract after it was done cooking, and that has a really nice flavor.
Raspberry + zest of 2 lemons – Zest cooked with the fruit. Couldn’t taste it at all. Possibly try adding the zest in at the very end, but I doubt it would help
Blackberries + a cup of lemon sugar instead of regular sugar – NOW we’re cooking. Came out great. Also works with raspberries
Strawberries + 2 springs of rosemary, rosemary cooked with the fruit and then discarded – I really like it. Gives it a nice, almost earthy quality
Strawberries + 6 basil leaves, finely sliced, basil added at the very end – Smells good, haven’t tried it yet. Basil was put in the storage container, then when the jam was done, the hot jam was just poured over it, and then I stirred it up.
Strawberries + 1 1/2 cups chopped rhubarb – Came out good, although the fruit ended up breaking down completely. I usually have chunks left over, but this is almost just a jelly. Still tastes good.
1 Pineapple + 3 cups sugar + 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, all cooked together. That’s the right balance. Otherwise it turns into cinnamon jam, which is okay but not great.
5 ripe bananas + 2 cups sugar + 1 teaspoon clove, allspice, cardamom, cooked together. Damn stuff never came to temp for some reason and what I ended up was closer in texture to banana caramel, but it tastes right and I can mix it into my yogurt. You know it’s done when it gloops around in a ball at the bottom of the pot as you stir. It might actually be overdone at that point.
1 quart strawberries + sprigs of rosemary and thyme, cooked together. More earthy than the strawbasil jam. Still really good though.
eatbensmeat 