Low Sugar Strawberry Jam, (Pomona's Universal Pectin) - a Kitchen Post

I am no expert in low sugar jam recipes.  In fact, today I made my first!  I found this recipe here:
http://www.commonsensehome.com/low-sugar-strawberry-jam-and-strawberry-banana-jam-sweetened-with-honey/
You can make no sugar jam, but I chose to use some sugar & honey.  You can use agave, xylitol, fruit juice concentrate, stevia, or any other sweetener.

I am also no jam-making expert.  However, I have been making strawberry jam, blackberry jelly & sometimes raspberry jam for about 12 years, so I feel like I've got the basic hang of it!  I was excited to branch out & try something new!

The first thing I needed was to buy some Pomona's Universal Pectin.

This was a product I was unfamiliar with, as I have always used Certo.  We have a great store, The Natural Living Center, in my area.  However, due to it being berry season, they have been sold out all week!  Ahh! Today, after picking late-season berries, I thought of one other store, Central Street Farmhouse, which might carry it.  PTL, they do.  I picked it up & was ready to go!

I have learned some interesting things today that maybe you'll find interesting too!
Regular jam contains more sugar than it does fruit.  I'm sure this isn't a big surprise to anyone and if you have ever made jam it is certainly not a surprise.

A regular batch of Certo jam, even if you get 8.5 cups out of it, as I usually do, contains nearly .85 a cup, (so, more than 3/4 but not quite a cup), of sugar per CUP of jam.  Regular fruit pectin, like Certo, requires your jam or jelly to be 55%-85% sugar, in order to set firmly.  

This particular low-sugar recipe, however, contains only 1 cup of sugar & 1 cup of honey and it made almost 9.5 cups of jam.  Even if you decide that honey = sugar, that is still only .21 cups of sugar per cup of jam.  Very different than traditional jam.

Here is what I learned about Pomona's:  It is pure citrus pectin with no dextrose & no preservatives.  Its jelling power is activated by calcium, (included in the box), not by sugar content.  Interesting.

I usually use the inversion method for my jams & jellies, and it has worked out just fine.  This involves putting the jars upside down for sealing.  As I read the directions for this particular jam, I couldn't quite figure out whether or not I should do this, or do the traditional hot water bath method.  I saw on the directions that Pomona has a "Jamline"!!  So, I called it!  What the lady said to me really makes sense!

I told the Jamline Lady that I have great success with the inversion method and asked, "Would it be okay for me to use this method making low-sugar jam with Pomona?"  The short answer was, "No."  Don't use the inversion method!  Here is the why:  Sugar has a preserving quality.  My traditional Certo jam was not a good food source for mold.  Even if there were some airborne mold spores that got in the jar and survived the inversion method of sealing, with the amount of sugar that is in traditional jam, they just weren't going to grow.
...much like how the "healthy" food in your fridge will mold long before they food full of preservatives.  
Pomona's Pectin jam, however, IS a good food source for mold to grow.  Because of this, a true canning must take place, (much like when I am canning tomato sauce, applesauce, pickles, etc.)

Anyway, that may seem obvious to you, but I found it very interesting!

So...

I've got my berries.  Nice, small, flavorful ones.

Sidenote:  I'm always trying to make sure that I am not "jipping" the farmer, so I don't round my boxes up majorly, but try to make it fair for both of us!!  (I know - I'm weird & I think too much!)

I make the calcium water according to the package directions.  One Pomona's Pectin box can make 2-4 recipes of jam/jelly.  There are 2 packets of powder inside.  One is the pectin & one is the calcium, which you mix with water.  The extra can be stored in the fridge.

I mix the pectin with the sweetener, which in my case was sugar & honey.
Of course, while this is happening, my lids & bands & jars are prepared.

Next, I prepare my berries.  That is another major difference between low-sugar and regular jam.  Low-sugar jam uses about twice as many berries as regular jam does.

Sidenote:  Every, single time I use this little cutting, masher tool, I think of the dear lady who gave it to me:  my Grammie Boone.  She wasn't my "real" Grammie, but she was still my Grammie & she and Grampie Boone were very dear to me & my life is better because of knowing them.

Moving on...

I make the jam according to package directions.

I ladle the jam into my prepared jars.  (So neatly too!)

Sidenote:  My Grammie Sjoberg died last year & this glass canning funnel was hers and so of course I think of her every time that I use it!

I finished processing my jars of jam by 10 minutes in the boiling water bath & Voila! I have 9.5 cups of low-sugar jam!  Yay!  I found it helpful to read hints & tidbits both on the company's website & from the instructions, as I was so unfamiliar with the product.

Is the low-sugar jam different than traditional jam?
Sure, it is.
But I have a hunch that I am headed in this direction for more & more of my jams & jellies!
I would love to hear what your low-sugar jam & jelly recipes are!!

** please note - as of 9/1/13 I have now made low-sugar raspberry, blackberry, blackberry jelly & more strawberry, both w/ Pomona's Pectin & with Ball No-Sugar/Low-Sugar Pectin.  I will not be going back!  Love it!**