"Melba's Jammin'" > wrote in message
...
> In article >,
> The Cook > wrote:
>> pectin insert has instructions for remaking jams. I am also not sure
>> if the lime juice is as acidic as lemon.
>
> I"m pretty sure I've seen a chart somewhere (somewhere!) showing lime
> juice to be even more acidic than lemon. One doc on the NCHFP site
> shows it to be about the same.
> --
> -Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
> http://web.mac.com/barbschaller ,

Like all our fruits, it depends somewhat on variety and ripeness. I've had
limes that measured less than 1 on pH paper strips. Riper fruit too is less
acidic. I made some fab plum jam from not quite ripe fruits. Tasted like it
was made from plum champagne. I had plucked them from the tree before the
birds did.
Edrena

On Sun, 27 Jul 2008 15:25:57 -0500, The Cook >
wrote:

>On Sun, 27 Jul 2008 13:35:13 -0400, Mark A.Meggs
> wrote:
>
>
>>
>>Looks like Ball made a mistake in their recipe that I missed. It
>>calls for "4 cups of peaches (about 4 lbs.)" and I was going by
>>weight, not volume Of course,4 cups would be more like 2 lbs. so I
>>put in twice as much fruit.
>>
>>That brings up another question - is 7cups of sugar for 4 cups of
>>peaches too much? It's awfully sweet now.
>>
>>- Mark
>
>Where is the recipe you used? Which book?

The Ball Blue Book In my copy the recipe - Peach Preserves - is at
the top of page 40. It calls for -

4 cups sliced, pitted, peeled peaches (about 4 pounds)
1 package powdered pectin
2 tablespoons lemon juice
7 cups sugar

I added fresh ginger - probably a couple of tablespoons, but I was
going by taste and didn't measure. And, I used about 1/4 cup of lime
juice.

I didn't notice that 4 cups doesn't equal 4 pounds until today.

- Mark

On Sun, 27 Jul 2008 13:35:13 -0400, Mark A.Meggs
> wrote:


>
>Looks like Ball made a mistake in their recipe that I missed. It
>calls for "4 cups of peaches (about 4 lbs.)" and I was going by
>weight, not volume Of course,4 cups would be more like 2 lbs. so I
>put in twice as much fruit.
>
>That brings up another question - is 7cups of sugar for 4 cups of
>peaches too much? It's awfully sweet now.
>
>- Mark

Where is the recipe you used? Which book?

On Sun, 27 Jul 2008 17:07:09 -0500, The Cook >
wrote:

>On Sun, 27 Jul 2008 16:11:49 -0400, Mark A.Meggs
> wrote:
>
>>On Sun, 27 Jul 2008 15:25:57 -0500, The Cook >
>>wrote:
>>
>>>On Sun, 27 Jul 2008 13:35:13 -0400, Mark A.Meggs
> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>>
>>>>Looks like Ball made a mistake in their recipe that I missed. It
>>>>calls for "4 cups of peaches (about 4 lbs.)" and I was going by
>>>>weight, not volume Of course,4 cups would be more like 2 lbs. so I
>>>>put in twice as much fruit.
>>>>
>>>>That brings up another question - is 7cups of sugar for 4 cups of
>>>>peaches too much? It's awfully sweet now.
>>>>
>>>>- Mark
>>>
>>>Where is the recipe you used? Which book?
>>
>>The Ball Blue Book In my copy the recipe - Peach Preserves - is at
>>the top of page 40. It calls for -
>>
>> 4 cups sliced, pitted, peeled peaches (about 4 pounds)
>> 1 package powdered pectin
>> 2 tablespoons lemon juice
>> 7 cups sugar
>>
>>I added fresh ginger - probably a couple of tablespoons, but I was
>>going by taste and didn't measure. And, I used about 1/4 cup of lime
>>juice.
>>
>>I didn't notice that 4 cups doesn't equal 4 pounds until today.
>>
>>- Mark
>
>The latest version of the BBB (with the tart on the cover) says on
>page 40 8 cups of peaches (about 4 pounds).
>
>Right now I cannot put my hands on the earlier version of the BBB.

