Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Jam, Jelly, Preserves, etc

I've been getting into canning a lot lately and there have been awesome sales on fruit as well. I've been trying to figure out what the difference is between a fruit butter, conserve, jam, jelly, etc. In case you were wondering here are the differences.

Fruit Butter:

Fruit butter is made by cooking fruit pulp and sugar to a thick consistency that will spread easily.

Conserve:

Conserves are jam-like products made with a combination of two or more fruits, nuts, and raisins.

Jam:

Jams are made by cooking crushed or chopped fruits with sugar. Jam can be made of one fruit or a combination of fruits, they do not hold the shape of the jar.

Jelly:

Juice strained from fruit is used to make jelly. It holds its shape when removed from the jar but can be spread easily.

Marmalade:

Marmalade is a soft jelly containing small pieces of fruit and peel evenly suspended int he transparent jelly.

Preserve:

Fruit is preserved with sugar so it retains its shape, is transparent, shiny, tender and plump. The texture can vary from the thickness of honey to that of a soft jelly. A true preserve does not hold its shape when spooned from the jar.

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