A Simple Recipe for Tomato Jam - California Grown (2024)

FAQs

What is tomato jam made of? ›

Combine tomatoes, sugar, lemon juice, ginger, red pepper flakes, salt, cinnamon, and cumin in a large, heavy-bottomed pot and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring frequently. Reduce heat and simmer until mixture reaches a thick, jam-like consistency, about 2 1/2 hours.

Add pectin.

While this trick won't work for jam recipes that already call for pectin, adding pectin to a loose batch of jam while re-cooking it almost guarantees that the jam with set back up nicely. Whisk a tablespoon of powdered pectin (preferably the no-sugar-needed variety) into the pot of cooking jam.

To health:

On the other hand, tomato jam is rich in magnesium and potassium, as well as vitamins B, C and A, which is why it helps protect the immune system, as well as being a great ally in skin and eye care.

The Magic of Macerating

One of my favorite tricks for jam-making is macerating the fruit first. Macerating is the process of coating the fruit in sugar and letting it rest for a few hours or overnight, which pulls some of the juice out of the fruit and creates a syrup with the sugar.

1. Add chia seeds to the recipe. Chia seed jam is a method of making jam that requires no cooking. The chia seeds soak up the juice and moisture from fruit purée and plump up, giving a thickening effect to the jam without using heat or added sugar or pectin.

Tomato jam (or tomato jelly, jamato) is a type of fruit preserve prepared with tomatoes and sugar. Tomato jam. Melba toast topped with goat cheese and tomato jam. Alternative names. Tomato jelly.

Serve with crusty bread for an appetizer your guests will beg you to make again and again. You can also enjoy it as a sandwich spread, toast topping, or even stirred into pasta salad.

Lemon is crucial to balancing those sweet flavors, but it also helps the pectin to firm up the jam. It can be added at the start of the cooking process or towards the end, but what must be taken into account is that adding liquids to the jam mixture will inevitably require the jam to cook for longer.

Adding acid in the form of fresh lemon or lime juice is important for two reasons: First, it makes for a more well-balanced jam, returning some of the acidity lost with the addition of sugar. Second, pectin needs acid to properly activate, or firm up.

How long do you boil jam? ›

Bring the mixture up to a boil, stirring frequently. Continue to boil while keeping an eye on it, still stirring frequently, until the fruit is jammy and thick, about 20 minutes.

Ketchup and tomato jam largely contain the same basic ingredients. Tomato jam, for example, is made with tomatoes, onions, green pepper, garlic, sugar, and vinegar, much like ketchup. However, tomato jam can have a sharper flavor that's sweeter and sourer than typical ketchup (via Men's Journal).

According to McDaniel, tomato jam likely dates to 1840, with the earliest recipe from "American Farmer" magazine.

You need sugar for the kind of gooey, sticky quality we associate with jam; otherwise, all you're producing is a tomato sauce, no matter how different the flavor is from the classic. Once you add that sugar, however, you need acid, because even though tomatoes are plenty acidic, they can't counter all that sugar.

How Profitable Is a Jam Business? According to market and consumer data, the profit margin of jams is between 10% and 50%. Naturally, these numbers can vary depending on a number of factors. If you're doing your research on how to start a jam business, keep in mind that you can expect a profit margin of around 10%-20%.

Pectin, naturally found in fruit is vital to make your jam set. With low-pectin fruits like strawberries, help them along by either mixing with pectin-rich fruit like gooseberries or by using jam sugar (with added pectin and citric acid). Setting point is 104.5°C.