apple*tart
Senior Cook
I was so excited to find pomona's pectin at my local health food store and at the prospect of making jam that was lower in sugar. I tried making two batches of jam with this pectin, and they both failed miserably. Where did I go wrong?
The first batch was strawberry. I used a cup of honey to sweeten it (the recipe called for 4 C fruit and 1/2 to 1 C honey). I did a regular "cooked" and hot-water processed jam. It was bland and runny. I figured out that I was going to need to use sugar, at least in part, to get the flavor I was looking for.
The second batch was raspberry. This time I used real sugar - 2 cups of it for the batch (this recipe called for 4 C fruit and 3/4 to 2 C sugar). I also did freezer jam thinking it would be much easier. I was gun shy from my strawberry failure. Well guess what? The raspberry jam is practically inedible. Bland and runny yet again.
So what am I doing wrong? I followed the directions on the package. I even used a little extra pectin based on some recommendations I found online. I don't expect my jam to taste as sweet as traditional jam with 55%+ sugar, but I didn't expect it to be bland and practically flavorless. I used freshly picked berries from the farmers market both times. I've also successfully made both cooked and freezer jam with regular pectin.
Has anyone been successful with pomona's pectin? If so, what's the secret? I should note that I'm off artificial sweeteners, including splenda, but I'm not opposed to unconventional natural sweeteners like agave or fruit juice reductions.
The first batch was strawberry. I used a cup of honey to sweeten it (the recipe called for 4 C fruit and 1/2 to 1 C honey). I did a regular "cooked" and hot-water processed jam. It was bland and runny. I figured out that I was going to need to use sugar, at least in part, to get the flavor I was looking for.
The second batch was raspberry. This time I used real sugar - 2 cups of it for the batch (this recipe called for 4 C fruit and 3/4 to 2 C sugar). I also did freezer jam thinking it would be much easier. I was gun shy from my strawberry failure. Well guess what? The raspberry jam is practically inedible. Bland and runny yet again.
So what am I doing wrong? I followed the directions on the package. I even used a little extra pectin based on some recommendations I found online. I don't expect my jam to taste as sweet as traditional jam with 55%+ sugar, but I didn't expect it to be bland and practically flavorless. I used freshly picked berries from the farmers market both times. I've also successfully made both cooked and freezer jam with regular pectin.
Has anyone been successful with pomona's pectin? If so, what's the secret? I should note that I'm off artificial sweeteners, including splenda, but I'm not opposed to unconventional natural sweeteners like agave or fruit juice reductions.