Mine's got the same cover but there's nothing inside about which
edition or when it was printed. They either corrected the typo in
yours or introduced it in mine.

If they really mean 8 cups/4 pounds, then my only variations were
adding the ginger and substituting a larger amount of lime juice for
the lemon juice.

- Mark

In article >,
Mark A.Meggs > wrote:

> On Sun, 27 Jul 2008 07:10:33 -0500, Melba's Jammin'
> > wrote:
>
> >In article >,
> > Mark A.Meggs > wrote:
> >
> >> On Thu, 24 Jul 2008 20:27:21 -0600, "The Joneses"
> >> > wrote:
> >>
> >> >
> >> >"Mark A.Meggs" > wrote in message
> >> .. .
> >> >> First tomatoes of the season last night - 7 quarts. Seven pints of
> >> >> pickled beets tonight.
> >> >>
> >> >> - Mark
> >> >
> >> >I love you.
> >> >Today was 8 cups of Gramma's Ginger Peach jam (with lime juice), very
> >> >nice
> >> >stuff, and 7.5 cups of mixed leftover Summer Solstice jam. Was a little
> >> >wierd looking raw, but with the sugar (is 5.5 cups of sugar per quart of
> >> >fruit gonna do it?) and more lime juice, it brightened up. Has
> >> >blueberries,
> >> >peaches, cherries, and blackberries. I think. I didn't label the freezer
> >> >boxes, but I knewed it were fruit in there. The jam tastes good.
> >> >Edrena, faithful disciple of St. Vinaigrette, Holy Order of the Sacred
> >> >Sisters & Brothers of St. Pectina of Jella (HOSS&BSPJ)
> >> >
> >>
> >> 10 half-pints of peach preserves today. Taking a cue from the name of
> >> your jam, I added a generous dose of fresh ginger and lime juice -
> >> tastes fantastic!
> >>
> >> - Mark
> >
> >We call that one Ginger Peachy Jam here. :-) What form was your
> >ginger, Mark? I've usually grated mine on the plane grater. Do you
> >chope, slice, dice? IMWTK. Thanks.
>
> I used the smallest grater on my 6-sided grater (need to get a
> Micro-plane or 2).
>
> It tastes great, but it didn't gel so I've got peach-ginger syrup with
> fruit pieces (its NOT going to waste - I'll just tell 'em to use it on
> waffles instead of toast!).
>
> I was following the Ball recipe for peach preserves - 4 pounds of
> peaches, 7 cups of sugar, 1 package of pectin and 2 tablespoons of
> lemon juice. I substituted lime juice for lemon and put in close to
> 1/4 cup. Did that interfer with the pectin? This is the first time
> I've tried to make jam or preserves in at least 15 years.
>
> Any tips for getting to set up? I'll be trying again in a couple if
> days. There are still plenty of peaches on the tree.
>
> Thanks!
>
> - Mark


If you're making preserves (pourable) rather than peach jam
(spreadable), it doesn't sound like you're far off the mark, Mark.
I would not expect anything other than peaches in a thick syrup that
would, at most, have a light gel. With that cook time, especially, I
think the pectin in in there to provide some 'body' to the liquid/syrup.

Are you confusing preserves and jam by any chance?

The BBB recipe for peach jam calls for 4 cups (~2#) peaches, a little
more sugar, more lemon juice, and liquid pectin.

The Ball pectin powder recipe for peach jam uses 4 cups fruit, 2 tbsp
lemon juice, and 5 cups sugar.

I think the recipe is fine and that you thought you were making jam
instead of preserves. That's what I think! :-)
--
-Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
http://web.mac.com/barbschaller , blahblahblog is back and
is being updated quite regularly now.
"rec.food.cooking Preserved Fruit Administrator
'Always in a jam. Never in a stew.'" - Evergene

In article >,
Mark A.Meggs > wrote:

> I think the problem is that Ball made a mistake in the recipe that I
> missed. It called for "4 cups of peaches (about 4 lbs.)" and I was
> measuring by weight, not volume. Of course, 4 cups of fruit would be
> around 2 lbs. I put in twice as much.
>
> - Mark

Nope; I think you thought your recipe was for jam, not preserves.
Actually, right now I'm confused by who said what. Colonel Mustard in
the Library with the wrench!! A monkey wrench!

