Just like throughout the world, and maybe even more, sweets have always been loved in Russia. And one of the most common, most beloved sweet dishes in Russian cities and villages has always been jam. Even in the leanest, stingiest times, housewives tried to prepare at least a few jars of sweet, fragrant jam that smelled of the generous summer. Cooking methods were often kept secret, and a well-prepared treat was proudly boasted to guests. And these good traditions are still alive today. Every home, every family must have a carefully prepared jar of this delicious and fragrant dessert. Today we will try to learn and remember how to make jam.

Almost any berries and fruits are suitable for making jam. Ripe aromatic strawberries, cherries and currants, strong ruddy apples, peaches and apricots, blueberries and blueberries loved by many, and even such exotic fruits for our region as walnuts and green tomatoes, everything goes into use. Various additives will also come in handy when making delicious jam, for example, cherry leaves are suitable for gooseberry jam, black currant leaves can be added to white currant jelly, and jam made from watermelon and melon rinds is unthinkable without vanilla and lemon juice. Jam also differs in its consistency, thick, homogeneous jam is convenient to spread on morning toast or a sandwich, and the jam itself, which has a much thinner syrup consistency, but whole berries, is so pleasant to eat with tea on cold winter evenings.

Today there are an endless number of recipes and methods for making jam. Cooking time and method vary preparing berries and fruits, and even the base of the syrup. Some people make jam using sugar syrup, while others, remembering old traditions, cook berries in honey. Everyone can choose a recipe according to their strengths and means. And yet, the basic principles of cooking, little secrets and tricks developed by generations of our ancestors are still relevant today.

Today “Culinary Eden” has prepared for you a selection of the most important tips and secrets that can help even those who are going to cook this sweet dish for the first time, and will fully explain to you how to make jam.

1. When choosing dishes for cooking your jam, try to pay attention to deep and wide basins or pans made of copper, aluminum or stainless steel. Copper jam basins with a comfortable long handle were considered the best at all times. The jam is prepared quickly in such a bowl, which helps preserve the color and aroma of the berries. However, it is important to ensure that a green coating of copper oxides that are harmful to health does not form on the inner surface of such a basin. Basins and pans made of aluminum and stainless steel do not have this drawback. But it’s better to refrain from using enamel cookware; there’s too much of a chance that your jam will burn and be completely spoiled.

2. Try to choose the best and freshest berries and fruits for jam. Of course, the ideal berries for making jam can only be those that you collected from your garden on the day of cooking, but, unfortunately, this is not available to everyone. When buying berries at the market or in a store, try to give preference to local fruits. Such berries and fruits make a much shorter journey to our table, which means they retain the fullness of taste and aroma much better. It is better to take most berries and fruits when they are not fully ripe, but choose absolutely ripe cherries and plums. Carefully ensure that your berries do not have any visible flaws, damage, dark spots, or bruises. Don’t forget to smell the berries before buying, because the brighter and more expressive the aroma of fresh fruits is, the more tasty and fragrant your jam will be.

3. In order to make truly tasty and beautiful jam, first of all you should prepare the sugar syrup correctly. After all, only with well-prepared syrup can you make jam of the best quality; such jam will have clean, transparent syrup and whole, beautiful and aromatic berries. It’s not at all easy to cook this syrup. difficult. Take 1 kg. sugar, pour into a bowl for making jam, add ½ cup of clean water and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. After boiling, slightly reduce the heat, stop stirring and cook the syrup, shaking the bowl only slightly, trying to prevent caramelization. Your syrup will be completely ready when it flows from a spoon dropped into it in a thick, viscous stream. You will see that berries cooked in this syrup retain their shape perfectly.

4. While cooking jam, foam will certainly form on its surface, which must be removed, because this foam not only spoils the appearance of your dish, but can also cause premature souring. However, you should not rush and try to remove the foam as soon as it appears. Just before the end of cooking, let your jam boil as hot as possible and immediately remove from heat, then wait a couple of minutes for the berries to settle. Now feel free to pick up a slotted spoon and carefully remove all the foam that has formed. This method will allow you to most thoroughly remove even the slightest traces of foam without damaging the berries, and, what is also important, it will save your time and effort.

5. It is equally important to correctly track the end of the cooking process. After all, undercooked jam can ferment or sour, and overcooked jam will definitely become sugary and will not be able to please you with its bright taste and aroma. In order to correctly determine the moment when your jam is completely ready, just use simple tips. The jam is ready when the foam does not disperse along the edges of the basin, but collects closer to the center. In the finished jam, the berries are evenly distributed in the syrup and do not collect near the surface. A drop of finished jam syrup placed on a saucer does not spread, but retains its shape. If all these signs coincide, quickly remove your jam from the heat, it is already completely ready!

6. Let's try to make delicious, bright and aromatic jam from garden strawberries, sometimes unfairly called strawberries. Rinse one kilogram of strawberries thoroughly, being careful not to damage the berries, and remove the green sepals. Let the water drain and transfer your strawberries into a bowl for making jam. Cover the berries with one kilogram of sugar and place in a cool place for several hours until the strawberries release their juice. Then place the bowl over low heat and bring the strawberries and sugar to a boil while stirring gently but thoroughly. As soon as your jam boils, immediately remove it from the heat and let it sit for 8 hours. Then simmer the jam until tender over low heat, being careful not to let it boil too much. The jam prepared in this way completely retains the bright taste and aroma of the berries, and the syrup turns out clean and completely transparent.

7. It’s even easier to make delicious, aromatic and oh-so-healthy raspberry jam. Carefully sort one kilogram of raspberries, remove the branches and sepals and rinse carefully. Place the berries in a deep saucepan and add one kilogram of sugar. Leave the raspberries with sugar for 4 - 5 hours, then pour the resulting syrup into a bowl for making jam, bring to a boil and cook over low heat for 10 minutes. Place your berries in the finished syrup, bring to a boil and cook over medium heat for 5 - 10 minutes, gently shaking the basin. Remove from heat, let cool slightly, remove any foam that has formed and pour the jam into jars. This jam completely retains the taste and all the beneficial properties of fresh raspberries, but it should be stored in the refrigerator.

8. A recipe for superbly delicious lingonberry and apple jam is offered to us by M. Syrnikov. Sort out one kilogram of lingonberries, rinse and lightly dry. Peel three sour apples, remove the core and cut each into 8 pieces. Boil sugar syrup from 1 kg. sugar and ½ glass of water, as described above. Pour berries and apple slices into the boiling syrup, bring to a boil again, then remove from heat and leave for 2 hours. Place the cooled jam on the heat again, bring to a boil and cool again for two hours. Then put the jam on low heat and cook until done, gently rocking the bowl and avoiding burning. Cool the finished jam and place it in jars.

9. Delicious gooseberry jam will require painstaking preparation, but will reward you with its exquisite aroma and amazingly beautiful color. 800 gr. Wash the green unripe gooseberries thoroughly, cut off the branches and remains of dried flowers, use a sharp knife to make a small cut on each berry and carefully remove the seeds. Boil 2 liters of water in a deep saucepan, add 50 - 100 g. fresh cherry leaves, cook for 10 minutes, remove from heat and immediately add prepared gooseberries. Cover the pan with a lid and leave for 12 hours. Then pour the resulting broth into a separate bowl and remove the cherry leaves. Place 1 ½ kg in a bowl for making jam. sugar, add 1 cup of the reserved broth and cook a thick syrup. When the syrup is ready, pour the berries into it, bring to a boil again and cook over low heat for 15 - 20 minutes, gently rocking the basin and avoiding burning. Cool the finished jam, remove the foam and pour your jam into jars.

10. Indian cuisine invites us to try the original spicy and piquant rhubarb and ginger jam. 400 gr. Rinse the rhubarb stems, peel off any rough skin and cut into thin slices. Place the rhubarb in a cooking saucepan, add 3 tbsp. tablespoons grated fresh ginger, 1 ½ cups sugar and 1 teaspoon chopped lemon zest. Place the pan over the lowest heat and melt the sugar. Be careful not to burn the sugar! When the sugar has completely melted and the rhubarb has released juice, turn up the heat and bring your jam to a boil. Reduce the heat to low again and simmer the jam for 20 minutes until tender. Cool the finished jam and place it in jars. Store in the refrigerator.

And on the pages of “Culinary Eden” you can always find many new and proven recipes that will certainly help you find the answer to the question of how to make jam.

