I am a noob-to-be jam maker and a noob seasoned advice member. I want to make this pectin-free jam recipe; but here is the issue: In English speaking sources, any jam recipe goes with instructions on canning.
In Turkey (where I am from and I currently live), the hot water bath canning process does not exist and a few people online pointed out to the fact that this process does not exist outside North America (although I am not sure how true this is). I would like to know the reason surely but here is my question.
I want to make the aforementioned jam in 1, put them in freshly cleaned jars (in the dishwasher), put mine in the fridge and give away some to my friends and family.
Will I be posing any risk to people who eat the jam? If not, how long will the jam last in/out of the fridge?
Thanks for the help.
Best Answer
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.