Home made jam consistency and taste
Am very new to cooking and baking. Trying on homemade organic ones.. everytime I make jams, the taste differs in spite of using the same ingredients.. when I ask around everyone says that's what makes homemade food 'special'.. but to attain perfection, I feel that everytime I make the taste should be the same.. It would be great if anyone can guide me..
Best Answer
I think that may be unavoidable.
Even if (as @Chris H is hinting with his question) your fruit is coming from the same place every time, even if its the same farm, your raw fruit is unlikely to have the exact same taste and sugar content every time. That will always lead to differences in taste.
Sweeter fruit will need less sugar, but if you're always adding the same amount then some batches will come out sweeter than others.
Differences in the taste of the raw fruit are likely, as you're purchasing at different times of the year. Even just a couple of weeks can affect the taste of fruit significantly-- compare early season berries to mid- or late season ones, for instance.
In my experience those differences only be come more pronounced with cooking, especially when its done in small batches. Mass-produced jams have consistent taste by using large quantities of fruit, so the differences between each individual farm's fruits become smoothed and averaged out.
In my opinion the difference in each batch of homemade is part of the charm, but if consistency is really what you're after I would suggest making slightly larger batches and combining the fruit from several different sources.
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What consistency should homemade jam be?
You are aiming for a slow descent, not a runny mess. If it runs slow, it's set! You can also let the spoonful of jam sit on the cold plate for 30 seconds and then push it with your spoon or finger. If it wrinkles up, you've reached your setting point.Is homemade jam supposed to be runny?
A runny batch will just happen occasionally. If, after waiting, you find the jam is still too loose for your liking, empty the jars back into a wide pot and cook again. You can simply reduce the jam to your liking, or you can also add a small amount of commercial pectin to help the process.How do you make jam taste better?
It makes jams taste dull. Instead, I add high-pectin citrus, such as lemon or lime juice, or use a high-pectin fruit along with one that is low. A great combination is strawberry and grated apple, or raspberry and lime. My other, easier solution: Add half a grated tart apple with skin to 4 cups of fruit.Why is my homemade jam still runny?
Why is my jam too runny? This is a very common mishap, and can occur for a couple of reasons. It may because there is not enough pectin and acid in the mixture. Or it may be because the temperature of 104C was not reached when cooking.The Easiest Way To Make Any Homemade Fruit Jam (feat. Krewella)
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Answer 2
The ingredients are not always the same, especially if using organic produces where there will be lot more variance in quality because they should not use synthetic fertilizers, herbicides and other things like that.
The fruits might have different sugar content, different water content, different maturity when picked up.
So the end result will be different.
IMO, this is what makes cooking and baking with organic produce more interesting.
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