My BBB says Alltrista on the back.
If yours says Jarden, yours is newer.
--
-Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
http://web.mac.com/barbschaller , blahblahblog is back and
is being updated quite regularly now.
"rec.food.cooking Preserved Fruit Administrator
'Always in a jam. Never in a stew.'" - Evergene

In article >,
Mark A.Meggs > wrote:

> Looks like Ball made a mistake in their recipe that I missed. It
> calls for "4 cups of peaches (about 4 lbs.)" and I was going by
> weight, not volume Of course,4 cups would be more like 2 lbs. so I
> put in twice as much fruit.
>
> That brings up another question - is 7cups of sugar for 4 cups of
> peaches too much? It's awfully sweet now.
>
> - Mark

IME, most peach stuff is sweet by the time you're done with it. Seven
cups is what the Peach Preserves recipe in my BBB says -- and 8 cups
(4#) sliced peaches with that package of pectin and some lemon juice.

--
-Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
http://web.mac.com/barbschaller , blahblahblog is back and
is being updated quite regularly now.
"rec.food.cooking Preserved Fruit Administrator
'Always in a jam. Never in a stew.'" - Evergene

In article >,
Mark A.Meggs > wrote:

> On Sun, 27 Jul 2008 15:25:57 -0500, The Cook >
> wrote:
>
> >On Sun, 27 Jul 2008 13:35:13 -0400, Mark A.Meggs
> > wrote:
> >
> >
> >>
> >>Looks like Ball made a mistake in their recipe that I missed. It
> >>calls for "4 cups of peaches (about 4 lbs.)" and I was going by
> >>weight, not volume Of course,4 cups would be more like 2 lbs. so I
> >>put in twice as much fruit.
> >>
> >>That brings up another question - is 7cups of sugar for 4 cups of
> >>peaches too much? It's awfully sweet now.
> >>
> >>- Mark
> >
> >Where is the recipe you used? Which book?
>
> The Ball Blue Book In my copy the recipe - Peach Preserves - is at
> the top of page 40. It calls for -
>
> 4 cups sliced, pitted, peeled peaches (about 4 pounds)
> 1 package powdered pectin
> 2 tablespoons lemon juice
> 7 cups sugar
>
> I added fresh ginger - probably a couple of tablespoons, but I was
> going by taste and didn't measure. And, I used about 1/4 cup of lime
> juice.
>
> I didn't notice that 4 cups doesn't equal 4 pounds until today.
>
> - Mark

Heh! Mark, I think your doubling of the peaches was correct and that
your printed version contains a typo; I think the recipe printed in your
book is incorrect, especially when comparing it to the other *preserves*
recipes on that page as against the *jam* recipes in the pectin package
leaflet.

--
-Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
http://web.mac.com/barbschaller , blahblahblog is back and
is being updated quite regularly now.
"rec.food.cooking Preserved Fruit Administrator
'Always in a jam. Never in a stew.'" - Evergene

On Sun, 27 Jul 2008 16:11:49 -0400, Mark A.Meggs
> wrote:

>On Sun, 27 Jul 2008 15:25:57 -0500, The Cook >
>wrote:
>
>>On Sun, 27 Jul 2008 13:35:13 -0400, Mark A.Meggs
> wrote:
>>
>>
>>>
>>>Looks like Ball made a mistake in their recipe that I missed. It
>>>calls for "4 cups of peaches (about 4 lbs.)" and I was going by
>>>weight, not volume Of course,4 cups would be more like 2 lbs. so I
>>>put in twice as much fruit.
>>>
>>>That brings up another question - is 7cups of sugar for 4 cups of
>>>peaches too much? It's awfully sweet now.
>>>
>>>- Mark
>>
>>Where is the recipe you used? Which book?
>
>The Ball Blue Book In my copy the recipe - Peach Preserves - is at
>the top of page 40. It calls for -
>
> 4 cups sliced, pitted, peeled peaches (about 4 pounds)
> 1 package powdered pectin
> 2 tablespoons lemon juice
> 7 cups sugar
>
>I added fresh ginger - probably a couple of tablespoons, but I was
>going by taste and didn't measure. And, I used about 1/4 cup of lime
>juice.
>
>I didn't notice that 4 cups doesn't equal 4 pounds until today.
>
>- Mark

The latest version of the BBB (with the tart on the cover) says on
page 40 8 cups of peaches (about 4 pounds).

