Jam it right!

The yummiest jams are those made at home, the banana or plantain jam being the best examples. The freshness of fruits, the exact measure of sugar and the right consistency are factors which make jams the best tuck-ins for breakfast, brunch and lunch. However, a few timely tips could help preserve homemade jams for a long time. Here’s to jams and jellies:

- If the right quantity of sugar is not added, there is every danger of jams and jellies turning sour and fermenting. Colour and taste too get lost if jams are short on the required measure of sugar. A teaspoon of glycerin if added to fruits will make the jam sweeter and help save on sugar content. For example, you can stop with 400 gm of sugar if the requirement is for 500 gm.

- Jams and jellies made with overripe fruits or half-cooked fruits may ferment. Jams and jellies tend to be paste-like if fruits are overcooked.

- Pulp extracted from cooked or uncooked fruits, mixed with sugar and citric acid and boiled over a steady flame to the right consistency make for good jam. Papaya, guava and bananas are the best fruits for jam. Go for ripe and bright fruits high on taste.

- While filling bottles with the hot stuff, place a wooden plank or a sheet of cloth under the bottles to keep them from cracking.