How to make jam with. Why the jam turned out to be liquid, the secrets of thick jam

A jar of homemade, hand-made jam will help you remember summer in winter and refresh yourself with vitamins.

So, we cook jam and everything will work out for us!

Advice. If you close the jam with a regular lid, without pasteurization and seaming, put a circle of filter paper soaked in alcohol or vodka under the lid. This will protect your jam from mold during long-term storage.

1. Royal gooseberry jam

Products:

1. Large green unripe gooseberries - 5 cups

2. Sugar - 1 kg.

3. Cherry leaf - 2 cups

4. Water - 3 glasses

5. Peeled walnut - 2 cups

How to cook royal gooseberry jam:

Release the gooseberries from the stalks, “flowers”, carefully cut and remove the pulp with seeds from the nick, trying to preserve the integrity of the berry.

Pour 1 cup of cherry leaf with water, bring to a boil and simmer for 3-5 minutes, making sure that the water remains green.

Strain, pour over the berries, put in a cold place for 24 hours. Prepare the second glass of cherry leaves as follows - remove the rough parts, divide each leaf into 4 parts.

Drain the cherry broth from the berries and put a piece of cherry leaf and a piece of walnut into each berry, sprinkle the berries with vodka.

Add sugar to the strained broth and cook the syrup over low heat for about 15 minutes (make sure that it does not “turn pink”!).

Pour the berries into the prepared syrup and cook for 15 minutes. IMPORTANT! - Cool down very quickly! - to keep green.

2. Mint jam

Mint jam is not only unusual and very pleasant in taste, but also good for health: it helps with colds and stomach diseases.

Products:

1. Mint - 300 gr.

2. Water - 500 ml.

3. Lemon - 2 pcs.

4. Sugar - 1 kg.

How to make mint jam:

So ... collected mint leaves along with twigs and stalks (and I also with flowers), lemons, cut together with the “skin”, pour water and cook for 10 minutes.

Infuse this magical brew for one day. After a day, squeeze the mass, and strain the infusion. Add sugar and cook until done.

The word readiness frightened me, but ... I cooked for two hours on low heat, removing the foam.

Then later ... after three hours I boiled it again and poured it into jars.

It is better to put parchment in the lid so that mold does not appear due to condensation after a while.

That's all ... In winter, God forbid you catch a cold, you will have a medicine or just a sweet "summer"

3. "Live jam" from raspberries and currants

From raspberries:

Products:

1. Raspberry - 1 kg.

2. Sugar - 1.5 kg.

How to cook "live jam" from raspberries:

Sort the raspberries and put into a bowl. Sprinkle with sugar and leave for 2 hours.

Then mix with a wooden spatula in one direction.

During the day, stir the jam until the sugar is completely dissolved.

If you want to keep the jam for a short time, then you can reduce the amount of sugar by 500 gr.

From currant:

Products:

1. Currant - 1 kg.

2. Sugar - 1.5 kg.

How to cook currant "live jam":

Sort the currants, remove the stalks so that there are only berries, wash and put on a sieve to drain excess liquid.

Transfer currants to a bowl. Sprinkle with sugar and leave for 2 hours. Mix. Blend with an immersion blender until smooth.

Pour the jam into sterile and dry jars, close with plastic lids and store in the refrigerator for about 4-5 months.

If you want to store jam for a short time, then you can reduce the amount of sugar by 500 gr.

4. Kiwi and Lemon Jam

Products:

1. Kiwi - 1 kg.

2. Lemon - 1 pc.

3. Lemon juice - 1 pc.

4. Sugar - 900 gr.

How to make kiwi and lemon jam:

Wash the lemon thoroughly with a brush and cut into thin circles.

Put in a saucepan along with 100 g of sugar and 100 ml of water. Cook over low heat for 10 minutes.

Peel the kiwi, cut into circles and put in a saucepan with lemon circles.

Add lemon juice and remaining sugar. Boil.

Pour into a ceramic dish and leave at room temperature overnight.

