The summer season is the time when housewives start preserving vegetables, fruits and berries. Many people love this type of preparation as jam, which is somewhat different from all the others. Cooking this delicacy is not difficult if you know some of the rules for cooking it.
Raw materials for jam
To make a good jam, first of all, you should know, that is, those fruits, vegetables or berries from which it will be prepared. The fruit that will go into the treat should be completely healthy and, preferably, a little unripe. Then there is a certainty that they will not boil over and turn into jam.
Many fruits contain acid, which is very important for cooking, as well. Knowing this, it is necessary to add these elements when preparing the dessert. You can add citric acid, the lemon itself or its juice (about 30 ml per 1 kg of raw materials). Pectin is usually added to fruits such as quince, pear, and apple. It must be added when cooking marrow jam, melon, watermelon. Pectin must be purchased natural. How to use it is described on the product packaging.
How to make jam properly
To make the delicacy tasty and high quality. There are some important rules to follow.
- Many favorite foam from the jam must be removed from it, as it can subsequently harm the storage of the product: it can sour.
- For stirring, you should use a wooden (!) Spoon or spatula.
- An important condition !. Overcooked jam loses all its qualities: color, taste, aroma. Any jam should retain the flavor of the fruit from which it is prepared.
- It is necessary to ensure that after cooking, the slices of the fruit are transparent and whole. And therefore, as soon as they saw that this has been achieved, it is necessary to stop cooking.
- It is advisable to cook the jam in several stages. Pauses between brews can be several hours. You can wait until it has completely cooled down. During the pause, the fruit is soaked in syrup. At the end of cooking, the consistency of the jam will be of the required quality.
Important conditions
- It happens that the jam is candied. to prevent this from happening, citric acid should be added to it. It will also help it thicken evenly.
- Pay attention, if after cooking the fruits in the container (jar) floated up, then.
- When spilling jam into jars, follow it. Leave at least 0.5 cm from the edge.
- Jars when preparing jam is necessary This can be done in different ways. The choice is up to those who prepare it. The main thing is that they are sterile. The lids also need to be sterilized.
- Jars of jam can be sterilized if necessary. Close and hermetically, as is done with all types of canned fruits.
