Before starting you might want to review my
Kitchen Notes on Making Q&E Jams Recipe
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This is a refrigerator jam and not intended to be sealed and stored in the pantry. All you need is a very clean jar. Once the jam has cooked to consistency, pour into jar, let cool and refrigerate.
"*" See Kitchen Notes for more information or links to special ingredients.
Wash a pint jar, but do not dry. Add about an inch of water to the jar and place in the microwave and on high for 2 minutes. Using jar grips, pour out the hot water and place jar on a clean towel until ready to pour in the jam.
Stir constantly at a full boil for 14 to 16 minutes. Test* @ 12 minutes, then cook another minute or two if needed OR at 14 minutes add a candy thermometer to the pot and use temperature to know when the jam is ready. Skim off any foam remaining on the surface of the jam.
Remove from the heat and pour into the clean pint jar. Screw on the lid. Let cool, then refrigerate. This jam will keep in the refrigerator until you finish it off, which won't take long.
Test - When the jam sheets from the side of a metal spoon (droplets flow together), it’s very close to being ready. Pull the saucer from the freezer and place a drop or two of jam onto the saucer. If the jam spreads out, it's not done. If it stays where it lands and retains its shape, then it's done. If it's not done, return the saucer to the freezer, continue to stir the boiling jam, and try again in 2 minutes. If you have a candy thermometer, then I would recommend using the temperature method to know when the jam is ready. Temperature provides more consistent results. Go to the following link to learn more about using temperature.
Kitchen Notes for Making Quick & Easy No Pectin Jam
Ripeness of fruit - For this recipe, the ripeness of the fruit doesn’t affect the outcome. (As fruit ripens, its natural pectin content drops.) Underripe, overripe or a mix yield the same results. This is probably due to the fact that berries are not naturally high in pectin to begin with, so the level of ripeness has a negligible effect on the pectin level. However, with a little help from the lemon zest and enough sugar, you can still make a jar of jam without adding pectin. IMO, the best ratio of fruit to sugar (by weight) is 2:1.
Strawberry or blackberry – It doesn’t matter. One yields a hint of strawberries and the other a hint of blackberries. However, if you have big blackberries and leave them whole, they can pose a problem when spreading the jam on toast. However, since I love biting into a piece of fruit in a jam it didn’t bother me to keep the blackberries whole. All of the other fruits cooks down and blends together to yield that mixed fruit flavor.
Recipe author: MJ of MJ's Kitchen