The next day, return the jam to the pan, bring to a boil again and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Pour into sterilized jars, let cool. Then close and store in a dark, cool place.

5. Orange Peel Jam

Products:

1. Orange - 3 pcs.

2. Water - 400 ml.

3. Sugar - 300 gr.

4. Citric acid (half an incomplete teaspoon) - 0.5 tsp

5. Ginger root (optional) - 10 gr.

How to make orange peel jam:

Wash the oranges thoroughly, pour boiling water over them (in order to wash off the wax that is applied so that the orange does not deteriorate during transportation) and clean it in any way convenient for you.

We cut the peel in the center so that we get two hemispheres.

Then we cut each hemisphere in half and each part into three more strips.

If the orange is thin-skinned, the inside can be left, if it is thick-skinned, remove a little from the inside so that the curls are easier to wrap and they are neater.

Roll each piece of peel into a tight roll and string on a thread like beads. The thread must be pulled tighter so that the curls do not unfold.

Pour orange beads with cold water. Change water two to three times a day. It is necessary to soak the peel for 3-4 days, until the crusts become soft and stop bitter.

After that, boil the crusts 3-4 times for 15-20 minutes, each time changing the water. After each boiling, the peel should be doused with cold water.

Let's boil it for the first time - I put the beads in a bowl of cold water, poured fresh hot water into a saucepan and put the peel back in there. And so several times. Now we need to weigh the peel.

The proportions for jam are as follows - 1.5 times more sugar, twice as much water. If you do not have scales, I give other proportions: for 10 oranges - 1 kg of sugar, 1-1.2 liters of water and 1 tsp. citric acid (or juice of half a lemon).

So - peels from 3 oranges (200 gr.), 300 gr sugar, 400 gr water, (as a gag - cut into small pieces ginger root weighing 10 grams) put in a saucepan and cook until lightly thickened - the syrup should be enough liquid, similar after cooling to very liquid honey.

Add citric acid before removing from heat. We remove the threads after the jam has cooled. Pour into a clean dry jar. The output turned out to be a little more than a 0.5 liter jar.

6. Raspberry Vanilla Jam

Products:

1. Raspberry - 250 gr.

2. Lemon juice 2 tbsp. spoons

3. Sugar - 500 gr.

4. Vanilla - 1 vanilla pod (vanillin - 1 tablespoon)

How to make raspberry vanilla jam:

Put raspberries, juice and 2 tablespoons of water in a saucepan and bring to a boil.

Reduce the temperature and leave to cook for 5 minutes. Add sugar and stir until completely dissolved.

Scrape off the vanilla pod and let it simmer for another 10 minutes.

Taste the jam and if it is not ready, leave to cook for another 5 minutes.

Pour the jam into a jar and serve.

7. Blueberry Jam

Products:

1. Blueberries - 1 kg.

2. Sugar - 1 kg.

3. Citric acid - 2 gr.

How to make blueberry jam:

Transfer the prepared blueberries to a cooking bowl, pour hot 70% sugar syrup (700 g of sugar per 300 ml of water) and soak in the syrup for 3-4 hours.

After that, cook over low heat until fully cooked, removing the foam. At the end of cooking, you can add citric acid.

Pack hot blueberry jam in prepared, heated jars.

Pasteurize at 95°C: half-liter jars - 10 minutes, liter - 15 minutes.

Bon appetit!

Fruit boiled in sugar syrup. To make jam, you need to take fruits and berries not only of good quality and without damage, but also of a suitable degree of maturity: unripe fruits are not juicy and fragrant enough, and overripe ones are boiled soft. It is important that the sugar syrup soaks the fruits evenly - then they do not deform and do not float. Do not cook jam over high heat: at a high temperature, the juice inside the fruit begins to boil, which prevents the penetration of sugar syrup.

Secrets of Perfect Jam

To make the jam perfect, there are a number of tricks. Some fruits are blanched, peeled, berries (for example, gooseberries) are pricked. There are berries that are pre-sprinkled with sugar and left for 8-10 hours. Sometimes multiple cooking is used - but do not overdo it: the total duration of all cooking is no more than 30 minutes. Despite the fact that you want to cook more jam, and the temptation to take a huge pan and load it completely is great, remember: no more than 2 kg of fruits are boiled at the same time!