Homemade food preparation and canning

Chapter:
Original jams
1st page

WONDERFUL
ORIGINAL JAMS

How to make jam Part 1

ABOUT JAMS

Various jams - strawberry, wild strawberry, raspberry, cherry, apricot, apple and many others. Everyone has been familiar with these popular and healthy sweet foods since childhood! Every family tries to prepare more of them, tastier and more aromatic, so that they have something to drink tea with on long winter evenings.

But besides traditional fruit and berry jams, which have become familiar for a long time, there are many varieties of this delicacy made from products that are unusual for most Europeans or characterized by non-standard methods of preparation. This includes peltya, cue, bekmes, nardek, doshab, different kinds dry jam, as well as vegetable jam and walnuts. The latter is rightfully considered "the king of all jams".

Peltya characteristic of the Danube peoples (Moldavians, Gagauzes, Vlachs and Romanians). It is prepared not from berries and fruits, but from their juices (if the berries are costous) or decoctions (if the fruits contain a large amount of pectin, a vegetable gelling substance). Hot peltya has a liquid consistency, but when it cools it thickens and becomes transparent, like jelly.

cue- this is a kind of jam made from fruits and vegetables, but in this case, the same amount of water for cooking the syrup is taken as sugar, and sometimes more, while the fruits or vegetables themselves make up only a quarter of the volume. Therefore, cue is called liquid jam, although this is not entirely true. This sweet dish is widespread among the peoples of Central Asia, primarily in Uzbekistan.

Bekmes, doshab And nardek- These are the juices of berries and fruits boiled over low heat. In consistency, they all resemble honey and are popular among the peoples of Transcaucasia and Central Asia.

Varieties of dry jam include glazed fruits (berries), famous Kiev dry jam And candied fruit.

SELECTION OF COOKING COOKINGS FOR JAM COOKING

FOOD FOOD STAINLESS STEEL COOKWARE- best for making jam. It does not oxidize, does not destroy useful substances, and is durable in use. There is no need to worry that the acid from the jam will destroy the basin. If you are afraid that the jam will burn, use a divider. In addition, the jam will not be damaged if you need to keep it in the basin for quite a long time.

ENAMELED WAREWARE- excellent utensils for jam. There is only one minus - relatively low durability. High temperatures or shocks can cause the enamel to crack and chips to form. If the integrity of the enamel is damaged, the utensils cannot be used - firstly, it is dangerous that further chipped pieces of enamel will end up in the food; secondly, iron that comes out at the site of even the slightest chip within 2-3 minutes will completely destroy all the vitamin C in the jam (iron is a very effective catalyst for the breakdown of vitamin C).

COPPER WARE. Since ancient times, jam was cooked in copper basins. And since then, this cookware has been considered the most suitable - copper has a very high thermal conductivity, so the jam heats up evenly and does not burn.

But copper ions destroy ascorbic acid in berries. And valuable vitamins disappear. It is especially not recommended to use a copper basin when making jam from sour berries. Their acid reacts with copper, the metal oxidizes, and harmful copper oxides end up in the jam.

If, nevertheless, you cook jam in a copper basin, then you need to ensure its cleanliness: do not use darkened jam, and after use, thoroughly wash and polish the dishes. And it is unacceptable to leave cooked jam in it - immediately after it is ready, it must be placed hot in jars.

ALUMINUM COOKWARE. The acid of fruits and berries destroys the oxide film on the surface of aluminum, and it ends up in the jam.

If there are no other dishes in the house, then when washing an aluminum basin, do not use iron scourers, which will strip off the protective layer of aluminum. And just as in the case of a copper basin, the finished jam should be immediately poured into jars, i.e. do not keep it in the basin for a long time.

SIZE AND SHAPE OF THE BASH FOR MAKING JAM. The pelvis should have a wide, even (flat) bottom. The basin should be shallow, then the berries and fruits will cook well and evenly. A bowl with a lid is very successful, since after cooking the jam should stand on the stove for some time, cool, and infuse. It happens that you need to cook the jam again - a convenient lid will protect the jam from wasps and other insects.

The size of the basin depends on the volume of your workpieces. A 5 liter basin is enough for jam from 2-3 kg of berries.

If you are using a gas stove, so that the jam does not burn and cooks well, the basin should be placed on a flame divider. The divider - a double sheet of iron with small holes - ensures uniform heating of the jam over the entire bottom area.

WALNUT JAM

Ingredients :
1000 pcs. walnuts, 3 kg sugar, 10 g ground cloves, 10 g ground cinnamon, 5 pcs. cardamom

Preparation

Peel unripe walnuts, cover with cold water and leave for 6 days, changing the water 3-4 times a day, until the nuts acquire a dark color. After this, drain the water, and immerse the nuts in lime water and keep in it for 24 hours, stirring occasionally.
Prepare lime water from 0.5 kg of quicklime, add 5 liters of cold water, stir and strain through cheesecloth.
Rinse the nuts thoroughly with cold water, then place them in boiling water with the addition of alum (75 g of alum per 5 liters of water). Boil the walnuts for 10 minutes, then drain on a sieve, transfer to a bowl with cold water and soak in it for 1 hour.
Prepare sugar syrup. Put nuts in hot syrup, add cloves, cinnamon, cardamom (in a gauze bag), boil, remove from heat and leave for a day.
This operation should be repeated 3 times, after which the jam should be boiled until tender, removing the bag of spices.

ROSE PETALS JAM

Ingredients :
1 kg of rose petals, 6 kg of sugar, 8 g of citric acid.

Preparation

Tea rose petals are used for jam. Cut off the lower white part of the petals with scissors and remove the dried petals. By shaking and sifting through a sieve, separate the pollen from the petals.
Rinse the rose petals prepared in this way in cold water, put them in a bowl for making jam, pour in 2 liters of cold water, bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes.
After this, add sugar and boil the jam until tender.
In order to preserve the natural color of the petals and prevent sugaring, citric acid must be added while cooking the jam.

APRICOT FLOWER JAM

Ingredients :
100 g apricot flowers, 500 g sugar.

Preparation

Sort the apricot flowers, rinse and place in an enamel bowl, add sugar, add water so that it does not cover the petals, and cook until tender (liquid consistency).
The same jam can be made from jasmine and lilac flowers.

JAM FROM WHITE ACACIA FLOWERS

Ingredients :
4 kg of white acacia flowers, 2 kg of sugar, 2.5 glasses of water.

Preparation

Prepare sugar syrup, pour it over the prepared white acacia flowers and boil for 30 minutes.
Then strain the jam, boil for another 20 minutes, pour hot into sterilized jars and seal hermetically.

ELDERBERRY PETALS JAM WITH NUTS

Ingredients :
2 kg of black elderberry petals, 1 kg of honey, walnuts, citric acid.

Preparation

Pour hot water over the petals, place in boiling honey, adding citric acid and walnut kernels to taste, and, stirring constantly so as not to burn, boil until a thick mass is obtained.

WHITE IRIS FLOWER JAM

Ingredients :
100 g white iris flowers, 200 g sugar.

Preparation

Sort the iris flowers, separate the white part, rinse the flowers themselves to remove the yellow pollen, weigh them, put them in an enamel bowl, add sugar, add water and cook like jam from apricot flowers.

Clove FLOWER JAM

Ingredients :
100 g clove flowers, 500 g sugar, 400 g water.

Preparation

Sort out garden fragrant cloves of the same color, rinse, add water, boil until soft, then add sugar and boil until tender (liquid consistency).
Remove the finished jam from the heat and add 5-6 drops of clove oil.

DANDELION JAM

Ingredients :
200 pcs. dandelion flowers, 1 kg of sugar, 1 lemon, 1 liter of water.

Preparation

In the early sunny morning, when the dandelion is full of fragrant and valuable nectar, collect the plant heads (without stalks), put them in water, add chopped lemon without peel and simmer over low heat for an hour.
Then strain the broth, add sugar and boil for another 1-1.5 hours.
The finished jam should resemble honey in appearance, taste and smell.

YELLOW PLUM JAM

Ingredients :
1 kg yellow plums, 1.3 kg sugar, 200 g water.

Preparation

Wash ripe but unripe plums in cold water, prick them in several places with a thin wooden pin, place on a dish, cover with sugar (half the norm) and leave in a cool place for 6-8 hours.
Boil syrup from the remaining sugar and water, put plums in it (along with juice) and cook over low heat for 30-35 minutes, remove from heat and leave for 5-6 hours.
After this, boil the jam until tender over low heat. At the end of cooking, remove the foam and remove from heat.

