My Grandmother's Rhubarb Jam | Community Recipes | Nigella's Recipes (2024)

FAQs

Does rhubarb have a lot of pectin? ›

Although strawberries and rhubarb are naturally high in acid, they are low in pectin. However, they cook down to a lovely, thick consistency all on their own, without any added pectin using the easy tricks in this recipe.

Convenience: Frozen rhubarb is convenient to use in recipes because it's already prepped and chopped. This can save you time and effort in the kitchen. Versatility: Frozen rhubarb can be used in a wide range of recipes, such as pies, crumbles, muffins, smoothies, and more (see ideas below).

Combine rhubarb, sugar, water, orange juice, and orange zest in a saucepan over high heat; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low; cook, stirring occasionally, until thick, about 45 minutes. Jam will continue to thicken as it cools. Ladle into hot sterile jars; seal with the lids and rings.

Rhubarb is high in calcium oxalate. While the substance is mainly in the leaves, it's also found in the stalks. Too much calcium oxalate in your diet may lead to hyperoxaluria, which is the buildup of oxalate crystals in different organs.

Fights Inflammation

Rhubarb stalks contain anthocyanins, the compound that gives them their deep, red color. A study in the Annual Review of Food Science and Technology found that eating foods rich in anthocyanins was associated with less inflammation and more protection against chronic diseases like diabetes.

Cut the rhubarb to a size that is convenient for how you plan to use it in future recipes. Place the cut rhubarb on a baking sheet in a single layer and freeze. (This prevents the formation of ice crystals). Transfer the rhubarb to a freezer-safe bag (leaving it about 1/3 of the way empty).

It is not necessary to thaw frozen rhubarb before cooking with it, but if you are baking with rhubarb, it's best to thaw it first as it shrinks a bit after thawing and you want an accurate measurement. Frozen rhubarb will keep for 1 year. It is still safe to eat after that, but its quality will decline.

Trim the root and leaf ends; discard. Wash the stalks and dry well. If the outside "skin" is thick and tough, peel it off — but note that you'll be peeling off some of the bright red hue.

What turns your jam brown is the same substance that turns cut fruit brown: Oxygen. The head space in your jars is filled with air, albeit less than at normal pressure.

A cup is a measure of volume while pounds is a measure of weight so a direct calculation is difficult. If we only take liquid weight into account, one cup is eight ounces and two pounds would be 32 ounces so two pounds of rhubarb would equate to 4 cups.

Why is my rhubarb jam runny? ›

Sadly, sugar plays a huge role in set. If you cut the amount in the recipe and you don't compensate with a pectin designed for low sugar preserving, your jam may well be runny. Did you check for set while the jam was cooking? Any time a recipe gives you a cooking time, it's simply an approximation.

Some fruits and vegetables are more pectin-rich than others. For example, apples, carrots, oranges, grapefruits, and lemons contain more pectin than cherries, grapes, and other small berries with citrus fruits containing the most pectin.

Pears, apples, guavas, quince, plums, gooseberries, and oranges and other citrus fruits contain large amounts of pectin, while soft fruits, like cherries, grapes, and strawberries, contain small amounts of pectin. Typical levels of pectin in fresh fruits and vegetables are: Apples, 1–1.5%

Too little sugar: Much like pectin, some fruits are higher in natural sugar than others. Jams made from fruits with higher sugar content thicken on their own more easily than those with less sugar. A no-sugar or low-sugar recipe might not call for enough sugar to naturally thicken the jam, even at a rolling boil.

While pectin naturally occurs in fruit, the amount can vary. Fruits such as citrus, tart cooking apples, cranberries, and quince are high in pectin. Fruits such as late-season blackberries, cherries, and nectarines, are at the low end of the pectin scale.