Thursday, August 27, 2009

Mango Jam

Hi everyone,
Today I made my Mango Jam and Lilikoi Jelly.
I've been dreaming about it for days.
 I had tons of big beautiful mangos just waiting
to be made into preserves. 
I also like to add lilikoi juice to the mangos
for additional flavor.
Lilikoi has the most unique flavor.
It is bright, tangy, tropical, refreshing and
quite frankly amazing!
In Hawaii we pick them off the vine,
 bust them in half and suck em right down.
It is a taste of Hawaii.
To prepare for making jam is easy.
I just peel the Mangos, slice them and
place them into a bowl.
I aslo squeeze about ten lilikois and
the juice of three lemons.
I measure exact amounts of fruit to
put into my stainless steel pot.
Since I discovered the
wonderful product called Pomona Pectin
I use nearly half the sugar 
 it used to take to gel the jam or jelly.
I wanted to create low sugar products
for my diabetic patients and for my self and family.
I discovered Pomona pectin while doing a web search
on Mother Earth magazine.
I order it by phone and get the wholesale price.
The smaller package is the monocalcium Phosphate.



The calcium water is sort of a catalyst
that makes the pectin work perfectly.
The Citrus pectin is a gem.
It works perfectly every time.
The lady on the jamline guaranteed
that I could do batches up to 32 cups.
Normally, I was doing only 4-6 cups at a time
 so this was great news.
So here's what I did today.
I cut up my mangoes
and measured 6 cups of fruit into the pot.
I add 6 teaspoons of calcium water to the 6 cups of fruit.
(1 tsp. for every cup of fruit.)
The Pomona pectin is added to the bowl of sugar
on the side before I add it to the fruit.
This helps it disperse better.
(1 tsp. for every cup of fruit.)

The sugar can be 1/2 as much of the fruit.
I added 4 cups of sugar.
Normally it required bringing the fruit
to a rolling boil for 15 minutes.


With this Pomona pectin I only need
to bring it to a boil for 2 1/2 minutes.
If I boil it any longer I might undo the thickening process.
So I have to trust the formula and it works!
I have experimented with slightly less pectin powder
and calcium water with good results.
I do not like my jams and jelly too hard or too loose.
I want them Perfect!
The jars have been prewashed in the dishwasher
but can be done with soap and hot water and dried.
I used to boil my jars before use,
but realized that this was overzealous.
The lids and rings must be kept in hot water
brought to nearly a boil then turned off. 
 
After I ladle the jam into the jars,
I wipe each rim with paper towels
dipped into the boiled water.


Then I place the rubber sealed lid on and
screw on the rings finger tight.
This batch came out awesome!
Now the next step involves the deep water bath.
I place my jars into the canning pot and cover
with water at least two inches above all the jars.
It has to boil for at least five minutes.
It takes a while to bring this much water to a boil.
(about 15 minutes.)
Cover the pot to speed it up.
I boil for five minutes then turn off the heat.
At this point today, I left to take a walk in the park.
When I returned, I removed the jars
to place on a towel to set.
When cooled you must unscrew each ring
to check if the lid has a good seal.
Then dry each rim and ring and tighten again.
It seems tedious, but there is something
so Zen about making jam and jelly.
The act of repetition in the step by step process
and doing something
so old-fashioned really feels good.
So I hope you try it sometime.
I am creating a new video series
that will really show you how easy it is.
Next it's lilikoi jelly!

3 comments:

  1. oh yumm. This is so tantalizing! I love your love for creating. Sis you motivate me. I just love the way it comes so natural to you. Your page is so beautiful w/the fruits laid out. It's definitely an , oh yumm!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Pam, Thanks for your comment! I'd love it if you forwarded this link to all your friends by clicking on the envelope and adding email address of peeps you tink would enjoy The Artful Hawaiigirl!
    Aloha,
    Marilyn ♥

    ReplyDelete
  3. This looks so great. Do you have to refrigerate it or will it last on the pantry shelf?

    ReplyDelete

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