After making several batches of peach
freezer jams, I thought it might be useful to write down a few pointers while
fresh in my mind. It is not always easy to remember how it went a year earlier.
Olivia is our official raspberry freezer jam maker and bless her 14 years old heart,
she doesn’t even like raspberries. I think she just likes the colour.
Other General Good Ideas about Freezer
Jams
The fruit is not really cooked in
a freezer jam so it retains its fresh flavour and color. You kind of get used
to that. For baking nothing compares to cooked apricot jam, but on my toast I
want freezer jam. The one drawback is if you don’t have a lot of freezer space,
you may not want to reserve it for a year’s supply of jam.
Pectin is necessary for making
freezer jam. Most fresh fruits contain natural pectin, but not enough for jam
consistency. Liquid and powdered pectin both work well, what to use is a question of
preference and availability. Canning supplies are often depleted during fruit
season. Before you use it, make sure the pectin hasn’t expired.
Crush or dice the fruit by hand,
it is easiest to crush ripe fruit at room temperature. Don’t use a food
processor or a blander; you will have foamy fruit on your hands. That’s not good
for jam.
For the recipe follow the Freezer
Jam Directions. They vary from brand to brand. Jam making is an exact process
so measure carefully or you will have failures. It isn’t surprising that major
Pectin companies keep 24 hour jam hotlines.
If using glass or plastic jars,
leave 1/2 inch space at the top for expansion in the freezer. After filling the
jars with the jam, cover and let them stand at room temperature for 24 hours before
placing the jams in the freezer.
The shelf life of freezer jams
are 3-4 weeks in the refrigerator and up to a year in the freezer.
