Monday, April 14, 2014

Less Sugar, Good...

We were running out of homemade jam, in fact we had run out of jam, so it was time to whip up a new batch.  After my first attempt with canning jam I practiced a lot with whole fruits.  Now, it was time to go back to using pectin.

I was a little worried because it didn't go well the first time, but I was feeling good and things went well.  They turned out bright and well-jelled.  Great consistency. Now I was ready for the next step; I wanted to try using less sugar.


I had read on a couple blogs about Pomona Pectin, including my fave Mel's Kitchen, and found it by accident at a local cooking store. Time to try it out...


I had some trouble following directions at first (surprise, surprise) but it seemed my mistakes were masked and it came out nicely. I am excited to taste it! The leftovers in the pot tasted wonderful so I'm pretty optimistic.


The strange thing is that the package said it should make 4 - 5 jars, but not quite. I got 2 and a small jar. I am going to try adding more fruit next time to see if that still works with the amounts of pectin and sugar.  Continue with the experimenting.  Love it!

I joined up with the Barnhop at Prairie Homestead.  Come check out all the great ideas for at-home projects.

2 comments:

  1. Hi Megan,
    Just happened to see your blog post today. I am a partner in Workstead Industries, the small company that brings you Pomona's Pectin. Glad you are trying Pomona's and less sugar. A comment on your yield: it looks like from the picture that you got 2 pint jars and one half-pint. Our yield in the directions is based on half-pint jars (or cups, 8 oz), so if I'm reading your picture correctly you did get 5 half-pints. We suggest half-pints for low-sugar jam because it only lasts about 3 weeks in the refrigerator once opened--unless, of course, your family eats a lot of jam. Hope this clears up your mystery -- and hope you enjoy your low-sugar jam. Mary Lou Sumberg, Partner, Workstead Industries

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    1. That is really good to know, thank you! We actually do eat A LOT of jam here; PBJ's are a favorite! But, I also thought the small jar would be handy for the 3-week idea. I'll have to get more of the smaller jars if we aren't able to work thru a jar fast enough. Thanks again, and thanks so much for stopping by and leaving a comment.

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