Blackberry and apple jam

[Madmac]

Hi all,

I bought myself a Jam Pan the other day, and I have a few blackberries left over from last year in the freezer, which i'm planning to make jam with. I don't have any cooking apples, only Braeburn apples. I understand that cookers have more pectin in them to aid setting, but can i use Youngs Pectolase as a substitute and add some to the pan?

[rustylady]

Short answer is no. Pectolase is used in brewing to remove pectin, not add it. You can buy jam sugar, which has added pectin, or a liquid product called Certo, which I believe contains apple juice and pectin.

[Madmac]

Ah i see, should have known better really. Jam sugar is pricey though, i get my granulated for 52p per Kg.

Is pectin found mostly in the apple skin?

if so could i cook the whole apple (core as well) to a pulp and then sieve it?

Then add the blackberries and sugar.

[wollyanna]

Where do you get sugar at that price? We'll all be there!!!

[Flummery]

Squeeze in the juice of a couple of lemons. Full of pectin and always helps a set.

[janeyo]

or get a bottle of Certo and add some of that, always works for me

[Alison]

I always use lemon juice and it works well - stops the jam being too sweet too. Just had some blackberry and apple jam in some plain yoghurt and very nice it was too - will have to make some more this autumn.

[Madmac]

Thanks for the tips. As for the sugar, i got it from Costco, had to buy 15 bags of it to get it at that price but what the heck what with all the home brew and jam making, i'm sure i'll get through it quick enough

[lostincybersace]

I did just this a couple of weeks ago, frozen black berries, mixed eating apples, lemon juice, normal sugar, lemon juice (and a healthy dash of Somerset Cider brandy). FWIW I prefer soft set jams. I only made enough to fill a few jars, one was immediate use, one was a gift which I understand lasted a week...not jam quality but two greedy men gobbling it and little else till it was gone. One has just been opened here. Leaving one. TBH, I find that people hoover jam when I've made small quantities, and as I prefer the soft set the combination works well for me.

[Hilary B]

Cooking apples whole and sieving WILL extract pectin. Personally I would boil the peel and cores in a very little water for rather longer than you want to cook the rest of the apple or the blackberries, then strain the liquid and add. Also add lemon juice to be safe, and you WILL get a good set. When calculating the amount of sugar, weigh the fruit NOT including the peel-and-cores.

[Madmac]

Cheers guys, done it now.

Basically, I cored and peeled the apples until i had roughly the same weight of berries and apple, cooked the apple in water until soft and mushy, added the berries and lemon juice, then boiled it to reduce the amount of water. Had a bit too much to start with, and I didn't want to strain it and loose flavour. Weighed the mush and then added equal amount of sugar. Boiled until i got the setting point then bottled it. Had some on my toast this morning, only trouble is, my eldest boy tried it and loved it, so its not going to be around for long