In article ,
"Ted Mittelstaedt" wrote:

"TBI" wrote in message
...

"Melba's Jammin'" wrote in message
...

I agree with you totaly, but citric acid sounds chemically - and
so does dextrose. I know what they are and where they come from
- I've no problem coz I understand food, but to the uninitiated
they don't look natural. It's more of a branding thing. It gives
people a warm fuzzy feeling.

Mat

In a word, pishtosh! You're talking about a "branding thing" and
giving people a warm fuzzy feeling. Kewl. So your labels say,
"Ingredients: Sugar, vinegar, peppers, fruit pectin (mixed with
dextrose [a natural sugar], and citric acid (to brighten the
flavor and assist in the gelling process). BTW, citric acid
sounds no more chemical than ascorbic acid, er-r-r-r vitamin C.

I totally agree with you... but folks don't get that - same as they
don't see the 'no added sugar' thing. It's a culture and education
thing I guess.



I hate to burst your bubble but if you slap the term "Natural" on
jelly you are breaking the law.

I'm not sure he's in the USA, Ted. He's using a UK-based mail address.
(snippage)
The other major variable is the ripeness of the fruit. The large
commercial houses make jam in such large batches that they have to
take the fruit in whatever shape they get it.

That'd be frozen, Ted. In the small-batch operation I am casually
familiar with, the fruit is frozen -- the producer produces the products
as needed and fresh fruit of a quality that will produce the same
results using the same recipe isn't reliably available when it's needed
for production. Producers find suppliers who meet their needs and their
budgets. When the Gedney folks were first fine-tuning my peach
raspberry jam recipe for commercial production and distribution they
were using peaches that were unidentifiable after cooking -- I think it
may have been a 1/4" dice. Not satisfactory. So they changed their
supply order to 1/2" dice. Who knew? If that's how a small batch
(maybe 400 jars?) operation does it, I cannot believe that Kraft and
Smucker's are using fresh fruit for their HUGE batches of soft spreads.
I doubt that anyone even thinks about whether or not the fruit is made
from fresh or frozen.

There's a local operation "up north" that makes spreads from Minnesota's
wild fruits. They make what they can when they can get the stuff fresh
-- and if it's a bad year for chokecherries, they don't make as much
chokecherry jelly as in a better year. But they sell in a very small
market, I believe.


Fruit that is on the green side of ripeness makes one kind of taste
and fruit that is well advanced in ripeness makes an entirely
different taste.

And consistency.


If your goal is to be successful in selling small batches you will
need to focus on a particular flavor that is different than the large
jam makers.

And taste the same way and have the same consistency each time. The FDA
in the USA has very specific standards for what can be called jam,
jelly, or preserves -- brix level, pH, etc. There are no such standards
for "all-fruit" or "spreadable fruit" products. One reason those
all-fruit products aren't huge sellers is because they often don't look
especially appetizing. Sugar helps preserve the color. The red fruits
get to looking brown after a while on the supermarket shelf. The
apricot stuff may not look appealing to start with if the aps are
unsulfured. :-)

An interesting thread.
--
-Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/amytaylor
4/23/2008 The rains fall on the just and the unjust alike; sometimes
our umbrellas are not wide enough to keep us dry.