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Eco-eating: Jam

The sweet-sour burst of berries is no longer limited to summer. Take the sustainable route by preserving fruit at the peak of their seasonal flavor, and you’ll be spreading blueberries and raspberries across your toast all winter.

Jam, jelly, preserves, chutney, marmalade -- whatever you’ve set your sights on, here are a few basics:

1. Pectin, which naturally occurs in fruit, is an essential gelling agent. For fruits low in pectin -- strawberries, blackberries, blueberries -- you'll need to add the powdered or liquid variety. Or you can combine high-pectin fruits -- apples, quince, citrus (and their zest/peels), raspberries or cranberries -- with their low-pectin counterparts.

2. Sugar (or honey) and acid also play a key role in helping jam set while simultaneously enhancing the fruit’s natural flavor. Add your sweetener and then squeeze in fresh citrus juice to brighten the taste.

3. Test your concoction once you’re cooking it, by seeing how it falls from a spoon. If it falls in a wide sheet, not individual droplets, then it’s ready.

4. Pre-sterilize jars and lids for storing. Keep a water bath going to process filled jars: Boil them for 10 minutes, and they’ll be cupboard-ready.

By reclaiming this time-tested tradition, you’ll be rocking out to your jams in no time!

Sara Kramer is a chef and butcher in Brooklyn, N.Y., who attended NYU and the Natural Gourmet Institute. She believes we should all think more about where our food comes from. Her articles have previously appeared on Green Goes Simple.

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	<h2>Blog</h2>
<h1>Eco-eating: Jam</h1>
	<p>By Sara Kramer for <em><a href="http://www.greengoessimple.com">Green Goes Simple</a></em></p>
		<p>The sweet-sour burst of berries is no longer limited to summer.
 Take the sustainable route by preserving fruit at the peak of their
seasonal flavor, and you’ll be spreading blueberries and
raspberries across your toast all winter.</p>

<p>Jam,
 jelly, preserves, chutney, marmalade -- whatever you’ve set
your sights on, here are a few basics:</p>

<p>1. 
 <strong>Pectin</strong>, which naturally occurs in fruit,
is an essential gelling agent. For fruits low in pectin -- strawberries,
 blackberries, blueberries -- you'll need to add the powdered or liquid
variety. Or you can combine high-pectin fruits -- apples, quince, citrus
 (and their zest/peels), raspberries or cranberries -- with their
low-pectin counterparts.</p>

<p>2. 
<strong>Sugar</strong> (or honey) and
<strong>acid</strong> also play a key role in helping jam
set while simultaneously enhancing the fruit’s natural flavor.
 Add your sweetener and then squeeze in fresh citrus juice to brighten
the taste.</p>

<p>3.  <strong>Test
</strong>your concoction once you’re cooking it, by
seeing how it falls from a spoon. If it falls in a wide sheet, not
individual droplets, then it’s ready.</p>

<p>4. 
 <strong>Pre-sterilize</strong>
<strong>jars</strong> and lids for storing. Keep a water
bath going to process filled jars: Boil them for 10 minutes, and
they’ll be cupboard-ready.</p>

<p>By reclaiming this time-tested tradition, you’ll be rocking out to your jams in no time!</p>
				<p><em><strong>Sara Kramer</strong> <em>is a chef and butcher in Brooklyn, N.Y., who attended NYU and the Natural Gourmet Institute. She believes we should all think more about where our food comes from. Her articles have previously appeared on <a href="http://www.greengoessimple.com">Green Goes Simple</a>.</em></em></p>
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