GRAPE JAM

Ingredients :
1 kg of grapes, 1 kg of sugar, 2-3 g of citric acid, 1 g of vanillin.

Preparation

Place fresh, equal-sized grape berries in hot water (80-90°C) for 1-2 minutes. To add aroma and a pleasant color, add one teaspoon of dry cherry stems to the water.
Then put the berries in sugar syrup and leave in it for 3-4 hours.
After this, bring to a boil, simmer over low heat for 50-60 minutes, remove from heat, leave for a while, then simmer, adding citric acid and vanillin, until tender.

ORANGE JAM

Ingredients :
1 kg of oranges, 1.5 kg of sugar, 700 g of water.

Preparation

Boil the oranges in their peels, cool under running water and leave in cold water for 12 hours.
Then remove the oranges from the water, divide into 2 or 4 parts, pour in not very hot sugar syrup, leave for 6-8 hours, then boil intermittently 2-3 times until medium thick.

ORANGE-PLUM JAM

Ingredients :
1.5 kg plums, 2 oranges, 1.5 kg sugar, 500 g raisins, 250 g walnuts.

Preparation

Place peeled oranges, halved plums, sugar, raisins, peeled and minced into a saucepan and cook, stirring, for about 1.5 hours to obtain a thick mixture.
Then add the chopped nuts, stir and cook for another 20 minutes.
Place the finished jam into hot sterilized jars and roll up.

CZECH PLUM JAM

Ingredients :
1 kg plums, 1 glass of sea buckthorn juice, 300 g sugar, 2 tbsp. spoons of rum, 0.5 tbsp. spoons of ground cinnamon, 5 g of vanilla sugar.

Preparation

This is an old Czech recipe. Wash the plums, remove the stems, remove the seeds, pour in sea buckthorn juice, put on fire, boil for 20 minutes, add sugar and cook for another 10 minutes.
Then add rum, cinnamon, vanilla sugar, mix thoroughly, pour the jam into hot glass jars, sterilize (half-liter - 20 minutes, liter - 30 minutes) and seal.

LEMON JAM

Ingredients :
1 kg lemons, 2 kg sugar, 570 g water.

Preparation

Using a sharp knife, cut the rind off the lemons. Boil peeled lemons in boiling water for 15-20 minutes (use the water to prepare syrup), rinse under running cold water and leave in cold water for 10 minutes.
Then remove from the water, divide into slices, remove the seeds, pour in not very hot syrup and leave for a day.
After this, boil the jam intermittently until tender.

PHYSALIS JAM

Ingredients :
1 kg of physalis fruits, 700 g of sugar.
For syrup: 500 g water, 500 g sugar.

Preparation

Remove the physalis fruits from the calyxes, place them in boiling water and blanch for 2-3 minutes, then remove them from the pan and place in a colander to drain.
Prepare the syrup, boil for 3-4 minutes, strain and pour hot over the fruits in the pan.
Leave the fruits in the syrup for 3-4 hours, covering the pan with gauze, then add 500 g of sugar, gently heat while stirring until all the sugar is completely dissolved and cook at low boil for 10 minutes.
After this, remove from heat, let stand for 5 hours, add another 200 g of sugar and boil a second time for 10-15 minutes. By the end of cooking, a drop of syrup placed on a flat plate should not spread when cooled; the syrup should flow from the spoon in a dense stream.
After cooling, pour the finished jam into clean, dry jars, trying to distribute the fruits and syrup evenly, and seal with film and parchment paper.

EGGPLANT JAM

Ingredients :
1 kg eggplants, 1.5 kg sugar, 400 g water, 5 pcs. cloves, 5-8 g cinnamon, 3-5 cardamom grains.

Preparation

Wash small eggplants no larger than 5-6 cm in size and remove the skin. After this, prepare lime water, put eggplants in this solution, leave for 40 minutes, then rinse thoroughly in cold water and place on a sieve.
Place the prepared eggplants in boiling water and cook for 5-7 minutes, then drain the water and cool the eggplants.
Prepare sugar syrup. Pour hot syrup over eggplants, cook for 30-35 minutes, remove from heat and keep in syrup for 2 hours.
Repeat this operation three times, then boil the jam until tender.
To add flavor during cooking, place a gauze bag with spices in a basin and then remove it.

GREEN TOMATO JAM

Ingredients :
1 kg green tomatoes, 1.3 kg sugar, 400 g water, 5 pcs. cloves, 6-8 g cinnamon, 2-3 cardamom seeds.

Preparation

Sort out the small green tomatoes, rinse with cold water, then place in boiling water and cook for 10-15 minutes.
Drain the water, cool the tomatoes, transfer to a bowl, pour in hot sugar syrup, let stand for 2-3 hours, then cook for 20-25 minutes, remove from heat and keep in syrup for 2 hours.
Repeat cooking the tomatoes in syrup three times, then cook the jam until tender.
To flavor the jam, at the end of cooking, place a gauze bag with cloves, cinnamon and cardamom into a basin, and then remove the bag of spices.

CUCUMBER JAM

Ingredients :
1 kg of cucumbers, 1.5 kg of sugar, 370 g of water.

Preparation

Select small cucumbers, wash, dry and leave in lime water for 10 hours. Then rinse them under running cold water and cook for 30 minutes, adding a small amount of alum to the water.
After cooking, immerse the cucumbers in cold water again, then transfer to an enamel bowl, add sugar, water and cook until tender.

ZUCCHIN JAM

Ingredients :
1 kg of zucchini, 1 kg of sugar, 0.5 cups of water, 1 lemon.

Preparation

In a bowl for making jam, dissolve sugar and half a glass of water. Boil the syrup, add diced zucchini, peeled and seeded, into it.
After the zucchini syrup boils, add the lemon, chopped very finely along with the peel, and cook for 45 minutes. (Lemon can also be added at the end of cooking).
This jam tastes like pineapple, orange, but not zucchini.
Store like any other jam.

CARROT JAM WITH LEMON

Ingredients :
1 kg carrots, 1 kg sugar, 1 lemon, 1 glass of water.

Preparation

Wash the carrots, cook, peel, cut beautifully and sprinkle with sugar. Remove the zest from the lemon with a sharp knife, pour boiling water over it and drain the water.
Chop the prepared zest and cook in sugar water for 1 hour until soft.
Place the lemon pulp, cut into thin slices, and boiled lemon zest into the prepared carrots and cook until the syrup becomes thick and the carrots are transparent.

CARROTT JAM

Ingredients :
2 kg red carrots, 2 kg sugar.

Preparation

Peel the carrots, cook in water until almost done, remove and cut into beautiful stars. Dissolve sugar in 1 glass of water, boil and strain.
Dip the prepared carrots into the syrup and cook until the carrots become transparent.

JAM FROM WATERmelon rinds

Ingredients :
1 kg of watermelon rinds, 1.2 kg of sugar, 1.5 teaspoons of soda, vanillin to taste.

Preparation

Remove all the edible pulp from thick watermelon rinds, remove the thin top green rind, cut into small pieces (curly ones can be) and pierce each piece with a fork. Dissolve baking soda in a glass of hot water and mix the soda solution with 5 glasses of cold water. Place the prepared pieces of watermelon rinds into this solution, close the lid and leave for 4 hours.
Put 600 g of sugar in a bowl for jam, pour in 3 glasses of cold water, let it boil and cook for 10-15 minutes.
Meanwhile, remove the watermelon rinds from the solution, rinse them several times in running water, then lower them into boiling syrup, bring to a boil again, cook for 15 minutes, remove from heat and leave for 12 hours.
Then add another 600 g of sugar to the syrup with crusts, put it on the fire again, bring to a boil and cook over low heat for 3 hours.
2 hours before the end of cooking, add vanillin to the jam.

JAM FROM CABBUZ

Ingredients :
1.5 kg of cabbage pulp (a hybrid of pumpkin and watermelon), 1 kg of sugar, 100 g of water, citric acid, citrus essence or zest.

Preparation

Cut the peeled cabbage into small pieces, rinse well, dry, put in hot sugar syrup, remove from heat and leave for 10 hours.
After this, cook the syrup with cabbage for 10-12 minutes and add citric acid and citrus essence (or lemon or orange zest) to taste.
Pour the finished jam into sterilized jars and roll up.