How to determine readiness?

To understand whether the jam is ready or not, there is an old method: if a drop of jam does not blur on a cold saucer, it is ready.

How to store jam?

There are three ways: hot filling, pasteurization and cold filling. Each method of preserving jam has its advantages - but whichever you choose, be aware of the dangers that await your jam.

How can you ruin jam?

If the jam was cooked incorrectly or the jar was not sterile, the jam will go bad. If you took little sugar or the jar turned out to be wet during packaging, the jam may become moldy. If the jam is overcooked, it may become sugary, but this is fixable: put the candied jam into a cooking pan, add 1 tbsp. l. of water per 1 kg of jam, heat to a boil and place hot in jars.

Black currant

BLACKCURRANT JAM RECIPE

NECESSARY:

1 kg black currants
1.5 kg sugar
4 glasses of water

HOW TO COOK:

1. Blanch the berries in boiling water for 3-5 minutes.

2. Strain the water in which the berries were blanched, then use to make syrup.

3. Drop the berries into the boiling syrup.

4. Boil the jam in 3-4 doses for 5-7 minutes, measuring the time from the moment of boiling. Leave the jam for 6-8 hours between boils.

plum jam

PLUM JAM RECIPE

NECESSARY:

1 kg plums
1.5 kg sugar
1 glass of water

HOW TO COOK:

1. Take ripe but firm plums. Divide into halves and remove the bones.

2. Boil sugar syrup.

3. Pour the plum into the syrup. The plum should be completely covered with syrup, for this, shake the dishes in which the jam is cooked from time to time in a circular motion.

4. Bring the jam to a boil, then cook over low heat for 10 minutes.

5. Set the jam aside and let cool to room temperature. Then cook until done.

6. Pack hot jam in jars.

apple jam

APPLE JAM RECIPE

NECESSARY:

1 kg apples
1 kg sugar
2 glasses of water
2-3 g citric acid
A pinch of vanilla sugar
Lemon zest of 1-2 lemons

HOW TO COOK:

1. Prepare sugar syrup. Boil the syrup until thick drops form.

2. Peel the apples and cut out the core. Cut into small cubes and put in syrup.

3. Boil apples in syrup for 30 minutes. Then add lemon zest and vanilla sugar.

BY THE WAY: the thicker the jam, the better it is. The jam should remain light - this is a sign that it is cooked correctly.

Just like all over the world, and maybe even stronger, 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 most meager, stingy times, housewives tried to prepare at least a few jars of sweet, fragrant jam that smells like a generous summer. Cooking methods were often kept secret, and a well-prepared treat was proudly boasted to the guests. And these good traditions are still alive today. In every house, in every family, a carefully prepared jar with this delicious and fragrant dessert is sure to be stocked up. Today we will try to learn and remember how to make jam.

Almost any berries and fruits are suitable for making jam. Ripe fragrant 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 business. Various additives will not be superfluous when cooking delicious jam, for example, cherry leaves are suitable for gooseberry jam, blackcurrant leaves can be added to whitecurrant jelly, and watermelon and melon peel jam is unthinkable without vanilla and lemon juice. Jam also differs in its consistency, it is convenient to spread thick homogeneous jam on morning toast or a sandwich, and jam itself, which has a much more liquid consistency of syrup, but whole berries, it is so pleasant to eat with tea on cold winter evenings.

Today, there are an endless number of recipes and ways to make jam. The preparation time and method differ. preparation of berries and fruits, and even the base of the syrup. Someone makes jam using sugar syrup, and someone, remembering old traditions, boils 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 the generations of our ancestors are relevant to this day.