Right now I cannot put my hands on the earlier version of the BBB.

On Sun, 27 Jul 2008 16:46:53 -0500, Melba's Jammin'
> wrote:

>In article >,
> Mark A.Meggs > wrote:
>
>> On Sun, 27 Jul 2008 07:10:33 -0500, Melba's Jammin'
>> > wrote:
>>
>> >In article >,
>> > Mark A.Meggs > wrote:
>> >
>> >> On Thu, 24 Jul 2008 20:27:21 -0600, "The Joneses"
>> >> > wrote:
>> >>
>> >> >
>> >> >"Mark A.Meggs" > wrote in message
>> >> .. .
>> >> >> First tomatoes of the season last night - 7 quarts. Seven pints of
>> >> >> pickled beets tonight.
>> >> >>
>> >> >> - Mark
>> >> >
>> >> >I love you.
>> >> >Today was 8 cups of Gramma's Ginger Peach jam (with lime juice), very
>> >> >nice
>> >> >stuff, and 7.5 cups of mixed leftover Summer Solstice jam. Was a little
>> >> >wierd looking raw, but with the sugar (is 5.5 cups of sugar per quart of
>> >> >fruit gonna do it?) and more lime juice, it brightened up. Has
>> >> >blueberries,
>> >> >peaches, cherries, and blackberries. I think. I didn't label the freezer
>> >> >boxes, but I knewed it were fruit in there. The jam tastes good.
>> >> >Edrena, faithful disciple of St. Vinaigrette, Holy Order of the Sacred
>> >> >Sisters & Brothers of St. Pectina of Jella (HOSS&BSPJ)
>> >> >
>> >>
>> >> 10 half-pints of peach preserves today. Taking a cue from the name of
>> >> your jam, I added a generous dose of fresh ginger and lime juice -
>> >> tastes fantastic!
>> >>
>> >> - Mark
>> >
>> >We call that one Ginger Peachy Jam here. :-) What form was your
>> >ginger, Mark? I've usually grated mine on the plane grater. Do you
>> >chope, slice, dice? IMWTK. Thanks.
>>
>> I used the smallest grater on my 6-sided grater (need to get a
>> Micro-plane or 2).
>>
>> It tastes great, but it didn't gel so I've got peach-ginger syrup with
>> fruit pieces (its NOT going to waste - I'll just tell 'em to use it on
>> waffles instead of toast!).
>>
>> I was following the Ball recipe for peach preserves - 4 pounds of
>> peaches, 7 cups of sugar, 1 package of pectin and 2 tablespoons of
>> lemon juice. I substituted lime juice for lemon and put in close to
>> 1/4 cup. Did that interfer with the pectin? This is the first time
>> I've tried to make jam or preserves in at least 15 years.
>>
>> Any tips for getting to set up? I'll be trying again in a couple if
>> days. There are still plenty of peaches on the tree.
>>
>> Thanks!
>>
>> - Mark
>
>
>If you're making preserves (pourable) rather than peach jam
>(spreadable), it doesn't sound like you're far off the mark, Mark.
>I would not expect anything other than peaches in a thick syrup that
>would, at most, have a light gel. With that cook time, especially, I
>think the pectin in in there to provide some 'body' to the liquid/syrup.
>
>Are you confusing preserves and jam by any chance?

Could be. I was following the preserves recipe and it sounds like I
got it right despite the typo in my copy of the Ball Blue Book. Mine
is definitely pourable. If that's what peach preserves should be
like, then I nailed it!
>
>The BBB recipe for peach jam calls for 4 cups (~2#) peaches, a little
>more sugar, more lemon juice, and liquid pectin.
>
>The Ball pectin powder recipe for peach jam uses 4 cups fruit, 2 tbsp
>lemon juice, and 5 cups sugar.