MELON JAM (with vinegar)

Ingredients :
400 g melon, 800 g sugar, 1 glass of water, vinegar.

Preparation

Peel the ripe melon from the skin and seeds, cut into small slices, pour in vinegar so that it covers the slices, and leave for 2 days. Then remove the melon from the vinegar and cook in liquid syrup.
As soon as the melon becomes soft, remove it from the syrup, put it in a jar and cool, and continue to cook the syrup until it thickens.
Pour hot syrup over the cooled melon, but do not close the jar until the jam has cooled.

MELON JAM (with citric acid)

Ingredients :
2 kg melon, 2 kg sugar, 1 glass of water, 3 g citric acid.

Preparation

Peel the not quite ripe melon, cut into squares or oblong pieces, place in boiling water, bring to a boil, place in a sieve, rinse with cold water and place on a plate for 15 minutes.
Prepare the syrup, bring it to a boil, place the prepared melon in it and simmer until the melon becomes transparent.
Shortly before the end of cooking, add citric acid.

MELONS IN SYRUP

Ingredients :
5 kg melons, 4 kg sugar, 2 lemons.

Preparation

Wash the melons, peel and core them, cut them into slices about the thickness of a finger, put them in water with lemon juice and boil. Then place in a sieve or colander to drain.
Boil a thick syrup, dip the melon in it, bring to a boil again and leave to stand for a day. The next day, carefully remove the melon slices, boil the syrup and pour it over the melon again.
Repeat until the syrup thickens.
Then put the melon with syrup into jars and close tightly.

PUMPKIN JAM

Ingredients :
1 kg pumpkin, 1.4 kg sugar, 500 g water, 1 lemon.

Preparation

Wash the pumpkin, peel it, remove the seeds and cut the pulp into cubes. Dissolve 800 g of sugar in water and boil the syrup, simmering it over low heat for 10-15 minutes, then put the prepared pumpkin in the syrup, bring to a boil and, after boiling for 5 minutes, leave to infuse for 6-8 hours.
Then put the bowl with the jam back on the fire, boil, add the remaining sugar, lemon juice and zest, and after the sugar has completely dissolved, let it steep again for 10-12 hours.
For the third time, bring the jam to a boil and pour into jars.

ROWAN BERRY JAM (I)

Ingredients :
I kg of rowan fruits, 6 glasses of sugar, 4.5 glasses of water.

Preparation

Remove rowan after the first frost. After separating the berries from the branches, put them in boiling water for 3-4 minutes, then soak them in running water for 12-14 hours to remove bitterness, then transfer the berries to hot sugar syrup and soak in it for 8-10 hours.
Cook the jam in 2-3 batches for 5-6 minutes each, allowing it to stand for 12-24 hours.

ROWAN BERRY JAM (II)

The ratio of ingredients is as in the previous recipe.
Peel the rowan berries collected after the first frost from the branches, rinse in cold water and place on a sieve. Scatter the dried rowan on the table and lightly crush it with a rolling pin, then place it in an enamel or earthenware bowl, pour boiling water over it, leave for 10-15 minutes and place on a sieve.
Boil sugar syrup, add prepared rowan berries to it and cook until tender, skimming off the foam from time to time.

ROSE HIP JAM

Ingredients :
1 kg of peeled rose hips, 1.5 kg of sugar.

Preparation

Peel ripe rose hips, wash them in cold water and place on a sieve. Cut the prepared fruits lengthwise into halves, remove seeds and hairs, blanch in boiling water for 5-10 minutes (depending on the degree of ripeness), cool with cold water, place in an enamel basin and pour in 70% sugar syrup.
Prepare the syrup using water in which rose hips have been blanched. Dissolve sugar in water until the crystals completely disappear, filter through 3-4 layers of gauze, then heat to a boil and pour the resulting syrup over the fruit.
Cook the rosehip jam in one batch without pre-infusion, constantly removing the foam.
Place the boiling jam, boiled until ready, into dry, heated jars, hermetically seal with boiled lids, turn the necks down and cool.

ROSE HIP AND ROWAN JAM

Ingredients :
600 g of rose hips, peeled from hairs and seeds, 400 g of rowan fruits (preferably nevezhinskaya); 1.3 kg sugar, 1 glass of water (from blanching).

Preparation

Pour boiling water over the prepared rose hips and rowan berries, leave for 2 minutes, and then cook in three batches until tender with the addition of water and sugar.

HONEYSUCKLE JAM

Ingredients :
1 kg of honeysuckle berries, 1 kg of sugar, 100-120 g of water.

Preparation

Boil the syrup over low heat with constant stirring. Place the berries in the finished syrup, bring to a boil, remove from heat and let sit for 6-8 hours. During this time, the berries will be well saturated with sugar syrup and will not be overcooked in the future. Then put it back on the fire and bring the jam to readiness, simmering it over low heat for 15-20 minutes.
The syrup in the finished jam should be clear and thick.
Note. Honeysuckle jam has a pleasant taste and is reminiscent of cherry in color.

SEA BUCKTHORN JAM WITH WALNUTS

Ingredients :
1 kg of sea buckthorn, 1.5 kg of sugar, 2 glasses of water, 200 g of chopped walnut kernels.

Preparation

Boil the ground walnut kernels for 20 minutes in sugar syrup, cool to about 80°C, then pour the prepared sea buckthorn fruits into the syrup, bring to a boil over high heat and cook over low heat until cooked.
Cool the finished jam and pack it cold into sterilized jars.

ACTINIDIA JAM (I)

Ingredients :
1 kg of actinidia berries (Amur gooseberries), 2 kg of sugar.

Preparation

You can make jam from actinidia without adding water.
To do this, the berries should be covered with sugar, kept in a cool place for 3-4 days until the juice is released and cooked over low heat until ready in one go.

ACTINIDIA JAM (II)

Ingredients :
1 kg actinidia berries, 1.2 kg sugar A medium orange.

Preparation

Cut the actinidia fruits into halves, put them in a saucepan, add two cups of water and cook until they become soft.
Add sugar, juice and crushed orange slices, quickly boil to a certain thickness, then pour the jam into sterilized jars and seal hermetically.
Note. Instead of oranges, you can take lemons at the rate of 1 lemon per 400 g of fruit.

BARBERRY JAM

Ingredients :
1 kg of barberry, 1-1.5 kg of sugar, 2-3 glasses of water.

Preparation

Pour the washed berries with warm water and leave for 8-10 hours. Then drain the water, prepare sugar syrup in it, pour it over the berries and cook until tender (about 30-40 minutes).
The finished jam should have a pleasant sweet and sour taste and a light aroma.

LINGONBERRY JAM

Ingredients :
1 kg of lingonberries, 1.2 kg of sugar, 3 glasses of water, 3-4 pcs. carnations.

Preparation

In order for the jam to be tasty and tender, the prepared berries must first be poured with boiling water and kept in it for 2-3 minutes.
After this, put them on a sieve, then place them in a bowl for jam, pour in the prepared syrup and cook until tender.
At the end of cooking, add cloves.

DONGEL JAM (I)

Ingredients :
1 kg of seeded dogwood fruits, 1.5 kg of sugar, 400 g of water.

Preparation

For jam, it is better to take unripe dogwood fruits, which should be placed in boiling water and kept in it for 5 minutes. Remove the seeds from large-fruited dogwoods after blanching.
Pour the prepared dogwood into boiling sugar syrup, cook over low heat for 15 minutes, let it brew for 6-8 hours and cook again for 30 minutes, skimming off the foam and stirring all the time.

DONGEL JAM (II)

Ingredients :
1 kg dogwood, 1.5 kg sugar, 3 glasses of water.

Preparation

Sort out the unripe dogwood fruits, remove the stalks, place in an enamel or earthenware basin, pour over hot water VL, cover with a napkin, leave for 10-15 minutes.
Drain the water, put the dogwood in the previously prepared sugar syrup, bring to a boil, then lightly shake the basin to drive the foam to one side and collect it with a spoon.
Then, after standing for 6-7 hours, put the jam on the fire again and bring it to readiness.

JAM “SURPRISE”

Ingredients :
2 kg of gooseberries, 1 kg of honey, walnuts (how many berries will take).

Preparation

Wash strong, slightly unripe gooseberries and carefully remove the seeds with a hairpin. Crush the walnut kernels, fill the gooseberry cups with the resulting mass, pour honey over the berries and cook until tender.
Pour the finished jam into sterilized jars and roll up.

