Quick and Easy Banana Jam Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How do you get jam to set without pectin? ›

The secret ingredient to making jam without pectin is time. The fruit and sugar need plenty of time to cook and thicken. A long, slow boil drives the moisture out of the fruit, helping to preserve and thicken it at the same time.

To set, jam needs the right balance of acid and pectin. High-acid fruits include citrus, cherries, green apples, pineapple, raspberries and plums. If you're using low-acid fruits, such as rhubarb, apricots, peaches and strawberries, you need to add lemon juice.

Use fresh, dry, slightly under-ripe fruit. Strawberries and raspberries are best layered with the sugar and left for a couple of hours before cooking. Plums, currants, gooseberries, cherries etc need to be lightly poached before sugar is added. Pectin, naturally found in fruit is vital to make your jam set.

Pectin is another major constituent in banana, for example, unripe fruits contain huge amount of pectin in their peels. The cell wall degradation of the fruit during ripening is primarily caused by solublization and depolymerization of pectins and hemicelluloses (Asif and Nath, 2005).

Lemons - Juice of one lemon and zest. Sugar - To help thicken and sweeten. I don't recommend substituting for a sugar alternative. Cornstarch - Optional, but works well as a thickener in place of pectin.

Preservation using honey or sugar was one common method and the Ancient Greeks also used to use honey to preserve quince. Syrups made from honey and sugar were also used to preserve food; honey has no moisture so it preserves any food encased within it.

It's Not Only About Pectin

There's another reason why lemon juice is added to most jam recipes: for safe canning and to prevent the growth of bacteria. Bringing the pH level down means jars can be sealed in a regular boiling water bath in a reasonable amount of time (sometimes as little as 10 minutes).

5. Do Not Stir Once Mixture Is Boiling. Once your jam/marmalade it has reached a rapid rolling boil do not stir it. Stirring it will alter the temperature of the jam/marmalade meaning it will take longer to reach the setting point.

Cook the jam, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon or spatula at first and more frequently as juices thicken until most of the liquid has evaporated and the fruit has begun to break down, about 25 to 35 minutes.

How did people make jam before sugar? ›

In ancient Greece, quince was mixed with honey, dried, and packed into jars. The Romans improved upon this method by cooking the quince and honey together, thereby producing a meld of the ingredients. If you're up to date on how preserves are made, you'll see the bones of the style starting to emerge here.

Coarse-grain white granulated sugar is best for jam-making as it ensures a good clear jam, but fine caster sugar can also be used. The coarse grains dissolve more slowly and evenly, giving a better result. Granulated sugar with added pectin is also available, but it shouldn't be necessary to use this.

One medium banana (about 126 grams) contains 29 grams of carbs and 112 calories. The carbs are in the form of sugar, starch, and fiber ( 3 ). A medium banana contains about 15 grams of sugar ( 3 ). Bananas do contain simple carbs, which can cause blood sugar levels to rise more than other nutrients.

Fruit pectin has been associated with potential side effects like gas, bloating, or abdominal discomfort. It could also affect digestion in some cases. Be careful about taking supplements and using commercially available pectin mixes, especially if you're allergic to certain high-pectin fruits like apples and oranges.

Clean the jars and prep new lids. Place the pot on the stove over high heat and bring the jam to a boil. Cook vigorously for 5 to 10 minutes, stirring regularly. Look for signs of thickening.

And the molecule that forms the web is none other than pectin. Getting there, though, is a well-choreographed dance in which heat, sugar, and acid all pitch in to get the pectin to do its thing, pushing the mixture over the cusp from fruit syrup to jam—without going all the way to jello salad.

If you really want to thicken it to a more spreadable consistency, the easiest way is to heat it up with some thickeners such as cornstarch. Arrowroot flour is more delicate and taste-neutral, but most cooks won't have it. Unflavored gelatin may also be used. Bring the syrupy “jam” to boil in a pot.