I saw that today.
>
>I think the recipe is fine and that you thought you were making jam
>instead of preserves. That's what I think! :-)

Me too. I was wanting something a little thicker. I'll try the jam
recipe in a day or 2.

Thanks for your help! And, thanks to everyone who responded with
advice and encouragement!

- Mark

In article >,
Mark A.Meggs > wrote:

> On Sun, 27 Jul 2008 16:46:53 -0500, Melba's Jammin'
> > wrote:
>
> >In article >,
> > Mark A.Meggs > wrote:
> >
> >> On Sun, 27 Jul 2008 07:10:33 -0500, Melba's Jammin'
> >> > wrote:
> >>
> >> >In article >,
> >> > Mark A.Meggs > wrote:
> >> >
> >> >> On Thu, 24 Jul 2008 20:27:21 -0600, "The Joneses"
> >> >> > wrote:
> >> >>
> >> >> >
> >> >> >"Mark A.Meggs" > wrote in message
> >> >> .. .
> >> >> >> First tomatoes of the season last night - 7 quarts. Seven pints of
> >> >> >> pickled beets tonight.
> >> >> >>
> >> >> >> - Mark
> >> >> >
> >> >> >I love you.
> >> >> >Today was 8 cups of Gramma's Ginger Peach jam (with lime juice), very
> >> >> >nice
> >> >> >stuff, and 7.5 cups of mixed leftover Summer Solstice jam. Was a
> >> >> >little
> >> >> >wierd looking raw, but with the sugar (is 5.5 cups of sugar per quart
> >> >> >of
> >> >> >fruit gonna do it?) and more lime juice, it brightened up. Has
> >> >> >blueberries,
> >> >> >peaches, cherries, and blackberries. I think. I didn't label the
> >> >> >freezer
> >> >> >boxes, but I knewed it were fruit in there. The jam tastes good.
> >> >> >Edrena, faithful disciple of St. Vinaigrette, Holy Order of the Sacred
> >> >> >Sisters & Brothers of St. Pectina of Jella (HOSS&BSPJ)
> >> >> >
> >> >>
> >> >> 10 half-pints of peach preserves today. Taking a cue from the name of
> >> >> your jam, I added a generous dose of fresh ginger and lime juice -
> >> >> tastes fantastic!
> >> >>
> >> >> - Mark
> >> >
> >> >We call that one Ginger Peachy Jam here. :-) What form was your
> >> >ginger, Mark? I've usually grated mine on the plane grater. Do you
> >> >chope, slice, dice? IMWTK. Thanks.
> >>
> >> I used the smallest grater on my 6-sided grater (need to get a
> >> Micro-plane or 2).
> >>
> >> It tastes great, but it didn't gel so I've got peach-ginger syrup with
> >> fruit pieces (its NOT going to waste - I'll just tell 'em to use it on
> >> waffles instead of toast!).
> >>
> >> I was following the Ball recipe for peach preserves - 4 pounds of
> >> peaches, 7 cups of sugar, 1 package of pectin and 2 tablespoons of
> >> lemon juice. I substituted lime juice for lemon and put in close to
> >> 1/4 cup. Did that interfer with the pectin? This is the first time
> >> I've tried to make jam or preserves in at least 15 years.
> >>
> >> Any tips for getting to set up? I'll be trying again in a couple if
> >> days. There are still plenty of peaches on the tree.
> >>
> >> Thanks!
> >>
> >> - Mark
> >
> >
> >If you're making preserves (pourable) rather than peach jam
> >(spreadable), it doesn't sound like you're far off the mark, Mark.
> >I would not expect anything other than peaches in a thick syrup that
> >would, at most, have a light gel. With that cook time, especially, I
> >think the pectin in in there to provide some 'body' to the liquid/syrup.
> >
> >Are you confusing preserves and jam by any chance?
>
> Could be. I was following the preserves recipe and it sounds like I
> got it right despite the typo in my copy of the Ball Blue Book. Mine
> is definitely pourable. If that's what peach preserves should be
> like, then I nailed it!