JAM "ROYAL"

Ingredients :
1 kg of gooseberries, 1.5 kg of sugar, 2 glasses of water, cherry leaves.

Preparation

Select unripe, green berries, wash them well, remove stems, make a cut on each berry and remove the seeds through it. Then rinse the berries again, place them in a suitable container, layering them with cherry leaves (to add a special aroma and preserve their green color), and cover with cold water for 5-6 hours.
Before cooking, dry the berries in a sieve (colander), pour in syrup and leave for at least 3-4 hours. Then cook until tender in 2-3 portions for 5-7 minutes in boiling syrup with intervals of 5-6 hours.
After each cooking, the jam must be quickly cooled, under no circumstances covering it.

JAM “EXOTIC”

Ingredients :
2 hard pears, 2 apples, 1 lemon, 1 orange, 200 g grapes, 500 g plums, 1 kg sugar.

Preparation

Wash the pears, cut into slices 0.5 cm thick, pour in boiling water, bring to a boil, remove from heat, drain the broth and boil sugar syrup on it. Place plums, grapes, sliced ​​apples, pears into the syrup and boil.
Cut the orange and lemon into slices 0.5 cm wide, remove the grains, add water, bring to a boil, put in syrup with fruit, put on fire and bring the jam to readiness. (The fruit should become translucent).
Place the finished jam into glass jars.

JAM “SUN IN A JAR”

Ingredients :
1 cup each of chopped apricots, peaches and yellow cherries, 1.5 cups sugar, 1.5 cups water.

Preparation

Boil the syrup, pour it over the fruit, let sit for 3-4 hours, and then cook the jam until it is ready - a drop of syrup should not spread.
Place the finished jam into clean half-liter jars and close them with lids (or tie them with parchment paper).

JAM “GRAINY”

Peel citrus fruits (oranges, tangerines, lemons or grapefruits), put them in water and soak for 2-3 days, periodically changing the water to remove the bitterness.
Then pass it through a meat grinder and cook with sugar (1:1), adding a little citric acid.

JAM “RASPBERRY FLAVORS”

Ingredients :
1 kg of raspberries, 0.5 cups of water, 2 kg of sugar, 1 kg of unripe pumpkin pulp.

Preparation

Pour water over the raspberries, simmer over low heat under a closed lid for 5 minutes, squeeze out the juice, add 1 kg of sugar and cook the syrup for 10 minutes. Grate the pumpkin pulp on a coarse grater, squeeze, rinse in cold water and squeeze again.
Mix the prepared pumpkin pulp with the remaining sugar, bring to a boil, remove from heat and leave for 10 hours. Then put it back on the fire, add raspberry syrup, cook for another 5-10 minutes, then put it into sterilized jars and roll up.

BLACKBERRY JAM

Ingredients :
1.5 kg blackberries, 2 kg sugar, 1/2 lemon, 500 g cranberry syrup, 2 tbsp. spoons of flour, 100 g of yeast, 1 glass of water.

Preparation

Dry the washed blackberries. Grind the yeast, add water for half an hour, then add to the berries along with sugar, bring to a boil, strain and let the syrup settle.
Then put chopped lemon into it, pour in cranberry syrup, combine with berries and flour and, after cooking for 1 hour, pack into sterilized dry jars and roll up.

APRICOT-LEMON JAM

Ingredients :
1 kg apricots, 1 kg sugar, 1/2 lemon.

Preparation

Wash the apricots and remove the pits. Remove kernels from several seeds.
Sprinkle the apricots with half the sugar, add the pits and lemon slices along with the zest and leave overnight, covered with gauze.
Place the bowl on the fire, add the second half of the sugar. Bring to a boil, stirring. Cook for 5 minutes. Leave for 7-8 hours.
Bring to a boil again, boil and turn off, leave for 8 hours and boil again. Cool.
Divide the jam into clean jars.
Remove for long-term storage.

PEAR AND ORANGE JAM

Ingredients :
1/2 cup honey, 1 cup sugar, 1/2 lemon (juice), 1 lemon, 5-6 clove buds, 1 kg hard pears, 1 kg oranges, mint sprig, 1 liter water.

Preparation

Mix honey, sugar, lemon juice and cloves in water.
Peel the pears, cut them in half and remove the core. Place in syrup and bring to a boil over high heat. Then cook for 20 minutes over low heat.
Use a slotted spoon to transfer the pears into a bowl, and put the oranges into the pan, remove the skin and white pulp from them, bring to a boil, cook the oranges without a lid for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Transfer the oranges to the pears.
Bring the syrup to a boil, simmer for 10 minutes without a lid.
Pour the syrup over the fruit, add sliced ​​lemon and mint. Boil for 5 minutes, cool.

LINGONBERRY-APPLE JAM

Ingredients :
1 kg of lingonberries, 1/2 kg of Antonov apples, 1 kg of sugar, 1/2 glass of water.

Preparation

Mix sugar with water, put on low heat and cook syrup.
Peel the apples, remove the core and cut into thick slices. Wash the berries and dry them on a paper towel.
Add apples and lingonberries to the syrup, bring to a boil and cool. Then bring to a boil again. Reduce heat and cook until apples are soft.
Cool and put into jars.

QUINCE JAM WITH WALNUTS

Ingredients :
4 kg of quince, 1 kg of walnuts, 2.5 kg of sugar, 500 g of water.

Preparation

Wash the quince and cut into medium-sized slices. Remove shells and membranes from nuts.
Place the quince in a bowl for jam, add sugar, pour in water, put on fire, cover with a lid and stir so that it does not burn.
After 30 minutes, add the nuts and cook until fully cooked.
Pour the slightly brownish jam into sterilized jars and roll up.

Sloe JAM

Ingredients :
1 kg of thorn fruits, 1.2 kg of sugar, 2.5 glasses of water.

Preparation

Sort the thorn fruits, wash, blanch for 5 minutes at 80°C, then prick or cut along the pit.
Prepare a syrup from 800 g of sugar and 2 glasses of water, pour it over the sloe for 4 hours, put on fire, bring to 90°C and keep at this temperature for 5 minutes (without boiling).
Take the semi-finished jam to a cool place and leave for 8-10 hours to infuse.
After this, boil the second part of the syrup from the remaining sugar and water, add this syrup to the basin with the thorn fruits, boil for 3 minutes, leave for 6 hours and boil until tender with short breaks of 10-15 minutes.

UNRIPE FIG JAM

Ingredients :
100 g small green figs, 400 g sugar, 1 lemon.

Preparation

Soak the selected and washed figs in lime water for 6 hours, then rinse well and cook in sweetened water, adding lemon.
Then drain the water, prepare sugar syrup in it, cool, immerse the figs in the syrup and cook the jam until tender.

FIGS IN SUGAR SYRUP

Ingredients :
1 kg of figs, 1 kg of sugar, 150 g of water, 2 g of citric acid, 1 g of vanillin.

Preparation

Peel not very ripe figs, boil a little in water, drain the water. Prepare sugar syrup, cool, immerse figs in it and cook until tender for 30 minutes.
At the end of cooking, add citric acid, vanillin and, if desired, a few clove buds.

MINT JAM

Ingredients :
400 g mint leaves, 1 kg sugar, 1 teaspoon citric acid, water.

Preparation

Wash the mint leaves in cold water, place in a sieve, place in a towel and pat dry carefully. Then pour them into a saucepan, pouring 500 g of sugar, pour citric acid solution on top, shake again, cover with a lid and leave for 6 hours.
Pour the remaining sugar into 1 glass of water, boil the syrup, skim off the foam and pour over the leaves that have already released the juice.
After 6 hours of exposure, put on low heat, boil for no more than 5 minutes, then pour the hot jam into sterilized half-liter jars and roll up the lids.

After finishing the first cooking, let the jam stand for 10-12 hours, pour in thicker syrup (700 g of sugar per 1.5 cups of water) and cook until tender.

RADISH JAM

Ingredients :
100 g radish, 50 g honey, 20 g sugar, 30 g sweet almond kernels, a little ginger and baking soda.

Preparation

Wash the black radish, peel it, wash it again, grate it on a coarse grater and, after boiling in water with soda for no more than 5 minutes, place it on a sieve. Rinse the radish with cold boiled water and squeeze lightly. Make a thick syrup from honey and sugar.
Crush the peeled almond kernels in a mortar.
Add radish, almonds, ground ginger to boiling syrup and, stirring, keep it all on low heat for 10 minutes. Leave some of the ginger to sprinkle on the finished jam when it is transferred to a glass jar.