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. The best at all times were considered copper basins for jam with a comfortable long handle. Jam in such a basin is prepared quickly, which helps to preserve the color and aroma of the berries. However, it is important to ensure that no green plaque of harmful copper oxides forms on the inner surface of such a basin. Basins and pans made of aluminum and stainless steel are deprived of this drawback. But it is better to refrain from using enameled dishes, the likelihood is too high that your jam will burn and be completely spoiled.

2. Try to choose the best and freshest berries and fruits for jam. Of course, only those berries that you picked in your garden on the day of cooking can be ideal berries for making jam, but, unfortunately, this is not available to everyone. When buying berries in the market or in a store, try to give preference to local fruits. Such berries and fruits make a much shorter way to our table, which means that they retain the fullness of taste and aroma much better. Most berries and fruits are best taken not quite ripe, but choose absolutely ripe cherries and plums. Make sure that your berries do not have any visible flaws, damage, dark spots, bruises. Do not 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 turn out to be.

3. In order to prepare a truly tasty and beautiful jam, first of all, you should properly prepare sugar syrup. After all, only well-prepared syrup can make jam of the best quality, such jam will have a clean, transparent syrup and whole, beautiful and fragrant berries. Cooking such a syrup is not at all difficult. Take 1 kg. sugar, pour into a bowl for cooking jam, add ½ cup of clean water and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. After boiling, reduce the heat slightly, stop stirring and cook the syrup, only slightly shaking the basin, trying to avoid caramelization. Your syrup will be completely ready when it flows down from a spoon lowered into it in a thick, viscous stream. You will see - berries cooked in such a syrup retain their shape perfectly.

4. During the cooking of jam, foam is necessarily formed on its surface, which must be removed, because this foam not only spoils the appearance of your dish, but can also cause premature sourness. 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 hard 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 resulting foam. This method will allow you to most thoroughly remove even the slightest remnants of foam, without damaging the berries, and, which is also important, will save you time and effort.

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

6. Let's try to cook delicious, bright and fragrant 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 to a jam bowl. Pour the berries with one kilogram of sugar and put in a cool place for several hours until the strawberries release juice. Then place the bowl over low heat and bring the strawberries and sugar to a boil, stirring gently but thoroughly. As soon as your jam boils, immediately remove it from the heat and let it brew for 8 hours. Then boil the jam until tender on the smallest fire, trying not to allow excessive boiling. The jam prepared in this way completely retains the bright taste and aroma of berries, and the syrup is clean and completely transparent.

7. It is even easier to cook delicious, fragrant and so healthy raspberry jam. Carefully sort one kilogram of raspberries, remove twigs and sepals and rinse gently. Transfer the berries to a deep saucepan and cover with one kilogram of sugar. Leave the raspberries with sugar for 4 - 5 hours, then pour the resulting syrup into a bowl for cooking jam, bring to a boil and cook over low heat for 10 minutes. Transfer your berries to the prepared syrup, bring to a boil and cook over medium heat for 5 to 10 minutes, gently shaking the basin. Remove from heat, let cool slightly, remove the resulting foam 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. M. Syrnikov offers us a recipe for excellently tasty lingonberry and apple jam. Sort one kilogram of lingonberries, rinse and dry slightly. Peel three sour apples, remove the core and cut into 8 pieces each. Cook sugar syrup from 1 kg. sugar and ½ cup water, as described above. Pour the 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 fire again, bring to a boil and cool again for two hours. Then put the jam on low heat and cook until tender, gently shaking the basin and avoiding burning. Cool the finished jam and arrange in jars.

9. Delicious gooseberry jam will require painstaking preparation, but will thank you with its exquisite aroma and amazingly beautiful color. 800 gr. Rinse green unripe gooseberries thoroughly, cut off the twigs and the remains of dried flowers, make a small incision on each berry with a sharp knife and carefully remove the seeds. Boil 2 liters of water in a deep saucepan, add 50 - 100 gr. fresh cherry leaves, cook for 10 minutes, remove from heat and immediately add the prepared gooseberries. Cover the pot 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 into the jam bowl. sugar, add 1 cup of the reserved broth and cook a thick syrup. When the syrup is ready, pour the berries into it, bring it to a boil again and cook over low heat for 15-20 minutes, gently shaking 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 spicy rhubarb and ginger jam. 400 gr. Wash the rhubarb stalks, remove the rough skin and cut into thin slices. Place the rhubarb in a cooking pot, add 3 tbsp. tablespoons grated fresh ginger, 1 ½ cups sugar and 1 teaspoon minced lemon zest. Place the saucepan on the lowest heat and melt the sugar. Be careful not to burn the sugar! When the sugar is completely melted and the rhubarb is juicy, 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 arrange in jars. Store in refrigerator.

