A quick and easy refrigerator jam made with three ingredients and no pectin. This recipe makes about one pint that is intended to be stored in the refrigerator after jarring.
I would suggest that you read Kitchen Notes for Quick Easy Jam if this is the first time you've made a small batch, no pectin jam.
*See Kitchen Notes for more information, substitutions and related links.
2 quart heavy sauce pan
high temperature rubber spatula
Jar gripper
Pint jar with lid and ring
wide mouth funnel
Candy Thermometer
Wash and rinse a clean pint jar (do not dry). Add about an inch of water to the jar and place in microwave for 1.5 - 2 minutes. Using jar grips, pour out the hot water and place jar on a clean towel until ready to pour in the hot jam.
Peel and chop the peaches. Measure, then transfer to sauce pan. If you want the pieces smaller, then use a potato masher to get the sizes you want. Just don't mash too much because you don't want mush.
Top the peaches with the sugar and the lemon zest.
Turn on the heat to medium low. Stir occasionally until the sugar melts.
Turn up to heat to medium or medium high and bring to a boil, stirring constantly.
Bring the jam to a rolling boil, a boil that can't be stirred down. You may need to turn the heat down a bit to keep it from boiling over.
Continue stirring for about 10 - 15 minutes. Once the jam starts to thicken, add the candy thermometer.
Continue heating the jam, stirring frequently until the temperature reaches the desired temperature. The standard maximum cooking temperature for jams is a temperature of 220° F (104° C) at sea level; however, as you go up in elevation, this temperature lowers. The rule of thumb is to subtract 1ºF for every 500 ft. increase in elevation.
The temperature will stalls about 5° F before the maximum temperature is reached. Be patient. After about 5 - 10 minutes, the temperature will start rising again.
Once the temperature is reached, remove from heat.
Place a wide mouth funnel into the pint jar and ladle in the jam until the jar is full. If you have any jam left, just pour it into another small jar and enjoy.
Wipe the top edge of the jar with a damp cloth. Place the lid and ring on the jar and tighten until snug, not too tight. Set aside and let cool.
Once cool, refrigerate and enjoy.
Peaches - It is best to use fresh peaches in my opinion. The jam has more structure and it's not mushy. I usually cut the peaches into small pieces, then mash a little with a potato masher once transferred into the sauce pan. That way it's more of a jam than preserves, making it great for toast and PB&J's.
Also, if you have a couple of peaches that are overripe or just mushy peaches, then use them along with two perfectly ripe peaches. I stay away from under ripe peaches if I can. They aren't as sweet and a little too firm for my taste.
Sugar - For a no pectin jam, the ratio of fruit to sugar is 2:1. Therefore, if you don't have 4 cups of peaches or you have a little more than 4 cups, then decrease or increase the sugar accordingly. If you like to use weight, then use weight. Just keep the ratio as 2:1 - fruit to sugar.
Lemon Zest - There are two advantages to using lemon zest rather than lemon juice. First of all, most of the pectin in a lemon is in the peel and the pectin helps the jam to reach a jammy consistency. Secondly, the zest yields more of a lemony flavor in the jam that complements the peaches perfectly.
Doubling the recipe - It easy to half the recipe or use amounts that are less than the 4 cups of peaches. However, increasing the recipe too much, can result in standing and stirring for about an hour or more as well as a thinner jam. Going up to 5 cups is fine, but if you have more than that, just make two batches. It's easier in my opinion.
Recipe author: MJ of MJ's Kitchen