I have over ripe peaches. I have scaled them and pitted them and they are in lemon water.
- Can I freeze them to make jam later?
- Can I put them in the refrigerator to make jam later?
Fruit – Can frozen peaches be made into jam or other things
freezingfruitjamstorage-method
Related Solutions
If your jam has at least 1:1 ratio (1 kg of sugar per kg of fruit) or more, you do not have to can it. Then it is so overwhelmingly sweet that bacteria cannot live in it.
If the jam has less sugar (1:2 are popular, 1:3 are found sometimes), then you have to either can it, or keep it in the fridge and consume it within a few days, similar to any other cooked food. Else, you are colonizing bacteria in your jam, and at some point, some of them will happen to be pathogenic and cause some unpleasant disease in whoever eats the jam.
Canning is a process in which the jam is closed against any new bacteria (that's why you have to close the jar hermetically) and then heated enough that most old bacteria are killed. After canning, you can keep the closed jars at room temperature without any new bacteria developing.
You just need to work out your forearms more. :)
If food gets on the rim of the jar it can greatly add to the friction after the lid is on. It actually makes the whole process unreliable- the food might prevent a seal from forming or it might harden and make the lid difficult to remove- either way make sure the rim of the jar is clean.
Canning jars create a vacuum when the heated air in the jar contracts. This vacuum is what holds the lid on tightly. You can alter the strength of the vacuum in two ways:
1- leave more air at the top of the jar (called headspace).
More air means that a smaller percentage of the air will be forced out and the seal will be weaker. Be careful that you don't make it too weak. If the seal fails the food will spoil.
Jam recipes meant for normal canning jars will include the recommended headspace. You should start there with your experiments.
2- Let the jam cool a little before applying the lid.
This will also result in less air being forced out and a weaker seal. This is something you can experiment with but it would be more finicky than #1. If you do try it, watch your jars closely for a while and put them in the fridge if the seal fails.
The canning process for jam in normal canning jars usually includes boiling the jars afterwards to ensure the jars seal properly. With those lids, sealing too strongly isn't a concern as the lids are disposable. Even with your jars, you want a very strong seal. If you are having trouble opening them perhaps you should try using a tool that will give you leverage but not damage the lid.
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Best Answer
You absolutely can make jam from frozen fruit.
Freezing is like "stopping time" (or at least slowing it down almost to a stop) for the frozen food. Freezing water breaks cell walls, that's why thawed fruit is mushy, but so does boiling when making jam, so no problem at all here. You can also freeze leftover fruit before it spoils and combine various fruits in your jam or make flavour pairings with fruits that are in season at different times.
You can either puree your fruit and freeze it in a ziplock bag or flat container or freeze chunks on a tray, then transfer to bags. Good wrapping is essential, as with all frozen foods.
Storing your prepared fruit in the refrigerator is not without risk. Overripe fruit spoils quickly, even in the refrigerator and "later" quickly can become "too late". So unless you are absolutely sure that you will cook them tomorrow and they have no "dubious" (e.g. mushy, about to get moldy) spots, just freeze them.