Making Peach Jam
The CSA peaches were beginning to go by the time I came back from Boston. Rather than hurry to choke them down, I decided to bite the bullet, stop just reading Food in Jars, and try to make some jam. A mini batch, because you’re looking at all my peaches.
Peel and chop the peaches? Check.
Boil with sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and lemon? Check.
Here, in the missing step, I may have added too much pectin. Or maybe I needed to use liquid pectin. I’m not sure.
The canning itself made me a little nervous. I felt like I was going to hear the jar crack at any second.
But the seal was good, and you are looking at my very first jar of jam!
Only one problem: I don’t really eat peach jam, so I don’t know if it’s a good peach jam. But as first attempts go, it’s not a bad one. I’m still scared to risk my precious, precious cherries on a jam attempt. I think I’m going to try blueberry jam next.
Now, here are my questions for all you jam makers out there: Could I just put the fresh jam straight into my fridge, without sealing the jar, if I were planning to use it right away? It seems like the answer should be yes — the jam is made, and the jar is just to preserve it through time. But I didn’t want to wreck it accidentally.
Also, how much do you expect the flavor to change, if at all, from the pre-pectin stage to the final result? I thought it had a nice cinnamony taste when I was cooking it, but seemed somewhat bland when I was done. Of course, it was still hot when I was tasting, and it was cool later, but should I have added more spices?
