How to Make Perfect Low Sugar Peach Jam

This jam works best if you can locate some fresh peaches at an outdoor fruit stand or Farmer's Market. I mention this because yes, of course, you can buy the peaches at the grocery store, but they have been transported and may not be as fresh and terrific as you can buy at a roadside stand. Anything will do, but fresh-picked is best! Peaches are a thick, starchy, fleshy fruit that make some of the finest tasting jam you have ever had. My recipe takes full advantage of the beauty of peaches, and you will absolutely love this jam!

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• 6 cup measuring cup
• 6 top full cups worth of (about 7 to 9 peaches, depending upon size) fresh peaches, pitted and cut into chunks, and tightly packed all the way to the top of the measuring cup
• 3 cups of sugar
• 1 package of dry pectin, any brand of low/no sugar type
• 1 Tablespoon of butter or margarine
• 5 Mason jars (2 cup capacity)
• 1 Mason jar (1 cup capacity)
• Large saucepot, preferably a dutch oven type
• Large plastic or wooden spoon for stirring (never metal)
• Large, sharp knife for cutting your fruit
• Tablespoon for measuring
• Soup ladle

1. Wash your peaches in cold water, then remove the large pit and discard. Cut up the peach halves (skin on) into chunks that are about ¾ of an inch in size. You don't want to cut them too small, because you want some of those nice hearty chunks of fruit to remain intact in your jam! Heat your oven to about 200 degrees, and place your clean mason jars on the oven racks and just leave them while you are preparing your fruit.

2. Place your 6 cups worth of cut up peach chunks into your Dutch oven pot on top of your stove and turn the heat to medium-high. Add the 3 cups of sugar to your fruit and start stirring slowly and steadily (being consistent in your stirring, as this is one of the secrets to amazing jam, trust me). It will seem a bit "dry" at first, but as you keep steadily stirring, the heavy peach chunks and the sugar will start breaking down into a beautiful golden-orange colored mixture that will fill your kitchen with a lovely fragrance! Keep stirring! Don't even stop to scratch your nose!

3. Once the fruit and sugar mixture starts to bubble, add the 1 Tablespoon of butter or margarine (this is your secret weapon) and keep that stirring going. Once the mixture gets to the rolling boil, where the mixture keeps bubbling regardless of whether you are stirring or not at this point, quickly add the entire contents of the pectin powder packet. Keep stirring for 1 more full minute after you have added and dissolved the pectin powder. Turn off the heat.

4. Get your jars out of the oven one at a time, and ladle the hot liquid jam into the jars. You may get 5 full 2 cup jars out of a batch, or a little less depending on how your peaches panned out in the mixture. Immediately seal the jars with lids and rings, and place them on your counter top. Do not touch these jars for at least 24 hours, don't check the set, nothing. Just leave them alone, this is important! After 24 hours, you can pick them up and see if they set. Once the 24 hours is up, you can then use your jam and place in refrigerator.

Tips & Warnings

• I say "Mason Jars" but you can use any glass jar that has a lid.
• The key here is to not "bother" those jars of jam until 24 hours have passed.
• Don't leave out the butter or margarine, it really stops the jam from foaming.
• However, if you find your jam foams still, just scrape that off with your spoon, and don't use it, throw it out. Butter will really help the foam, though.
• This wonderful jam lasts over a year in your refrigerator.
• Give some of your finely crafted jam to friends for presents, they will go crazy!
• To reprocess in case of improper set, you essentially wait 24 hours, and if the jam isn't set, you have to empty it all from that batch back into your pot, and start from Step 2 all over again. (Which means you will have to add 3 cups of sugar, 1 Tablespoon of butter and 1 package of pectin to your already processed batch.)
• Remember that not all fruit behaves the same after it is cooked and set. Each jam recipe I create will tell you what the consistency should be for that particular fruit. For this peach jam, the set will be firm if procedure was followed correctly!
• Wash your utensils immediately afterward if you don't want a sticky mess later on.

[lenya]

on 8/12/2008 Why do you need to keep this in the fridge? If I boil the jars and can the jam that way, will it eliminate the need to refrigerate it? Please explain the difference of the two canning methods. Thanks.