Storm Bay Posted June 26, 2009 Share Posted June 26, 2009 Has anyone here successfully made jam with something other than pectin? I saw a recipe for using agar agar. Has anyone tried this? Or some other way to make it set. I've seen Pomona universal pectin which doesn't require sugar, but requires Calcium, however seeing as it's citrus I'm looking for something, even if it needs sugar, that is not pectin at all even though I know that not all pectin is citrus based. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Storm Bay Posted June 27, 2009 Author Share Posted June 27, 2009 Wow, in 5 hours it's been buried on the 3rd page. Bumping in case any jam makers are on now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaxMom Posted June 27, 2009 Share Posted June 27, 2009 What are you making? I made fabulous blueberry preserves last year with about 1/2 the sugar called for, but with Rapadura, and no pectin. I also made a pectin-free strawberry, I think from Southern Living. I don't understand about the Pomona's / citrus. Are you avoiding citrus or making a citrus jam or... ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Storm Bay Posted June 27, 2009 Author Share Posted June 27, 2009 (edited) What are you making? I made fabulous blueberry preserves last year with about 1/2 the sugar called for, but with Rapadura, and no pectin. I also made a pectin-free strawberry, I think from Southern Living. I don't understand about the Pomona's / citrus. Are you avoiding citrus or making a citrus jam or... ? I have to avoid citrus and most fruit in general, and apparently Pomona's is made with a citrus derived pectin. I'd like to make a pumpkin jam for me. I also have a dc on a rotary diet, so if I can find ways to make jams myself that we could do this with, that would also be a plus. I'm going to look up Rapadura. (ETA rapadura is a sweetener, so not what I need--I need something to help it set in the place of pectin not in the place of sugar). I know that you can use the Pomona with honey or no sweetener at all, but I would need something for pumpkin. In addition I hope to make berry jams this summer with wild berries for my dh & dc. Edited June 27, 2009 by Karin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaxMom Posted June 27, 2009 Share Posted June 27, 2009 (edited) Right. Now I get you. I don't know that you're going to get a "jam" from pumpkin. You can cook it down to pumpkin butter, though. No pectin (or any other thickening agents) needed for that, you're just cooking the moisture out of it, like apple butter. For making preserves without commercial pectin, I just made sure there were a few unripe blueberries in the lot. I threw 4 or 5 quarts of them into my roasting pan (because it has high sides and spans two burners) splashed in some water to buffer them on the bottom of the pan before they started juicing up themselves, and I think, about 4 cups of the rapadura (any sugar will do, I just like that it's less processed and the deep flavor is good). I cooked the heck out of them, to the "soft ball" stage on a candy thermometer. Between the sugar getting to that point and the naturally occurring pectin in the blueberries, it set up nice and thick. I think this is the strawberry recipe I used. You could substitute apple cider vinegar for the lemon juice. Here's another one, which is closer to the candy making method I used with the blueberry. Again, apple cider vinegar would provide the necessary acid to activate the natural pectin in the berries. Pectin-free is the traditional way of making fruit preserves. It's ironic (or sad) that it's so difficult to find recipes. Edited June 27, 2009 by MyCrazyHouse Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheCoffeeChick Posted June 27, 2009 Share Posted June 27, 2009 Here's a no pectin strawberry jam recipe from Ball Blue Book 2 quarts strawberries 6 C sugar Wash and crush strawberries. Combine strawberries and sugar in a large saucepot. Bring slowly to a boil, stirring until sugar dissolves. Cook rapidly to gelling point, about 40 minutes. As mixture thickens, stir frequently to prevent sticking. Remove from heat. Skim foam if necessary. Ladle hot jam into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Adjust two-piece caps. Process 15 minutes in boiling water canner. Makes 4 pints or 8 half pints. Pretty simple, and tastes great too!! HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tina Posted June 27, 2009 Share Posted June 27, 2009 Apples have pectin, so you could use apple juice concentrate, I believe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wildflower Posted June 27, 2009 Share Posted June 27, 2009 sorry i didn't see this sooner.... I NEVER use pectin to make what we call jelly. I use a candy thermometer! This is how it goes- wash & cut up fruit, cook in pot until it softens, then add sugar to taste. cook until it reaches 'soft-ball' stage... process jar as usual (I just run through the dishwasher on sanitary, my grandmother used the oven to sterilize (not sure what temp that is, sorry). Also, I just started saving fruit that either was abandoned before being eaten (mommy I NEED an apple, an hour later, what apple?) or things that are more ripe than pretty, put in a zip-lock in the freezer & made a DELISH mixed fruit jelly (jam I guess it would be, no cheese cloth here). DD1 walked in the house from the garden & wanted to know 'what is that delicious scent mommy?' and it was! HTH. Robyn BTW- agave doesn't work- I couldn't get it to the right temp no matter how much I cooked it.... but it did make delicious baked beans in lieu of brown sugar... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaxMom Posted June 27, 2009 Share Posted June 27, 2009 BTW- agave doesn't work- I couldn't get it to the right temp no matter how much I cooked it.... but it did make delicious baked beans in lieu of brown sugar... Hey, thanks for saying that! I was pondering whether agave would work in marshmallows, in lieu of corn syrup, being of similar structure... now, I'm guessing not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caitlinsmom Posted June 27, 2009 Share Posted June 27, 2009 There are a couple really awesome groups on yahoo that have hundreds of different recipes. I know I have seen some pectin free ones as I want to try them this year. As someone said above you can use apples (green I belive) as a replacement for pectin as they have a high level naturally occuring. I dont have experience with it myself yet so maybe check out the yahoo groups. If you want the specific ones I belong to just PM me and I will find them. Good Luck! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted June 27, 2009 Share Posted June 27, 2009 I make freezer "jam" without pectin, especially since I figured out that pectin requires vast quantities of sugar to "activate." You can do it! Try something from this: http://www.pickyourown.org/canningpubs.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vmsurbat Posted June 27, 2009 Share Posted June 27, 2009 So see if you can find one. Nary a recipe in there has added pectin. For some low-pectin fruits (raspberries, for example), the recipe calls for adding some finely chopped apple. For others, it is all about cooking time. One huge advantage of not adding pectin is that the fruit-to-sugar ration is greater (ie, more fruit per added sugar). Thus, the jams are fruitier tasting. Also, it is possible that a more recent edition of The Joy of Cooking also carries no-pectin-added recipes--I just don't know. I know the whole book was entirely revised in the 90's--thus my suggestion to look at an '80s or earlier edition.... HTH, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Storm Bay Posted June 27, 2009 Author Share Posted June 27, 2009 Hey, thanks for saying that! I was pondering whether agave would work in marshmallows, in lieu of corn syrup, being of similar structure... now, I'm guessing not. I've used organic sugar in marshmallows. I figure that since I rarely make them it's okay to have it once in a while. But I want to try making them with agar agar this fall instead of with gelatin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Storm Bay Posted June 27, 2009 Author Share Posted June 27, 2009 Thanks everyone! I have a candy thermometer, so that's a great idea. That's for the jam to be canned. Agave nectar is useless for that kind of thing, I think. It is low-glycemic and that might be why, although I'm not sure. I found a gf/cf recipe for "truffles" (quotes because they weren't really truffles--for all you quotation mark sticklers ;)) calling for agave nectar and cocoa powder that did not work at all, and they were to be set in the freezer. As for the pumpkin jam, I saw a recipe once somewhere that called it that and hope to find it again. I have made a pumpkin butter type thing (not quite as thick) before for pancakes that was very yummy, but not thick enough for spreading on bread, etc. At any rate, I hope to make freezer jam with whichever fruit is on the pectin days, orange marmalade with the Pomona pectin that is derived from citrus and some other jams with the candy thermometer. I haven't made jam since I was first married, but they worked out well when I followed the recipe. I'll look for the Joy of Cooking in the library and see if I can find one from the 1980s. Time to haul that canning pot out of the basement/cellar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted June 27, 2009 Share Posted June 27, 2009 I just wanted to say (I didn't in my first post) that that link I posted -- http://www.pickyourown.org/canningpubs.htm has links to government and university extension publications on pectin free as well as low sugar jam. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Storm Bay Posted June 28, 2009 Author Share Posted June 28, 2009 I just wanted to say (I didn't in my first post) that that link I posted -- http://www.pickyourown.org/canningpubs.htm has links to government and university extension publications on pectin free as well as low sugar jam. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lighthouseacademy Posted June 28, 2009 Share Posted June 28, 2009 I have made fabulous peach jam with agar. I used the recipe from the book Putting it up with Honey. It does have honey in it. Other than that, I have always used Pomona. The only thing with using the agar is that after it has been opened and sits out for a little bit, whether on the counter or in the fridge, you will notice little white dots in your jam. That is the agar. You can't taste it or feel it, but sometimes it can look strange. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Storm Bay Posted June 29, 2009 Author Share Posted June 29, 2009 I have made fabulous peach jam with agar. I used the recipe from the book Putting it up with Honey. It does have honey in it. Other than that, I have always used Pomona. The only thing with using the agar is that after it has been opened and sits out for a little bit, whether on the counter or in the fridge, you will notice little white dots in your jam. That is the agar. You can't taste it or feel it, but sometimes it can look strange. Thanks! Did you use the flakes or the strips? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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