MUSHROOM JAM

Ingredients :
1 kg of fresh mushrooms, 1 kg of sugar, 400-500 g of fruit juice or water, 2-4 buds of cloves, walnut kernels.

Preparation

The mushrooms do not lose their shape and retain their elasticity and appearance, which they take after 2-3 minutes of cooking.
Butter is best suited for jam.
First, prepare the syrup by pouring sugar with water or fruit juice (orange, lemon, pineapple, mango, lingonberry, raspberry, etc.). Bring the mixture to a boil and cook until the sugar is completely dissolved.
Then add the mushrooms, cut into thin longitudinal slices, and cook everything together as usual: let it boil several times, skim off the foam, then cook over low heat until done.
Readiness indicator is a drop of syrup on a saucer. When it no longer spreads, but retains its shape, then the jam is ready (the mushrooms should become transparent and evenly distributed in the syrup).
Cloves should be introduced after the foam has been removed.
Add the nuts also not immediately, but about 30 minutes before the end of cooking.

FAMOUS KIEV DRY JAM

Boil the prepared fruits (fruits or berries) in 65% sugar syrup (650 g of sugar per 1 liter of water) and leave in it for 8 hours. Then separate the fruits from the syrup, sprinkle them with sugar, mix well, sift out excess sugar and dry at 40°C over the stove for 10 hours.
Pack the finished dry jam in a plywood box or cardboard box, having previously lined it with parchment paper.
In this way you can make dry jam from any fruit, only for plums you need to prepare 70% sugar syrup.

GLAZED APRICOTS

Boil the jam until tender (800 g of sugar per 1 liter of water), place the fruits in a sieve and let the syrup drain. Then place them in supersaturated sugar syrup and continue cooking until sugar crystals begin to form on the surface of the syrup. Then remove the fruits and dry them in the oven.
Ready apricots should be transparent, covered with a thin film of sugar.
Other fruits can also be glazed.

CANDIFIED FRUIT (I)

Ingredients :
4 lemons, 1 liter of water, 750 g of sugar.

Preparation

Make a medium-thick syrup from sugar and water. Cut the lemons into slices 2 cm thick and boil in water until softened, then transfer them to cold water for 15 minutes, then remove, dry with a napkin, put in hot syrup and continue cooking until completely thickened.
After this, remove the jam from the heat, cover the dish with a lid and shake until the lemon slices have cooled and are covered with a sugar crust.
Place the finished slices on a plate and dry.
In the same way you can candy oranges, tangerines, grapefruits, pineapples and other fruits.

CANDIFIED FRUIT (II)

To prepare this dish, it is recommended to take several varieties of ripe, but not overripe fruits. Peel the fruits, remove the core (for example, apples) and place in an enamel bowl.
Prepare syrup (for every 500 g of sugar - 250 g of water), bring to a boil, pour syrup over the fruit, cover with a lid and leave in a cool place for 24 hours.
The next day, drain the syrup, boil until thick and pour it over the fruit again. Repeat until all the liquid has evaporated. This procedure should last 8-10 days.
After this, spread the fruits on a towel and let them dry.
To keep the sugar white, you can pour a little lemon juice into the syrup (for 1 liter of syrup - the juice of 1 lemon).

RAW JAPANESE QUINCE JAM

Wash the quince fruits, pour over boiling water, dry and grate on a coarse grater (do not use the core of the fruit with seeds).
Mix the resulting mass with sugar in a 1:1 ratio, place in sterilized glass jars, close with lids and store in a cool place.
Note. The remaining cores with seeds can be used to make fruit vinegar or compote.

RAW Viburnum JAM

Wash the viburnum berries, separate from the bunches, mash and mix with sugar in a 1:1 ratio. Place in glass jars, close the lids and store in a cool place.
Note. Do not remove the bones from the workpiece. During storage, they release healing substances into the juice, and the value of the jam only increases from this.

RAW GOOSEBERRY JAM

Wash unripe green gooseberries (when the seeds in them are still soft), dry, mince or beat with a mixer, mix with sugar in a 1:1 ratio, place in boiled glass jars, close the lids and store in the refrigerator.

RAW CURRANT JAM

Peel the currants from the branches, rinse with water, dry, pass through a meat grinder or chop with a mixer.
Mix the currant mass with sugar (combine 1 part currants with 1.5 or 2 parts sugar).
Pack the jam into sterilized glass jars, close with sterile lids and store in a cool place.

RAW RASPBERRY OR BLACKBERRY JAM

After picking, remove the sepals from raspberries and blackberries (do not wash them!).
Mix the berries with sugar (combine 1 part of the berries with 1.5 or 2 parts of sugar), place in sterilized glass jars, close with lids and store in a cool place.

RAW BLACK ROWAN JAM

Separate chokeberry (chokeberry) berries from the branches, rinse, blanch in boiling water for 1 minute, dry and grind using a mixer or meat grinder.
Mix the resulting mass with sugar (700 g of sugar per 1 kg of berries), add 3 g of citric acid, place in sterilized glass jars and close with lids.
Store in a cool place.

RAW PLUMS AND CHERRY PEARL JAM

Rinse the plums, pour over boiling water, wipe dry, remove seeds, chop with a mixer or mince and mix with sugar in a 1:1 ratio.
Pack into small sterilized jars, close with sterile lids and store in a cool place.
Use the same method to prepare cherry plum jam.

RAW JAM FROM APPLES AND PEARS

Winter apples are suitable for jam. They should be juicy and firm. Wash the apples, pour boiling water over them, wipe dry with a cloth, remove the core, grate on a coarse grater, mix with sugar in a 1:1 ratio (by volume), place in sterilized glass jars, close with lids and store in a cool place.
Prepare jam from hard pears in the same way.

RAW FEIJOA JAM WITH NUTS

Wash feijoa fruits, pour over boiling water, wipe dry and grind with a mixer or mince.
Then mix with sugar in a 1:1 ratio, add chopped walnut kernels or hazelnuts (per 1 kg of jam - 100 g of peeled nuts), put in sterilized jars, close with lids and store in a cool place.

GREEN WALNUTS WITH SUGAR

Ingredients :
1 kg green walnuts, 800 g sugar.

Preparation

Prick young green walnut fruits with a thick needle in several places and soak in water for 14 days, changing the water daily in the morning and evening. Then boil the nuts and drain in a colander. When they are dry, put them in thick sugar syrup, boil and leave for 12 hours, then bring to a boil again.
If after 24 hours the syrup is liquid, you should boil it with the nuts a third time.
Place hot nuts in clean, dry jars, pour syrup, close tightly and place in a warm place for a day.

APPLE PELTA

Ingredients :
2 kg of hard sweet apples, 1.75 liters of water, 1-1.7 kg of sugar.

Preparation

Wash the apples, cut them into quarters, and cut each quarter in half crosswise. There is no need to peel apples from seeds and skin. To prevent apples from darkening during peeling, place them in cold water.
Cook the prepared fruits over low heat. However, you cannot stir them, otherwise they will boil. After 15 minutes, pour the broth through a sieve into another bowl, cover it with a sieve and pour in the apples.
Keep the apples on the sieve for at least 30 minutes.
Strain the settled broth through cheesecloth again.
After this, take 1 kg of sugar for 1 liter of purified broth, dissolve it over very low heat and cook the pellet carefully over low heat so that it does not overcook, otherwise the pellet will not thicken as it should.

Fragrant jam, smelling of sun and warmth, is especially pleasant to taste in the winter cold, remembering summer. It’s hard to imagine a family tea party without fragrant jam, which both children and adults love. Tea with a tempting dessert brings people together, provides an opportunity to socialize and enjoy a delicious dessert. Jam, which has preserved the taste of natural berries, not only lifts your spirits and gives you a piece of summer warmth, but also fills you with energy, because it contains all the necessary vitamins, minerals and microelements. Every housewife has her own secrets on how to properly prepare delicious jam from strawberries, raspberries, currants, gooseberries, cherries, and apricots, and especially discerning connoisseurs know how to properly prepare jam from rose petals or walnuts. But we will talk about making classic homemade jam, which will turn out tasty and aromatic if you approach the matter with soul.

