Making jam is so easy that anyone can do it. After doing it a few times it is so easy that you could do it in desert with just a spoon and a sense of direction!

Fruits contain pectin, which is a natural gelling agent (completely vegetarian) found in plants.

With this in mind, we can see that by varying the amount of pectin, we are going to play around with how well the jam sets.

Some fruits are high in pectin, and some fruits are low. Strawberries are on the low end, and so don’t set very well. This can be solved by using jam sugar instead of your normal sugar or preserving sugar. Jam sugar contains added pectin which helps the jam to set!

You can use any fruit (and even vegetables!) to make jam. All you need is fruit, water and sugar.

The very basic recipe is 8 parts fruit, 4 parts sugar and 1 part water. This is the basic guideline though, and you may need to experiment depending on the fruit that you put in.

For instance, pineapple and other juicy fruits contain less pectin than others, so less water is needed, and also some more pectin!

If you wash the fruit, make sure it is thoroughly dried, as that water will dilute that pectin!

You will need:

• a large pan (jam bubbles a lot so make sure it is large)
• jam jars
• a ladle
• a spoon
• a few cold plates (put them in the freezer!)

Here we go

1. Prepare the fruit by removing any stems or leaves and chop finely.
2. Put everything into the pan on a low heat and allow the sugar to dissolve.
3. Once the sugar has dissolved, use a medium heat to bring the jam up to a gentle rolling boil.
4. After 4-5 minutes, remove from the heat and test.
5. To test, take one of your cold plates, spoon a little jam onto it and put it back into the freezer for 1 minute to cool.
6. Remove the plate and run your finger through the jam, if it has a skin and wrinkles, it is ready, if not, you will have to boil it for a little longer and repeat the testing process.
7. Once ready, remove as much white froth from the top of the jam as possible, and leave to sit for 15 minutes.
8. Distribute into the jars, and look forward to having some tea and toast!

Home-made low cost lovely lovely jam!

Here is a video of expert jam maker Marge Braker of Preserve making a strawberry jam using strawberries, lemon juice, sugar and ginger. The lemon juice adds pectin to the recipe to help the jam to set.