Advicde re jam from fruit puree please

[shirlthegirl43]

I have pureed some rasps and strawbs this morning (kids don't like the pips in their jam and I don't want to make jelly this time).

question 1, the resulting pulp is quite thick - should I water it down at all?

Also should I add one pound sugar per pound of pulp or per pint of pulp? None of my recipe books are answering the questions.

Next time I think I will just leave the darned pips in

[tulip]

hi,
I made some raspberry jam yesterday - used equal weight sugar and fruit, with a few squeezes of lemon juice. I've only ever used the pound per pound method and haven't ever added water, depends on the recipe I guess. I would have thought the heat and the sugar would create enough liquid, and there would be no need, but if once it's all well dissolved, it's too thick then perhaps add some then.

[SarzWix]

I think 1lb per pint and 1lb per lb should work out about the same? If it doesn't then I'd go with 1lb per lb, seeing as you have all the pulp there, not just the juice. And I wouldn't add any water, unless it seems really stiff once you've warmed it and dissolved the sugar.

[shirlthegirl43]

thanks folks. It will have to wait till later now as I need to go collect Aranthos from work.

[shirlthegirl43]

Decided to do the weighing and measuring. 620g of pulp. I love the taste as it is so do I have to put in 620g sugar or can I use less?

[Hazel at the Hill]

The sugar is a preservative, so I wouldn't skimp on that, Shirley.

[shirlthegirl43]

It's only going to make a couple jars though Hazel, surely they will keep for a while with less sugar?

[vicky]

I use 900g sugar to 1kg fruit, so I think it's ok to use a bit less AND I would water down the puree to make it easier to work with - I water mine to the nearest 500/1000g. Or reboil the remaining strained pips and pulp with more water and strain again.

[shirlthegirl43]

Well, added 500g sugar which is quite sweet enough for my tooth. Now slowly heating to dissolve the sugar then intend bringing it to the boil and boiling for 3-4 mins then add Certo to set. It tastes so nice and is such a lovely red colour I don't want to lose that by overboiling. Fingers crossed it works - if not it will get added to home made ice cream to make raspberry ripple

[NOG]

You need to boil it to get the water out or it will go rotten. And if you dont boil it enough with enough sugar it will not set.

[shirlthegirl43]

What water? It is pureed fruit with nowt added

[shirlthegirl43]

Cancel the Certo - it is setting without it. Smells lovely and is the colour of the raspberry syrup they put on ice-creams when I was a kid

[Hilary B]

Setting point is a certain proportion of sugar to water (there is plenty of water IN the fruit). If you add less sugar, you just end up making less jam, because you boil out more water.
I believe setting point is a little over 60% sugar to the finished weight of jam (some of this sugar comes from the fruit). If you add less sugar, you effectively use more fruit and you will get a fruitier tasting jam (and a higher pectin content), but it will still have pretty much the same sugar content.
The reason the sugar preserves the jam is that it makes the remaining water unavailable to spoiling bacteria. That is why 'reduced sugar' jams have to be refrigerated once opened!
Jam cooked to 'setting point' without sufficient pectin will have the same sugar content, but will be a thick, gooey fruit syrup, instead of behaving like a proper jam (but it may still be very nice).

[SarzWix]

Glad it worked for you Shirley, it sounds lovely