WHITE CHERRY & PEACH JAM
Blue Chair Jam Book3
Makes 6, 8-ounce Jars

INGREDIENTS:

* 2-1/2 pounds peeled yellow peaches
* 2-1/2 pounds pitted Rainier or other white cherries
* 2 pounds 2 ounces white cane sugar
* 5 ounces strained freshly squeezed lemon juice
* Several drops of pure almond extract
* Several drops of maraschino liqueur*
* 1 (1-inch) piece vanilla bean, split

METHOD:

1. Place a saucer with five metal teaspoons in a flat place in your freezer for testing the jam later; this is one of the best methods for determining the perfect jam consistency so don�t skip this step!
2. Place a cutting board on a rimmed baking sheet or sheet pan. Put the peaches on the board and using a paring knife, cut enough flesh off the pits to make 2 pounds of prepared fruit. You should end up with pieces of all different shapes and sizes. When you are finished, discard the peach pits.
3. Place the peach pieces and their collected juices from the baking sheet with the cherries, sugar and lemon juice in a large mixing bowl, stirring well to combine. Add a few drops each of almond extract and maraschino. Taste, add a drop or two more of the flavorings if necessary and add the vanilla bean. Transfer the mixture to an 11- or 12-quart copper preserving pan or a wide nonreactive kettle.
4. Place the jam mixture over high heat and bring it to a boil, stirring every couple of minutes or so. Continue to cook, monitoring the heat closely, until the jam thickens, 25 to 30 minutes. Scrape the bottom of the pan often with your spatula and decrease the heat gradually as more and more moisture cooks out of the jam. For the last 10 to 15 minutes of cooking, stir the jam slowly and steadily to keep it from scorching. Skim any still foam from the surface of the jam as it cooks and discard.
5. When the jam has thickened and appears glossy, test it for doneness. To test, carefully transfer a small representative half-spoonful of jam to one of your frozen spoons. Replace the spoon in the freezer for 3 to 4 minutes, then remove and carefully feel the underside of the spoon. It should be neither warm nor cold; if still warm, return it to the freezer for a moment. Tilt the spoon vertically to see how quickly the jam runs; if it is reluctant to run and if it has thickened to a gloppy consistency, it is done. If it runs very quickly or appears watery, cook it for another few minutes, stirring and test again as needed. While you are waiting for the jam in the freezer to cool, skim off any white foam that appears on the surface of the jam in the pan.
6. When the jam is ready, pour it into sterilized jars and process according to the manufacturer�s instructions.

*NOTE: This is NOT the liquid from a jar of maraschino cherries, it is a liqueur; a little spendy and since I had not made this recipe before, I omitted it and added a few extra drops of pure vanilla extract � the jam is still fantastic!!

6. When the jam is ready, pour it into sterilized jars and process according to the manufacturer�s instructions.

Standard jam processing is BWB for 10 minutes at sea level

The recipe came from a blog post and the writer was going on and on about how this is her favorite freezer jam recipe. She said how happy it made her to know she had this in her freezer etc etc. I just assumed when I read "While you are waiting for the jam in the freezer to cool" that it was a freezer recipe.

Thanks pixie!

Regarding the other question, fresh lemon juice is fine for this recipe. Bottled is not required.

Carol

I assume the recipes have been tested for acidity, since she sells the jam, but again the book doesn't mention it, doesn't credit any food safety experts, and her processing methods (she does add the disclaimer to process "in accordance with manufacturer's directions" if you don't want to follow her oven-processing directions) don't meet USDA recommendations. So I take everything in that book with a grain of salt unless it's a really high-acid fruit.

I see the risk of the oven method with full-sugar traditional preserves as one of jar breakage, not safety. Jams are inherently safe; processing is meant to extend shelf life and prevent mold, not because they're prone to risky forms of spoilage.

The exceptions would be such low-acid fruits as figs, mangoes and cantaloupe. And while there is risk with those if the levels of added acid are insufficient, I'm guessing it's quite low because to set a preserve you have to cook to about 68% sugar; at that level any remaining water is pretty well bound up by the sugar, which discourages the growth of micro-organisms.

