Will a proper jam pan make a difference?

[bobleponge]

EEEEKKK My brain hurts.
I use a big copper pan (I know I'm not sposed to but it always works for me) I use whatever sugar I have in the cupboard, and if I am making jam with low pectin fruits like strawbs, I either chuck in a handful of smashed up black/red currants or I use a chopped up lemon in a muslin bag just like Bluemoon's gran.
I am also with the majority here I think, I dont use a thermometer, just the roiling boil/saucer method.
Had a few that havent set, but its rare.

[WrexTheDragon]

For those with too much money

VitaFruit Jam Maker - Table Top Cooking - Tefal UK

[BilboWaggins]

Thanks Sarzwix, that is good advice. I should have mentioned that I have not been using jam sugar because I couldn't find any that was organic or fair trade. I guess I might have to use it for certain jams to get a good result.

The 'organic sugar' thing is a perpetual debate. A good friend of mine used to work for British Sugar - an agronomist so she knows all sorts of things about commercial growing.

She has an "anti-organic" argument which points out that whilst British crops can be certified under Soil Association standards, the standards to which overseas crops are grown vary wildly and therefore (in her opinion) the term organic on imported food could be regarded as little more than a marketing term . . . which is potentially a very contentious statement

[BilboWaggins]

Hi everyone. I was hoping to get some advice on whether a proper preserving pan will solve some of the problems I have been experiencing making jams and marmalades.

ALWAYS use a proper jam saucepan, if only for safety reasons. The level in a big pan of jam can rise alarmingly when the sugar starts to boil and you don't ever want boiling sugar to bubble up out of the pan (think third-degree burns as a starter and then imagine something much, much worse )

Never overfill the pan either, you need to leave room for the jam to rise and roll therefore half-full is the maximum you should start with, and yes, a jam thermometer makes a great difference (but I always use chilled saucers [from the freezer] and do the 'blob of jam, does it make a skin' test)

[Hilary B]

There is another advantage to the 'proper jam pan' shape, which may help reduce the risk of burning. It is easier to stir right to the edges of the base, so you are less likely to get undissolved sugar unnoticed in the 'corners'.
A jam thermometer will tell you when you are 'getting close', but it is always worth doing the 'wrinkle test' (with a cold saucer etc).
Agree about the safety issue as well.....

[valmarg]

Sugar (sucrose) has a definite and precise chemical structure, it wouldn't matter if it came from beet, cane or was manufactured in a lab, if it didn't conform to the chemical formula and structure then it wouldn't be sugar. Both beet and cane produce sucrose, therefore it is exactly the same.

Yep, cannot argue, but what I am stating is 'a matter of taste'. If I cannot get cane sugar, then I would prefer to go back to the natural sweetener, honey rather than use the 'chemical' equivalent of sugar.

valmarg

[Hilary B]

Yep, cannot argue, but what I am stating is 'a matter of taste'. If I cannot get cane sugar, then I would prefer to go back to the natural sweetener, honey rather than use the 'chemical' equivalent of sugar.

valmarg

'white' beet sugar is just as natural as 'white' cane sugar, and exactly the same once it is in the jam pan. Honey is fine for 'adding sweetness', but less good for getting the 'set' in jam (as well as being prohibitively expensive, and often adding a flavour that may 'drown' the fruitiness).

[LostGoddess]

The 'organic sugar' thing is a perpetual debate. A good friend of mine used to work for British Sugar - an agronomist so she knows all sorts of things about commercial growing.

She has an "anti-organic" argument which points out that whilst British crops can be certified under Soil Association standards, the standards to which overseas crops are grown vary wildly and therefore (in her opinion) the term organic on imported food could be regarded as little more than a marketing term . . . which is potentially a very contentious statement

I use Billingtons organic, unrefined, fair trade sugar. I was sure I had seen the Soil Assoc mark on their packets, but being at work I couldn't check. So I just took a look at their website...

Organic
Billington’s led the way bringing a range of Organic Unrefined sugars to the UK. All Billington’s organic sugars are certified by the Soil Association. Organic production methods avoid the use of herbicides, pesticides and artificial fertilisers minimising the damage to the environment.

It was my belief that the Soil Assoc is also involved in certifying certain products produced internationally, and I found this on their website...

With over 36 years' experience, we have worked with more businesses than any other certification body - certifying over 4,500 farms and businesses all over the world.

So I'm satisfied that the sugar I use is as organic as a sugar can be

[bluemoon]

Yep, cannot argue, but what I am stating is 'a matter of taste'. If I cannot get cane sugar, then I would prefer to go back to the natural sweetener, honey rather than use the 'chemical' equivalent of sugar.

valmarg

You miss the point Valmarg, It Is The Same, if it wasn't then it would no longer be sugar. If it is structurally and chemically the same at a molecular level there cannot be a difference in taste, if there is a difference in its molecular make-up then it isn't sugar, but something else. Same with sea-salt; NaCl, exactly the same as the stuff which comes out of tubs. Aesthetically more pleasing when you have to grind it, but chemically identical.

[Hilary B]

You miss the point Valmarg, It Is The Same, if it wasn't then it would no longer be sugar. If it is structurally and chemically the same at a molecular level there cannot be a difference in taste, if there is a difference in its molecular make-up then it isn't sugar, but something else. Same with sea-salt; NaCl, exactly the same as the stuff which comes out of tubs. Aesthetically more pleasing when you have to grind it, but chemically identical.

Sea salt might be a bad example. Salt from the sea probably contains trace elements (and they may vary depending which part of the world it came from), whereas 'mined' salt is probably purified to a marginally different chemical balance.
All 'salt' sold for cookery etc is predominantly Sodium Chloride, but it CAN vary in the 'fine detail.
Sugar, on the other hand, is so mucked about with that the origin ceases to be relevant! (and yes, that covers the 'organic' side as well, but some of us are organic fans for the benefit of the environment, which to me says 'beet sugar'.)

[LostGoddess]

excited but frustrated

My maslin pan arrived today, so I am all panned up and nothing to jam!

what's in fruit now that I should be jamming peeps?

[SarzWix]

Ermmm... Strawberries, raspberries, all the currants, gooseberries, still some rhubarb about.
Won't be long til the plums are ripe, and blackberries too.

[Flummery]

I'll be making gooseberry and tayberry before I'm much older! If I had enough blackcurrants left (are you listening chickens?) I could do that one too!

[LostGoddess]

I have never done anything with currants before so looking forward to trying them. I've persuaded SO that a motorbike ride up to Orton farmer's market in Cumbria on Saturday is a good idea, so the panniers are going on in the hope of some fruit booty to be had!

[smallblueplanet]

Don't forget chutneys & pickles - never too soon to start! We made a mango chutney a couple of months ago that's just about ready to eat now.