In the afternoon I went shopping and on my list was sugar for jam-making as I'd nearly used up all the other and was determined to make yet more
This is the one I used last time...
...and this is the one I'll be using in future...
After careful consideration I bought the one for confitures, but this morning I Googled and asked the question - just what is the difference?
On this blog I found the answer:
Preserving sugar contains no additives and dissolves slower than regular sugar which reduces the risk of burning. It also allows any impurities to rise to the top for easy skimming, so it gives a clearer set.
Jam sugar on the other hand, contains added pectin and citric acid to ensure a high quality set with minimum boiling.
So now I know. WRONG SUGAR!!!!!
Bother.
So there's nothing I can do with this twice-boiled batch of jam really - I doubt the flavour would survive a third boiling-up. It is very syrupy now so methinks I could add it to sparkling water for a cool fizzy drink or stir it into plain yoghurt. I've got 7 jars, so it's going to be yoghurt and fizz every day...
4 comments:
As the French say "Je me coucherai moins bete ce soir"!!!
Oh dear! Could you try adding a little gelatine to the 'syrup' (1 jar at a time, to see if it works) ?
There's a good article here - http://britishfood.about.com/od/glossary/g/gelatin.htm
I don't use special sugars, just good ol' granulated white (less than recipes suggest), with a little lemon zest and juice, and it sets fine.
My Mum never bothers with jam sugar but I like not having to add the pectin myself. Doesn't help that both your bags appear to say preserving sugar! Maybe your syrup would be nice made into fruit liqueur :)
Thanks very much for your experience - I have just this problem at the moment, though thanks to you it is problem averted as I have bought pectin and I vaguely remembered Tate and Lyle do both sorts of sugar. I am using preserving sugar and pectin now, with a lot of lemon Juice, a la River Cottage preserves book. To make strawberry jam.
Post a Comment