Hot dayam!!

> >The BBB recipe for peach jam calls for 4 cups (~2#) peaches, a little
> >more sugar, more lemon juice, and liquid pectin.
> >
> >The Ball pectin powder recipe for peach jam uses 4 cups fruit, 2 tbsp
> >lemon juice, and 5 cups sugar.
>
> I saw that today.
> >
> >I think the recipe is fine and that you thought you were making jam
> >instead of preserves. That's what I think! :-)
>
> Me too. I was wanting something a little thicker. I'll try the jam
> recipe in a day or 2.
>
> Thanks for your help! And, thanks to everyone who responded with
> advice and encouragement!
>
> - Mark


(High five!!) Yeay!! We got it!!

My introduction to my canning students starts with "Preserves are the
umbrella category for sweet spreads AND they are ALSO a specific type of
sweet spread. Jam is more spreadable than pourable; preserves are more
pourable than spreadable."

The pectin is there to shorten the cooking time which is beneficial, I'm
thinking, for keeping the shape of the fruit, one of the hallmarks of a
preserve.

Next question! We're on a roll here!
-B, punchy from the 6 pints of B&Bs just out of the canner. I offer
thanks and praise to Saint Vinaigrette.
--
-Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
http://web.mac.com/barbschaller , blahblahblog is back and
is being updated quite regularly now.
"rec.food.cooking Preserved Fruit Administrator
'Always in a jam. Never in a stew.'" - Evergene

Melba's Jammin' wrote:

> Next question! We're on a roll here!
> -B, punchy from the 6 pints of B&Bs just out of the canner. I offer
> thanks and praise to Saint Vinaigrette.



Are those the thin sliced sweet-and-tart pickles?

I used to make those all the time when we lived at sea level
and we all loved them.

A friend's elderly mother asked her, when she said she was making
bread and butter pickles, "Do you have enough bread and butter
at home?"

Noew you have me thinking about making both those and watermelon
pickles. You are a bad influence--I don't need to make pickles when
it's in the high 90s here.

gloria p

In article >,
"The Joneses" > wrote:

> Do y'use pectin or the boil down method? I use pectin and make
> sure it comes to a good hard boil, and I boil just a wee bit longer
> 'cause I'm up higher. Humidity and shape of pot figgers in too.
> I find that lime juice makes a harder set actually (because it is
> sourer than lemon juice?).

I can answer that only because you all told me to do some more reading
and I did. That Harold McGee fellow (the science in the kitchen guy)
explains it something like this. When you cut up fruit and heat it,
especially with added water, the "pectin chains" come free from the
cells and dissolve into the released liquid as loose pectin molecules.
They develop a negative charge so they repel each other. So they have a
lot of trouble forming chains again (gelling) without a little help from
heat, sugar and acid.

What the acid does, specifically, according to scientist McGee, is
neutralize the negative charge so the pectin molecules can find each
other and bond again. How romantic. No doubt, this is partly why my
blackberry-lime jam came out so stiff. Too much lime. It did
reconstitute (and then gel again) nicely, however, thanks to Epiphany's
microwave idea.

> ...I also use the dry measuring cups to
> measure chopped fruit cause it's too easy for me to overmeasure
> in the liquid cups. Also the riper the fruit, the looser the set, so
> find out that perfect place. Not ripe fruit floats. And if you
> consistently get loose sets, you might scant yourself 1/4 cup of
> fruit. The 1/4 c. of lime juice might have been just a bit much.
> And sometimes it'll set up a little in the fridge or in a few days.

That was indeed the case with my red plum jam (no added pectin) that I
put up last week. It moved when I tilted the sealed jars. But after a
couple days, it set nicely.
[...]

Isabella
--
"I will show you fear in a handful of dust"
-T.S. Eliot

test

"Mark A.Meggs" > wrote in message
...
> First tomatoes of the season last night - 7 quarts. Seven pints of
> pickled beets tonight.
>
> - Mark