Plum to jam sugar ratio

[PronounsBaby]

Hello wise mumsnetters

I have 1lb of ripe plums which I cooked up yesterday with 150ml of water. I only had half a lemon so that was squeezed in.
I have jam sugar (added pectin) or granulated. How much sugar should I use and which one would you go for?

I wouldn't have cooked the plums in water. I don't know if you are new to jam making (I've only been doing it about 30 years 🤣) I don't bother with jam sugar....DH asked me why recently, said look at the difference in price. I use cheap granulated, lemon, don't waste money on bottled pectin,ratio,I use a little less sugar.ie 1kg fruit 800g sugar. I've just made 3 jars blackberry/blackcurrant, bearing in mind neither is particularly sweet,it's too sweet! 3 jars of gooseberry. I put the fruit on low heat, once the plums soften,you can remove the stones,cook for a couple of minutes,add sugar, lemon juice,fast boil,3 minutes,check setting point,keep doing this. I often strain off a bit of the juice.

Very carefully sterilise,jars lids,I do this 10 minutes boiling water saucepan while making the jam. DH,why don't I use the microwave.... because you cannot put metal lids in there,fill the jars right to the top,no air gap.

You can’t use jam sugar once you have messed about with the fruit. It’s a very specific process ( which as long as you follow the instructions is infallible IME).

Déraillement alert! it may be more expensive but it takes very little time ( four minutes boiling) and because it is straightforward seems to make less mess. I got used to it in France, everyone uses it there and they are BIG jam makers, the supermarkets are rammed with pans, jars , labels etc.

So blueberry for breakfast this morning, then I am making some pink grapefruit this afternoon (with ginger ).

The thing is pronouns you can do everything between using a lot of sugar and having a very firm set or using a little and it will be only just be set and will be runnier but with better colour and flavour but it won’t keep as long.

If you are new to jam-making I’d aim for a happy medium but the more you do it the more you can cook it how you like.

I must admit that I have come around to pectin sugar because it means you can cook the fruit for a shorter time which I think preserves the colour and flavour better.

Boiling jam for ages in a hot French kitchen in a hot French summer is a fricking nightmare. Which is why they use pectin.

OP if you have already boiled and destoned your fruit, I use half and half by volume cooked fruit to jam sugar. If you are more experienced then you can drop the pectin but as it is your first time, and you have it, just use that. If you are using a jam pan, they often have the volumes on the inside of the pan for this reason. So it is level at 750 ml, add the same volume of sugar. Then cook it up and once you get to setting stage, turn it off and jar it. The volumes on the inside of the pan also help you to work out how many jars you need to sterilise.

If you don't have a jam pan, pour your cooked and destoned fruit into a large jug and use the measures on that to work out the volume.

This looks to be a good basic recipe:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/plum_jam_83941/amp

There is a lot of pectin in plum skins so despite my previous post ordinary sugar will be fine on this occasion.

Yes very new to jam making.

First attempt a few years ago, I successfully made boiled sweet in a jar.

This year I tried a Mary berry bramble jelly but had to reboil with more lemon (recipe didn't have any in!!). It was like syrup. Second boil with lemon and a bit of jam sugar has done the trick and it's amazing.

So want to finish of my plum now.... Will it be ok with just half a lemon and normal sugar?

British jam ratio is half fruit, half sugar. I don't tend to use jam sugar, but it would make it set faster if you already have some. Sometimes things will set much faster than expected and sometimes much slower. Contrary food item!

My Marguerite Patten book says use lemon or jam-sugar for ripe dessert plums. You use ordinary sugar for firm cooking plums.

She says 4 tbsp water (4x 15 =60ml) to 1lb plums so it looks like you might have overdone it a bit.

Use the 50/50 ratio for the sugar, so your 1lb plums = 1 lb jam-sugar.
Try the wrinkle test to see if it sets and, if not, bubble a bit more to reduce the water content.

Thanks for all the advice!

I was rushing to leave the house so threw 1kg of jam sugar in the 1.5l of plums.

Did begin to wrinkle, but I'm never confident!! It was absolutely like jam when I was washing the pan!

Will have to update you when I get home and check it in a couple days!

That’s interesting about the difference between ripe and hard plums!

I’m sure it will be lovely op! Nothing as good as home made 😃

Google Delia Smiths plum jam recipe, never fails

Only posting to say how jealous I am. The squirrels have moved in on my plum tree. No jam for me. I doubt there'll be a plum to eat.

I forgot to let you all know (as I'm sure you have all been on tenterhooks) that the plum jam came out perfectly!! It's delicious and I'm thinking about becoming a jam tsar..(not that it's gone to my head or anything....)

😄

Great update op! 👍