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

During the ripening season of berries and fruits, many housewives prepare jam, wanting to keep the fruits until winter. This delicacy is really tasty, fragrant and healthy, but often the finished product turns out to be liquid. To avoid such a slip, you can use different jam thickeners. They are added at the time of jam so that the product acquires a bright color and the desired consistency. Details about them are presented in the article.

The use of these products does not cause difficulties, besides, for the preparation of the product, it is not necessary to increase the sugar rate. The fruit mass is boiled for about 10 minutes. The finished delicacy retains vitamins, the berries remain intact, and the consistency of the jam will be thick. Jam thickeners are used both in industrial conditions and in home cooking. You can find various reviews of hostesses about the use of these tools, but most of them use proven methods to make the product thick.

The choice of containers and components for jam

Every hostess knows the intricacies of cooking their dishes. This is evidenced by numerous reviews, which provide tips for getting tasty and healthy desserts. Jam can be prepared in a copper, aluminum or enameled container. It is important that it is wide and the walls are low. Then the product warms up evenly and the liquid evaporates better.

Berries and fruits should be picked in sunny, dry weather. The fruits must be ripe and undamaged. Bones must be removed before the heat treatment of raw materials. If the berries have a thick skin, it can be pierced with a toothpick. In the case when the fruits gave a lot of juice, it is recommended to drain the excess. Sugar is better to use white, not cane. Moreover, it is not added immediately, but in parts.

Pectin

It is a popular jam thickener. The word from Greek is translated as "connecting". It has the ability to dissolve in water, followed by combination with acids and sugar without distorting their taste, so pectin is suitable for any gelatinous products.

This substance as a natural chemical compound is found in various fruits and vegetables. Most of all pectin is in apples and pulp - a processed product. It is also found in citrus fruits, pumpkin, sunflower. In cooking, apple pectin is in demand. It is created by squeezing and concentrating the apple mass, after which the intermediate product is dried. The result is a natural, plant-based polysaccharide, presented in the form of a white powder, which has no smell.

Cooking Properties

1. Retains the aroma of the product. boiled with pectin for 10 minutes. For the standard version, when no thickener is used, more heat treatment time will be required, and the final product will turn out to be less aromatic and with a sweeter taste.
2. Berries and fruits remain whole, do not boil soft. The jam takes on the color of fresh berries.
3. With this cooking, more of the finished product is obtained.
4. Pectin is recognized as a harmless component, but you should not use it often. Due to an overdose, intestinal obstruction, allergies are possible.

Cooking with pectin

1. The addition of pectin depends on the sugar and wateriness of the fruit. For 1 kg of fruit, it is enough to use 5-15 g of the substance. If the ratio of sugar and liquid is 1:0.5, then 5 g of pectin will be required. At 1:0.25 - up to 10 g. If there is no sugar in the jam at all, then 15 g of pectin can be added per 1 kg.
2. How to make jam thick? You need to add pectin to the boiled fruit mass, previously mixed with granulated sugar, this will help to avoid the formation of lumps. After this, cooking should last no more than 5 minutes so that the gelling properties do not disappear from the substance.

Quitin

The jam thickener “Kvitin”, due to the presence of pectin in its composition, has a gelling effect, so it also does not require long-term cooking of the dessert. It only takes 5 minutes to prepare it. The tool will make the product tastier and healthier, since the vitamins will be preserved.