In the case of peaches and cherries, I see no risk unless a preserver is really really determined to make peach-cherry slop. Both fruits are naturally low in pectin at the firm-ripe level. At its optimum this will be a loosely set preserve. With dead-ripe fruit it won't set; you could firm it up by cooking it to death, essentially boiling out the water and evaporating into a viscous taffy, but it wouldn't be a gel.

So purely hypothetically if you used dead-ripe windfall fruit (i.e. bruised - which also raises pH) you might have a risk, but it would be miniscule.

If it disturbs your comfort level, though, you could always add a pinch or two of powdered citric acid, ascorbic acid (which would assist in preservation of the light color), or some of the acid blend wineshops sell. That wouldn't change the liquid ratio and could also be beneficial to cut some of the sweetness.

The best resource I know of to explore issues of pH and the properties of preserves of all types is The Jamlady Cookbook. She has a scientific bent and tells you everything the layperson might want to know about the art of jam-making.

Carol

Since this recipe (in fact, all of the ones in this book) doesn't use pectin, would this combo be a loose set?

I was just reading in Putting Food By about borderline acid foods (like tomatoes and even surprisingly, some jams) that were improperly handled (blemished fruit, not strict sanitary measures) that have developed botulism toxin. Apparently molds got in and lowered the acidity enough that the spores that weren't killed in processing were able to develop into the toxin. So I really wondered about the safety of those cherries.

I'm going to look for The Jamlady Cookbook - in fact, may even trade Blue Chair for it if Barnes and Noble has it. Thanks for the reference.

To the OP - carry on! Sorry for the "detour" (if not a hijack).

Re the botulism issues, I was just reading a horticultural study listing the pH of selected Heirloom tomatoes. Several (primarily paste types) were up in the 4.8-4.9 pH range, which moves way beyond borderline. Which is why, I suppose, those who object to adding citric acid or lemon juice to their tomatoes, might re-assess their position.

By the same token, we have had previous discussions about applesauce recipes, some of which call for added lemon juice and some of which do not. I'd argue for lemon juice if you're working with windfalls because several studies have shown bruising results in a significant elevation of pH. So the point about mold in jam is in that regard well-taken, though again, given the high sugar concentration compared to something like an applesauce, I see it as less likely.

I think, though, if you used dead-ripe fruit + used paraffin or just open-kettle canned without processing, there is a risk, depending upon the fruit and even, perhaps, the area of the country. West of the Rockies there're elevated levels of botulism in the soil. The question would be just how high that risk would be. It would be interesting (not that I'm planning on taking the risk) just to know the likelihood.

Carol

Now back to your regularly-scheduled jam post ;-) - BTW, IMHO it's not worth it to get a pot of water boiling to BWB 3 jars of jam, which is what half this recipe would yield. Maybe less depending on how set you like it. I'd refrigerate or freeze it if I only had a lb of Raniers (which are horribly expensive here!).

I have found 2 recipes, one for a freezer jam and the other under a water bath canning section. They are almost identical except for sugar amount and size of jello pkg. What are the concerns with canning a freezer recipe? I really like the lower sugar in the freezer one, but want to make sure I'm not poisoning myself (or others) by canning it and giving it as gifts.

I don't know if it matters, but here are the recipes I'm looking at. :-) Freezer Recipe - Cherry Rhubarb Jam: 4 c rhubarb, 1 1/2 c sugar, 3 oz pkg cherry gelatin, 1 can cherry pie filling, 1/8 t almond extract. Canning Recipe - Rhubarb Blueberry Jam: 5 c rhubarb, 1 c water, 5 c sugar, 1 can blueberry pie filling, 6 oz pkg raspberry gelatin.

Thanks! Hope I'm not entering this conversation too late. :-)

I only know of one tested canned recipe that calls for gelatin. People tend not to think that gelatin is protein-based (i.e. beef) and therefore affects acidity. The pie filling is also heavily thickened, probably with a commercial modified cornstarch product similar to ClearJel, so that means there could also be density issues.

Beyond that, a lot of these recipes break down with the application of heat, so once jarred up and canned, there's no telling what the consistency would be.

These just aren't designed for anything but refrigeration.

On the other hand, these could be made in small batches any time during the year with frozen fruit, canned pie filling (commercial or home-canned) and gelatin.

Carol