tomato jam or preserves recipe for canning

10 years ago

A few years ago Mark Bittman published a recipe for Savory Tomato Jam. I've made it several times and it is delicious, and I would like to be able to can it.

My Ball Blue book has a recipe for tomato preserves, so I thought I'd try that using the seasonings of the Bittman recipe, but it sounds dissimilar enough that I'm not sure I can make it work.

Does anyone here have an approves recipe for tomato jam or preserves that is jam like and good as a spread on sandwiches or with cheese and crackers, etc.?

The Bittman recipe:

6 lbs tomatoes
4 c sugar
8 T fresh lime juice
4T fresh ginger, coarsley chopped
3 t cumin
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t cloves
4 t salt
2 T crushed red pepper flakes

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Comments (4)

digdirt2
10 years ago
It is "probably" ok as far as ingredients go because of the lime juice. It is more than in the Ball recipe. The only issues I would question are

1) we don't know what the density of it is compared to the Ball recipe so the processing time might not be enough, and

2) the fresh ginger effect on the pH as it is much more than in the Ball recipe.

What are the step directions on the Bittman recipe and what size jars would you be using? With no pectin (like the NCHFP recipe has) how thick will it be?

Dave
mabeldingeldine_gw
Original Author
10 years ago
Bittmans recipe did not call for canning, merely refrigerating or freezing. His directions called for cooking it to a jam-like consistency. Not too helpful! It was really tasty but my freezer and fridge space is limited.
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Jams with commercial full-sugar pectin have more sugar than any other type, including traditional jams with no commercial pectin. With those recipes you have more latitude. The only thing I can think of is to make a second batch of jam using a low-sugar or no-sugar commercial pectin, or a traditional jam without added pectin (which would also call for lemon juice), opening two jars at a time and stirring them together. Another possibility is adding some acid for tang to the finished jam. If you have 8-oz. jars, upon opening you could stir to loosen and add 1 tsp. fresh lemon juice. It's still got just as much sugar but that at least would reduce the cloying sweetness. You could also add citric acid powder or an acid blend and stir that in, though I'm not sure if that would be any more productive than using the lemon juice. Good luck. Let us know what you decide to do and how it turns out. Carol
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I made Mark Bittman's recipe also, but I froze it because I wasn't comfortable with the amount of acid. The blog post (on the NY Times Bitten blog) originally said it could be canned, but that note was removed after a discussion of the acid in the comments section. It seemed like a good recipe but I decided I don't like warm spices in tomato products, plus it was a little too sweet. I just didn't know what to do with it. The recipe as Mabel wrote it is actually 4 times the original. For me the original recipe yielded 2 half-pints plus some extra. Also, Mabel substituted cumin for coriander, and the original is less specific about how to add the heat. (I think I used 1 jalapeno, and mine was not hot at all.) Below is the recipe as it appeared on nytimes.com, to save you the math if you want a smaller batch. Melissa Tomato Jam 1 1/2 pounds good ripe tomatoes (Roma are best), cored and coarsely chopped 1 cup sugar 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice 1 tablespoon fresh grated or minced ginger 1 teaspoon ground coriander 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves 1 teaspoon salt 1 jalapeÃ±o or other peppers, stemmed, seeded and minced, or red pepper flakes or cayenne to taste. 1. Combine all ingredients in a heavy medium saucepan, Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring often. 2. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until mixture has consistency of thick jam, about 1 hour 15 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning, then cool and refrigerate until ready to use; this will keep at least a week. Yield: About 1 pint. recipe by Mark Bittman Here is a link that might be useful: tomato jam post on Bitten blog, with link to recipe
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digdirt2
10 years ago
"Jam-like consistency" with a low-acid mixture would normally require longer processing than the normal processing time for acid fruit jams. Time more along the line of that needed for say spaghetti sauce.

Add to that the pH of all that ginger (5.6-5.9) - the other seasonings are no problem.

So even if you increased the processing time the question remains if the 8T of lime juice, even if bottled rather than fresh is used as recommended, is enough to compensate for the low-acid and borderline low acid ingredients? There is just no way to know that for sure.

The NCHFP recipe calls for 1/4 c lemon juice (4 T) so 8T is probably enough but that is still just a guess. It is going to be a do-at-your-own-risk thing and all I can tell you is what I would do if I liked tomato jam and was going to make it rather than just use the NCHFP recipe linked below.

I'd reduce the ginger by half, use bottled lime juice rather than fresh to get the assured pH, can it in 1/2 pints and process for 25 min. in BWB.

Why not wait and see if others here have better suggestions. Your choice.

Dave

Here is a link that might be useful: NCHFP Spiced Tomato Jam
readinglady
10 years ago
If you placed the chopped ginger in a muslin bag or stainless bouquet garni ball and cooked it with the rest of the mixture then removed it when the flavor has reached the desired point, you'd have all the ginger essence without the low-acidity problem. You might also find you prefer the texture.

Carol

tomato jam or preserves recipe for canning

Comments (4)

digdirt2

mabeldingeldine_gw
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tomato jam or preserves recipe for canning

Comments (4)

digdirt2

mabeldingeldine_gwOriginal Author

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mabeldingeldine_gw
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