1 sachet of thickener for Kvitin jam is enough to cook 2 kg of products. It is used to produce jam and marmalade. The result is a delicacy with a thick, viscous texture.

Starch - can it be used?

It is a white powder, tasteless and odorless. It is obtained from potatoes, rice, wheat and corn. In cold water, the substance does not dissolve, but in hot water it becomes a transparent gelatinous mass - a paste. It is used when cooking kissels, compotes, custards, sweet sauces, and sometimes jams.

Starch reduces the taste of the product, so you need to add more sugar, citric acid. How to make jam thick? If the product is liquid, then a few minutes before readiness, add a little of this substance, which is previously diluted in a small amount of water. After that, cooking continues for no more than 3 minutes. The cooled product will be quite thick.

Gelatin

The human body needs amino acids and minerals. They have a beneficial effect on the health, condition of the skin, nails, hair. These components are found in gelatin, which is obtained through the heat treatment of bones, tendons, cartilage of animals and fish. The substance eliminates the feeling of hunger, so the product is considered dietary. In 100 g of gelatin, there are only 355 kcal.

Gelatin is used to obtain jellied products, creams, ice cream, jams. Thanks to him, the sugar does not crystallize. How to use a jam thickener? To prepare a blank for the winter, you will need berries (1 kg), sugar (1 kg) and gelatin (40 g). The dry substances are mixed and then the sweet product is prepared following the recipe.

agar agar

This jam thickener is made from seaweed, which contains iodine, iron, and calcium. The substance is presented in the form of a white powder, odorless and tasteless, serves as a vegetable substitute for gelatin. Used in confectionery.

The list of advantages of this substance includes the following features:

1. It does not contain fat, so the product is dietary.
2. Iodine, which is rich in agar-agar, restores the activity of the thyroid gland.
3. This thickener is of plant origin, and therefore agar-agar can be used by people who adhere to vegetarianism.
4. Its composition helps to cleanse the body and strengthen the immune system.
5. With cooking, the properties of the thickener are not lost.

Although the substance has useful properties, it is still necessary to consume it without exceeding the permissible norm, so as not to bring the matter to intestinal upset. It should be borne in mind that agar-agar cannot be combined with wine and fruit vinegar, sorrel, chocolate, black tea.

How to cook jam with this substance? For 1 glass of liquid, add 1 tsp. thickener. It is poured with water for half an hour, after which it should swell. Then the liquid must be brought to a boil, while the mass must be constantly stirred so that there are no lumps and sediment in it. The resulting solution is poured into the finished jam, which should be thoroughly mixed. After preparation, the product can be laid out in jars. Cooling, agar-agar is converted into a transparent gel.

Cooking

The recipe for thick jam is simple. It is enough to complete all the steps:

1. Fruits or berries must be crushed, leaving for several hours to form juice.
2. Juicy fruits can be chopped with a blender or processed through a meat grinder, and then discard the puree in a colander.
3. Excess juice must be drained, leaving a thick part of the fruit, which will be used for jam. It is important, however, that the juice covers almost all the fruits or berries placed in the cooking container.
4. At the end, add chopped lemon. It makes the product jelly-like.
5. Sugar increases the volume of the syrup by about 60%.
6. So that the jam is not liquid, sugar should be added gradually, little by little. So the finished delicacy will get the necessary consistency, besides, the product does not crystallize.

Other thickeners mentioned above can also be used, with which an equally tasty and healthy product is obtained. It is important to monitor the amount of added substance so that the delicacy does not turn out to be too viscous. If the jam will be used for making pies and cakes, a small amount of breadcrumbs can be added to it before use.

Thus, natural jam thickeners allow you to get a wonderful dessert. Each housewife has her own options for making jam, but sometimes you can use proven thickeners, as they make cooking easier. Thanks to them, tasty and healthy desserts are obtained, in which all valuable vitamins are preserved.

Jam is a preparation that is often found among the Russian population. It has a sweet taste, is an additive in many desserts, and benefits the human body. On cold winter days, it is very pleasant to drink tea with pastries stuffed with fragrant jam. Thickeners significantly reduce the cooking time, preserves all the useful substances of berries, fruits and vegetables. The result is a product of ideal consistency with maximum preservation of the useful properties of the products.

