Comments on: Mango Jam a la Marketman Revisited

By: Diane Ayres

Diane Ayres — Wed, 27 Jun 2012 00:25:56 +0000

My mangos are very sweet ,isn’t there some way to make a preserve without adding all that sugar?

By: Airah

Airah — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 10:59:09 +0000

Can I buy Pectin in SM Megamall? Or anywhere in Manila?

By: Marketman

Marketman — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 04:31:46 +0000

Carolina, I don’t think the pectin has ANYTHING to do with the color. Pectin is what helps the jam jell. As for the color, many fruit jams are cooked for not very long, hence preserving the color. It is mostly the Filipino mango jaleya type preparations that turn the mango nearly deep brown, on purpose, I gather. The long cooking time does indeed remove all the moisture and starts to caramelize the sugars. But as for macerating the mango in sugar, it is ABSOLUTELY essential, in my opinion, and that of many jam cookbook authors, as it extracts FLAVOR and FLUID from the fruit, making the jam a better product. Depth of flavor is something one seeks in good jam, not just sweetness.

By: Carolina Fuentes

Carolina Fuentes — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 04:08:35 +0000

Making jam without pectin, here’s my take on it. To preserve color, don’t add the sugar with the mangoes. Boil the macerated mangoes until much of its juice has evaporated before adding sugar. Its actually the burnt sugar that turns the jam, brown.

By: Bertie B

Bertie B — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 04:46:30 +0000

Looks like a good mango jam. I’m certainly going to give it a try.

I too have been looking for Pectin here in the Philippines without success & have just brought some back from a trip to the UK. Anybody who finds it here should let us know where to look.

Actually, the web has lots of places telling you how to make your own Pectin. Never tried it but will. See this one below:

Tart / Green Apple Pectin

Ingredients:
3 pounds sliced, washed tart, green apples (like Granny Smith) with peels and cores. Crabapples are the best. Small, green, immature apples of most varieties work, too.
4 cups water
2 tablespoons of lemon juice

Directions:
Wash, but don’t peel, about seven large tart green apples. Put them in a pot.
Cut them into pieces
Add four cups of water and two tablespoons of lemon juice.
Boil the mixture until it reduces almost in half (about 30 to 45 minutes), then
Strain it through cheesecloth or a jelly bag.
Boil the juice for another 20 minutes,
Pour it into sanitized jars, and seal them to store in the refrigerator, freezer or process in a water bath.

How much to use?
That is the big question… and difficult to answer. The pectin content of fruit varies so much, even within a season, that almost anything I could tell you about how much of your homemade pectin to use with the fruit you picked or bought would be meaningless. Both would vary considerably.
So, instead, I’ll tell you how to figure out the right formula for your own pectin. Here are the questions to answer:
How much pectin is in the fruit that you are using to make jam, jelly or preserves?
As we learned on this page about pectin, some fruits naturally have more or less pectin than others. For example, if you are making strawberry jam, you will need to use more pectin (of any kind) than if you are making blackberry jam, since blackberries naturally contain more pectin than strawberries. See this page for the pectin content of fruits.
How ripe is the fruit?
generally speaking, the more ripe the fruit is, the lower the pectin levels are.
How concentrated is your homemade pectin?
No one, but you, knows or determines this. When you make your own pectin, you’re the manufacturer, you control the production line, the quality control, etc., so only you will know, largely from practice, how much of your pectin to use.
Test!
That’s the bottom line! As you make the first batch, and are ready to fill the jars; first remove a spoonful of the jam, and hold an ice cube against the bottom of the spoon to cool the jam. If the spoonful sets to your liking, you can fill the jars, seal them and process them in the water bath canner. If the spoonful does not set, add another cup of sugar, 1/4 cup of lemon juice and more of your pectin, bring to a full boil for 1 minute, and test again!

https://www.pickyourown.org/makeyourownpectin.htm

By: shashemama

shashemama — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 06:26:59 +0000

hello,mr.mm at last nakita ko na kyo sa t.v. during your interview with ms jessica sojo,im also a follower of your blog.happy to see you!
I am selling home made mango jam no preservatives added,all natural fruit.pick up only max. 6 bottles only.tyvm mr. marketman.

By: sister

sister — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 03:24:52 +0000

Angela,
I make mango jam in the US with Haden and Ataulfo mangoes, or a mixture of different kinds of mangoes to allow for variations in fiber and juice content. Just use almost ripe ones from Mexico, Haiti, or occasionally Florida, plentiful in May and June.
Peel the mangoes and chop finely or use a food processor, but do not over process into a slurry. Measure the mangoes and if using dry pectin add it to the fruit first. If using liquid pectin follow package directions and add last. About 2% pectin works for a soft set and approximately 7/8 c. sugar to every cup of mango. Do not reduce sugar or you will be cooking a long time to get to 63% sugar at which point it “jells”. Bring the mango pulp to a boil in a large non reactive pot and gradually add the sugar, stirring constantly until your candy thermometer registers about 220 F. Add a scant tbsp. of lemon juice per cup of mango just before it registers 220 F and boil another min. Skim off the scum as you boil. Pour into sterilized jars, seal, and hot water bath for 10 min. for pint jars. Do not cook more than 8 cups of fruit at a time or it will not thicken quickly enough to reach the jell point and keep its flavour.
Mango does not naturally have a lot of pectin like apples or quinces do, and commercial
pectin is made from either apple or citrus peels. In the US Certo or Sure Jell packages are sold in grocery stores and if you want a larger amount go to pacificpectin.com.

By: Joy

Joy — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 19:59:28 +0000

That is great. I would love some.

By: Marketman

Marketman — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 05:12:10 +0000

Bubut, you are right, homemade trumps additive and chemical infused jams anyday. Actually, there are established proportions of fruit or pulp to sugar profesionally, but for homemade jams I guess do whatever makes one happy… festive rebel and getter dragon, yes a fruity salsa would be nice with the pork. present tense, I wouldn’t put cornstarch in jam, rather suffer a more liquid fruity version that one marred with cornstarch. tnm, I don’t see why you couldn’t use mangoes in the U.S. you would just have to adjust for sweetness and moisture.

By: Bubut

Bubut — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 03:24:36 +0000

thanks for posting on how to create different kind of jams. Now at home we do our jams depending on what fruit in season is. We use brown sugar (segunda, not the dark brown) with the measure of 1: 0.5 (fruit : sugar). I dont use pectin as we just consume the jam within the week. I have created strawberry, blueberry, pineapple and now we will try the ripe mangoes. At least were sure that we are enjoying these jams without any preservatives and less sugar.