Secrets of making homemade jam

The ideal jam looks like this: a thick and transparent syrup in which berries or pieces of fruit are evenly distributed. Real jam is not only tasty, but also looks attractive if cooked correctly. Shall we try?

How to properly cook raspberry, apple and strawberry jam

Jam is made from any berries and fruits - both traditional for our area and exotic, such as mango and papaya. Some lovers of unusual desserts prepare jam from carrots, green tomatoes, cucumbers, pineapples, bananas, oranges and chestnuts. Jam can be thin or thick, very sweet or with a hint of sweetness, prepared with sugar or honey. There are many ways to process fruits, prepare syrup and make jam, from which everyone can choose the appropriate one. However, there are general cooking rules and some subtleties that every housewife should know, no matter what recipe she uses.

Fruits and berries - beautiful, aromatic and slightly unripe

Choose only high-quality fruits, preferably grown in your area, as they have retained their natural taste and aroma. If you get bad berries, you are unlikely to get an appetizing dessert, even if you know how to properly make strawberry, cherry or guava jam. Most often, slightly unripe fruits are used for jam, since they have dense pulp and do not deform during cooking, with the exception of cherries and plums, which should be quite juicy. When choosing berries and fruits at the market or in a supermarket, be picky and make sure that the fruit and berry raw materials do not have external defects - dented sides, dark spots, dots and mechanical damage. The berries must be whole and not bruised. If you have a garden plot, pick fruits for jam in sunny weather, since berries picked in the rain absorb a lot of moisture and become soft.

A copper basin is just right for making jam!

It is best to cook jam in copper, aluminum, steel basins or pans that are perfectly clean and free of rust. Copper is the most suitable material for jam, as it helps preserve the natural taste and color of the berries. It is important to ensure that a green layer of copper oxides, which are hazardous to health, does not form on the surface of copper cookware. Do not use enamel bowls - jam often burns in them, and this spoils its taste. And one more important tip: cook the jam in small portions so that tender pieces of berries and fruits do not overcook.

Fruit preparation: from sorting to blanching

Before preparing the jam, the fruits are carefully sorted, ugly, bruised and overripe fruits are removed, they are cleaned of stems and leaves, and then washed in cold water. The tender berries are kept in a sieve under the shower for a few minutes, and then the water is allowed to drain. Raspberries and strawberries, if they look clean, do not need to be washed so that they do not lose their shape. After washing, you can finally remove the seeds from the cherries, and the core from the apples, using special devices for this not only to save time, but also to protect the fruit from damage.

Some housewives blanch the fruits before making jam - scald them with boiling water or dip them in hot water, and large fruits are often pricked with a needle or cut. This is done so that they are better saturated with sweet syrup and become tastier.

Sugar syrup for royal fruits

If the berries are sufficiently juicy, then you don’t need to prepare sugar syrup for them, since they produce juice when they come into contact with sugar. However, it is still worth boiling the syrup if you want the berries to remain intact and look very beautiful in the transparent amber syrup.

For 1 kg of fruits and berries, take the same amount of granulated sugar, the amount of which can be increased or decreased depending on the recipe. So, pour sugar into a saucepan or basin and add water of any temperature; for every kilogram of sugar, usually take about 200 ml of liquid. Bring the liquid to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, stirring constantly. The sugar syrup is ready when it flows from the spoon in a thick stream. Some housewives strain the syrup and pour it over berries and fruits, letting the jam brew and heating the syrup several times, depending on the recipe.

We make delicious jam

Berries and fruits are poured into the syrup and put on fire. This will create a large amount of foam, which must be completely removed if you want the jam to last until spring. The best way to get rid of foam and save nerve cells is to cook the jam until the end, let it cool and, when the berries sink to the bottom, quickly remove the foam with a slotted spoon.

During the cooking process, stir the fruits with a wooden spatula so that they do not turn into porridge, and determine readiness by the viscosity of the syrup. The jam is ready if the sugar drop on the saucer does not spread and firmly retains its shape or the syrup stretches between two fingers and forms a thread. Berries and fruits in the cooked jam sink to the bottom, the syrup becomes more transparent. It is important to remove the jam from the heat in time, since undercooked fruits will soon ferment and sour, and overcooked ones will become sugary and lose their pleasant aroma and taste. If the fruits are well soaked in syrup, you don’t have to cook them at all or cook them for no more than 40 minutes.

Pyatiminutka - luxurious jam with a unique aroma

Let's talk about how to properly cook five-minute strawberry jam, the recipe for which does not involve boiling syrup, which means it will save precious time and... vitamins. To do this, the berries are covered with sugar, left for several hours and boiled in their own juice. There are different proportions of sugar and berries and different cooking methods, but on average, the five-minute one is kept on the fire for no more than 5 minutes and immediately rolled into jars.

Some housewives are interested in how to properly cook cherries with pits and whether they can be cooked for five minutes. The seeds give the jam an almond aroma and a pleasant taste, and it is also easier to cook, since the stage of preparing the berries for cooking is significantly reduced. For better soaking in syrup, pierce the berries or scald them with boiling water.

“Five-minute” jam is made from any fruit and berries, even apples, and the recipe with apples is simple - peeled fruits are cut into slices and covered with sugar, and then infused, or they are crushed into puree and boiled without first simmering in sugar.

In five minutes, all vitamins are preserved, and berries and fruits do not lose their natural taste and aroma. By the way, rose petal jam can also be considered a five-minute jam, since rose petals are boiled in syrup for only a short time - no more than 15 minutes.

After cooking, the jam is left to stand for up to 12 hours, and then it is poured into jars. However, this jam can be made right away - it is already ready and will be stored exactly as long as your loved ones have the patience to admire this beauty. You can eat the jam with a spoon or spread it on toast, pieces of biscuit or cookies. Pamper your children with a jar of fragrant treats without waiting for winter - let them get their vitamins and enjoy life!

Jam can be made from various fresh fruits and berries.

Fruits and berries used for jam must be fresh, not overripe, and well sorted.

The ratio of sugar to the amount of fruits and berries can be different - from 1 to 2 kg per 1 kg of fruits or berries, which depends mainly on their acidity.

The correct ratio of fruits or berries and sugar makes it possible to obtain jam of the best taste, with a sufficient amount of syrup and shelf-stable.

Cooking jam consists of two main stages - boiling the syrup and boiling fruits or berries in the prepared syrup.

Cooking fruits or berries in syrup can be done once, when the entire amount of syrup is used at the same time, and repeatedly, when fruits or berries are poured with part of the syrup, leaving about half or one third to be added during subsequent boilings.

Repeated cooking is used when it is necessary to obtain jam of good presentation, with clear syrup and whole, not boiled fruits or berries.

If the jam is prepared for use in cooking, as a semi-finished product for sweet dishes or flour products, then you can limit yourself to one-time cooking.

In some cases, the simplest methods of repeated cooking can be used: the fruits are boiled in weak syrup (0.5 kg of sugar per 1 liter of water), then left for a day, then the syrup is drained, 0.5-0.75 kg is added to it sugar (for each liter of syrup), boil for 15 minutes and pour it over berries or fruits. After this, let the jam stand for 5-6 hours, and then cook until done.

Cook the jam as follows: when the syrup boils, remove the jam from the heat and after 10 minutes put it back on the fire. Typically, this cooling of the jam is repeated 5-6 times until the cooking process is completed.

Repeated cooking is used for large fruits and berries: apricots, plums, apples, peaches. For some fruits and berries, regardless of the further use of jam, repeated cooking is not required.

In all cases, when making jam, sugar syrup is first prepared.

The syrup is cooked in a copper basin, in aluminum or enamel pans. Before cooking, sift the sugar, pour it into a basin or pan and add water in the specified proportion. Boil the syrup until the sugar is completely dissolved, then remove the bowl from the heat, add the berries or fruits, put them back on the fire, let it boil over high heat, shaking the bowl slightly so that the berries or fruits are immersed in the syrup. When finishing cooking, remove the foam and lightly shake the container with jam.

It is very important to determine the moment the jam is ready, since its quality and further preservation depend on this.

Here are the following signs that the jam is ready. If a drop of syrup poured onto a saucer does not spread, but retains its shape, the jam can be considered ready. In addition, in the finished jam, the berries or fruits do not float to the top, but are evenly distributed in the syrup and in most cases become transparent.

To cool, pour the jam into a porcelain or ceramic bowl, then transfer it to the prepared container and close tightly.