Sometimes it is necessary to change the consistency of an already finished product to add it to pastries, cakes and other desserts. Every experienced housewife should know how to thicken jam at home.

Thickening the syrup while boiling is the easiest task. To do this, you must follow a certain cooking technology:

1. Prepare the ingredients.
2. Syrup is made from sugar and water in a saucepan.
3. Pour fruits or berries into the boiling mass and cook for 5 minutes,
4. Strain the workpiece and separate them.
5. Fruit-free syrup is boiled for 8 minutes with the addition of lemon juice and the main ingredient is returned.
6. Withstand 5 min. Cool down.
7. Lay out in jars (sterile), roll up.

This jam retains all the vitamins and nutrients of fruits and berries.

There are special thickeners sold in specialized stores. They are simply added with all the ingredients to the bowl for cooking, observing the proportions (pectin, agar-agar, gelatin).

Important! Each of these products has its own instructions for use, which must be followed without fail in order to thicken the product. Otherwise, you can spoil the jam, getting a jelly-like mass.

Tips for making thick jam:

• The ingredients are best chopped with a blender, in this form (jam) they will help thicken the delicacy.
• Sugar is added in portions to control the amount of syrup. Otherwise, the jam may turn out liquid.
• Cooking is carried out in a basin (or any wide dish), over low heat (the liquid evaporates, the product is easy to thicken).
• The citric acid will help thicken the jam naturally.
• Before making jam, fruits must be dried (they should not have drops of water on them).
• Before starting the process of making jam, the berries are covered with sugar. When they release the juice, it is removed to make the product thicker.
• If you want to thicken the liquid jam quickly, use gelatin. To do this, dissolve it in a water bath and lower it into a basin for cooking.

Ready jam

Sometimes the finished product does not meet the expectations of the hostess (in terms of consistency). The situation can be corrected with the following tips:

• You can thicken it by straining pieces of fruit and adding syrup. For this, a sieve is used. The berries remaining on the sieve are transferred to a jar, the syrup is placed on a slow fire in a saucepan (enamelled). Cooking is carried out until the desired consistency is reached. You need to add a little sugar and lemon acid. Pour the berries with the prepared syrup, cool the jam and place it in the refrigerator for storage.

Important! In this case, excess syrup is sure to remain. It can be used as an addition to desserts and making compote.

• Pectin is an excellent tool for thickening the finished product. Ideal for making jam. To do this, dilute it and add, mix thoroughly. Pectin is a useful substance for improving digestion.
• If the goal is a thick filling for baking (patties, buns), then it is advisable to use semolina, flour or starch.

For filling

If the hostess wants to thicken strawberry or cherry jam for filling pies, there are several tricks using improvised means:

• Semolina. It is good with a neutral taste, which leaves the taste of the workpiece unchanged. Proportions of semolina: 1 tsp. in a glass of jam or jam. The maximum volume for a very liquid product is 2 tbsp. To do this, jam is mixed with cereals, left to swell for 15 minutes. Put the mixture on a slow fire and wait for it to boil. Maintain this temperature for 2-3 minutes, cool the jam.
• Cornstarch can also help the hostess thicken the treat. The proportions do not differ: 1 tsp. starch per 300 g of jam. If you use more than 2 tsp, the taste of jam may suffer, acquire a starchy taste. This ingredient is added only to the hot product, preheated on the stove. Boil the mixture for 2 minutes.
• Flour (any) is not able to harm the taste with its reasonable consumption. Proportions: 1 tbsp. flour for 1 cup of the workpiece. Jam can be thickened by heating it and adding flour. It is necessary to constantly stir the mixture to avoid the formation of lumps.

For baking

The filling for baking is most often used thick. Otherwise, the cake may burst, losing its attractive appearance. In order to thicken the blank for the filling without losing its taste characteristics, it is necessary to use the following additives.