The jam should be stored in a cool, dry place.

Every housewife dreams of making the most delicious jam. So that guests coming to the house would admire her skill, and family members would always ask for more. Making delicious jam is not so difficult if you know a couple of tricks. I will tell you how to make jam in this article.

First of all, you need to stock up on granulated sugar. Canning with sugar is the most popular, simple and safe method. The sugar concentration must be high. If the syrup is thick, your jam, marmalade, confiture or candied fruits will not spoil for a long time, they will delight you and your family throughout the long winter. If you don’t like things too sweet or are saving on granulated sugar, you must carefully pasteurize the jam so that it does not ferment.

What to make jam from

Traditionally, housewives make jam at the end of summer and autumn, when the fruits ripen. Where to put too much harvest of apples, plums, and currants? Well, of course, make jam from them! But even in the middle of winter or spring, you can always treat yourself to a small jar of jam by buying seasonal fruits in the store. For example, it’s nice to make orange confiture with cinnamon and ginger before the New Year holidays. This confiture can be placed on a festive table in a beautiful rosette or given as a gift to friends.

In general, jam can be made from anything. The most popular types are raspberry jam (it contains a lot of vitamin C, which helps with colds) or strawberry jam. You can make jam from pears, peaches, and apricots. Berry jams made from blueberries, lingonberries, cranberries, blueberries, and cloudberries are not only extremely tasty, but also very healthy. And there are even exotic recipes, such as feijoa jam!

How to make delicious jam

By and large, it doesn’t matter what exactly you cook from, because the cooking methods are similar. And yet there are some nuances. It is better to make jam from large fruits, such as peaches or pears, when they are just a little ripe. Whereas for cherry or plum jam, slightly overripe fruits filled with juice are suitable.

Before making jam, you should clean your work area. You will need jars with lids, a clean towel, berries or fruits, bowls, sugar, and a measuring cup. First of all, you should thoroughly wash the jars and lids and set them aside to dry.

Next is to prepare your fruit. If you are going to make jam from cherries, plums or apricots, you should remove the seeds from the fruit. Apples need to be peeled and cored, the same goes for pears. The most difficult thing is with orange jam. You need to peel the oranges, but do not throw away the peels, as the zest is added to the jam and gives it a special piquant taste. Next, you need to separate out the orange pulp. This is a very labor-intensive process, but believe me, orange jam is worth it.

Next, you should decide what exactly you want to cook: jam, confiture or marmalade. Do you leave the fruit whole to float in the syrup, or do you puree it into a fruit puree? The easiest way to prepare fruit puree is with a mixer, but you can simply grate the fruit or soften it with a masher. If you want fruits or berries to remain intact, you will have to carefully monitor them during cooking so that they do not fall apart or wrinkle.

The first step to delicious jam is making sugar syrup. You will need a measuring cup. Balance the amount of fruit with the amount of granulated sugar. Usually they take a 1:1 ratio, that is, a kilogram of granulated sugar is used per kilogram of fruit. But you can increase the amount of sugar to taste, especially if your fruits or berries are sour. Granulated sugar should be poured into a pan, always enameled, filled with hot water and wait until the sugar dissolves and the water boils.

A good syrup is thick, with a slight caramel tint. Once the syrup is ready, pour your fruit into the pan and reduce the heat to low. To get the best result, you need to make sure that the jam does not boil or boil over, but cooks quietly in its own juice. The average cooking time for jam is 30-40 minutes.

Raspberry jam

Do you know how to make raspberry jam? This delicacy is loved by everyone, is healthy and does not need any special recommendations.

Raspberry jam recipe

• For 1 kg of raspberries you will need 1-1.5 kg of sugar and 2 glasses of water.

We sort the berries, to remove the raspberry beetle larvae, immerse them in a one percent solution of table salt for 3 minutes, rinse with water. Fill with hot syrup, leave for 3 hours, then remove from the syrup, discarding it in a colander. Boil, cool the syrup, lower the raspberries, and cook over low heat.

You can make raspberry jam using another method. Sprinkle the prepared raspberries with sugar, using half the amount of sugar, and leave in the refrigerator for 6-8 hours until the juice appears. Drain the juice, add the remaining sugar, heat to a boil until the sugar is completely dissolved. Cool the resulting syrup a little, add the berries, and cook until tender.

To prevent the raspberries from losing their color and falling apart, cook them in several batches. Pour syrup over the berries, bring to a boil, cook for 5 minutes over low heat, next time increase the time to 8-10 minutes, the third time until tender. A jar of raspberry jam will decorate any tea table.

Blackcurrant jam

There are several cooking methods, I will share my two recipes.

Place clean, sorted currants into boiling syrup (1.3 kg of sugar and 2 glasses of water), shake the bowl to ensure even settling of the berries, leave for 5-6 hours, then cook in one go.

The second method is blanching, lower the berries for 2 minutes. into boiling water. The peel becomes more permeable to sugar, resulting in better quality jam. Pour the prepared currants with syrup (1.5 kg of sugar and 2 glasses of water), cook immediately until tender, periodically removing from heat for 3-5 minutes.

Assorted jam

Jam made from various types of berries is very tasty.

Raspberry jam with blueberries—the fruits of these plants ripen at the same time, this gives us a wonderful opportunity to cook them together, it turns out to taste amazing.

• For 1 kg. raspberries need 2 glasses of water, 200 grams of blueberries, 1-1.5 kg. Sahara. Pour hot syrup over the sorted raspberries and blueberries, do not touch them for 3-4 hours, then cook until ready.

The following recipe is very healthy, with a unique taste and aroma, but it will take a little work.

• black and red currants, apples - 500 g,
• sugar - 500 kg,
• walnuts (kernels) - 2 cups,
• honey - 1.5 kg.

Sort out the currants, rinse, cook over low heat in a glass of water, tightly closing the lid. The berries should become soft. Next, mash the berries and rub them through a large hair sieve. Boil honey and sugar in a basin, add apples, pre-cut into slices, peeled and chopped nut kernels, grated currants. Cook over low heat for one hour, stirring gently. It turns out very tasty!

Other recipes

For example, when making strawberry or blueberry jam, raw berries are covered with sugar and waited until the sugar absorbs the juice. Then syrup is boiled from this sweet juice, and then the hot syrup is poured over the berries and boiled for literally 5-10 minutes. But this method is only suitable for very juicy berries.

If you want your fruits, such as cherries, not to wrinkle during cooking, you need to make sure that they are saturated with syrup evenly. Berries that are not soaked are immediately visible; they float to the surface. You need to turn the heat to the lowest possible setting and stir all the time. Some people also pierce the berries before cooking so that they soak up the syrup faster.

When jam is cooked, foam forms on its surface. It must be removed, otherwise the jam will turn out cloudy and unsightly. However, it is not at all necessary to throw away the foam; it can be eaten with tea; children especially love to eat foam.

Jam is ready

How do you know when the jam is ready? Modern housewives use timers, but they can also be determined by eye. The jam is ready if the foam collects only in the middle of the pan or basin in which you cook. The fruit floats evenly in the syrup, and the jam is quite thick and sticky. If you drop a drop of jam into the center of the saucer and it doesn’t spread much, then the jam is definitely ready and you need to turn off the stove.

You can start eating your prepared treat right away or store it for a long time. The surest way to preserve jam is hot pasteurization. To do this, you need to place pre-washed jars and lids in a hot oven for 15 minutes, and then remove them using mittens and wrap them in a clean towel to prevent germs from getting inside.

When the jam is ready, it is immediately poured hot into these jars and tightly closed with a lid, so that a vacuum is formed. Then the jars are turned upside down and allowed to stand for a while until they cool down. Jam packaged in this way will definitely survive the winter and will not burst or ferment.

There is another way. The already cooled jam is placed in clean jars, a piece of parchment equal to the neck of the jar is placed on top and moistened with alcohol. The top of the jar is covered with cellophane, gauze or parchment and tied with a string. This method of preservation is more popular in the West.

A final piece of advice: it’s better to choose smaller jars. A five-liter jar of jam is very difficult to eat quickly, and if opened it can spoil. It’s better to take liter or half-liter jars, and have a lot of them. Such jars can be eaten by a large group in one evening, or you can give them as a gift, tied with a cute ribbon. You need to store jam in a cool, dry place: in a closet, cellar or in the refrigerator on the lower shelves. Bon appetit!