Rhubarb Ginger Jam

It's thick and rhubarb- tart and cooked-sugar-sweet and has a little heat from the fresh ginger and a little something friendly from the vanilla.

It's terrific.  I'm already thinking of ways to use this, and I'm also already thinking I should have made more.

Guess I'll just have to keep my fingers crossed when I go to the Farmers' Market on Friday.

But back to the beginning....

At last I made the Rhubarb Ginger Jam from Christopher Kimball's The Yellow Farmhouse Cookbook.  There aren't a lot of different jam and pickle and tomato sauce recipes in this chapter.  Titled "Preserves," the chapter focuses on the basics of "putting food by" and gives general instructions on how to make freezer jams, cooked jams, some pickles, and so forth, and features a small number of fabulous recipes to showcase different foods and different ways of preserving them.  I want to try out a few more before I put this book back on the shelf.

What interested me about the jam recipes was the absence of pectin called for in the recipe. 

This Rhubarb Ginger jam, for instance, calls simply for rhubarb, fresh ginger, sugar, and vanilla.  That's IT.  Fruits contain pectin already, though some fruits have more of it than others.  Still, you can cook your jam ingredients down and figure out whether or not you need pectin at all, rather than just add it in as a matter of course.

And how do you do that, you ask?  Well I'll tell you.  Actually, I'll let Mr. Kimball tell you instead:

"After much testing, I determined that adding the pectin at the end of cooking, if at all, was the best method.  In Rodale's Preserving Summer's Bounty, there is a simple metal bowl test, which can be used to determine the pectin level.  When the perserve mixture reaches 220 degrees it is at the correct temperature, but that does not mean that the mixture has enough pectin to set up on its own.  To establish whether or not the mixture will set, Rodale suggest the following test (which I repeat almost verbatim):  Float a light metal mixing bowl in a larger bowl or basin filled with ice water.  Drop a teaspoon of the preserve mixture in the bottom of the floating bowl.  Because metal conducts heat well, the mixture will cool quickly.  Once it's cool, run your finger through the mixture.  It is ready if it doesn't run back together.  If this attempt fails, cook the mixture four or five minutes longer and try again.  If it fails again, it is now time to add pectin to the preserves.  (One package per four cups of fruit is stirred into the mixture off the heat and then put back on the burner and boiled for two minutes.)  I found that adding pectin at the beginning of cooking speeds up cooking time, which is a benefit, but I found that I preferred the texture of the fruit when the pectin was added after cooking."

Pretty cool, huh? 

Let's get started.

First, here's the recipe from Mr. Kimball's book (you can find it on page 386 if you already have a copy):

Rhubarb Ginger Jam

"This is another good way to use up extra rhubarb.  I find that vanilla bean tastes much better than extract in this recipe."

2 pounds rhubarb (about 8 cups)

2 cups sugar

1/3 cup minced or grated fresh gingerroot

 

1/2 vanilla bean, split, with seeds scraped into pan

(or, in my case, a teaspoon and a half of vanilla extract)

Wash and trim the rhubarb and slice into 1/2-inch pieces.  Place all ingredients in a large nonreactive saucepan. 

Bring to a simmer. 

 

 

Cook, stirring occasionally, for 20 to 25 minutes on medium heat until the mixture reaches 218 to 220 degrees (F) on an instant-read thermometer. 

Skim any foam from the top and remove vanilla bean.  Let sit for 5 minutes.  Jam can at this point be stored in sterilized canning jars or water-bath canned per the instructions at the beginning of this chapter.

Makes 6 cups

The canning instructions are the standard canning instructions for any water-bath jam, so I just went ahead and did it the way I've been doing.

Get your jars...

Wash the jars and lids in hot, soapy water and rinse.

By the way, here are my nifty new canning funnel and jar lifter thingy.  oooh.  aaaah.  Wash them, too, while you're at it.

 

Set the rings aside on a plate or something.  You won't need them til near the end.

Place your clean jars in a deep pot of hot water (so the jars are full and topped off with at least an inch of water, and simmer for at least ten minutes to sterilize them.  Keep the jars in the hot (not simmering) water until it's time to fill them.

Same deal with the lids - wash, rinse, simmer, hold til needed.

You can do this while the preserves are cooking, or you can get everything to this point and then make your preserves.  Whatever works for you.

You'll also, of course, need a deep pot with a rack to process the jars in.....

*One change I made was to substitute a teaspoon and a half of vanilla extract for the half a vanilla bean because I didn't have any vanilla beans on hand.  I can't compare the flavor of extract vs. bean yet, but if Mr. Kimball believes the flavor is better with the bean, I would bet he's right.

*My other little note about this recipe - and maybe this is somehow my own ineptitude or inexperience - is that I didn't end up with 6 cups of jam; I ended up with about 3. 

The thing was, I kept cooking and cooking and stirring and stirring, and the jam never made it to 218 degrees, never mind 220.  But after however many hours I spent on this jam (okay, probably not hours) I figured it had cooked long enough. 

I also did the teaspoon of jam in a bowl over ice water test

and it seemed to have gelled enough, so I stopped cooking and ladled it into my little 4 oz jars.  I think, because I cooked it so long trying to get to that desired temperature range, that I reduced the amount of jam by half.  But that was okay, flavor-wise, and I liked the resulting thick consistency.  So no harm done there.

Ladle the jam into your jars, leaveing about 1/4 inch of space at the top.  Put the lids on the jars, and then place a ring on each lid/jar and tighten just until the ring won't turn.  Place the sealed jars in your pot of water.

 

Bring to a rolling boil, reduce heat a bit, cover, and boil gently for 10-12 minutes.  I go with 12 unless the directions tell me otherwise.  When the time is up, shut off the heat and let them sit another 5 minutes before removing the jars and placing them on a flat surface to cool.

At this point, my favorite part is hearing the little "click" of each lid as the vacuum pressure sucks it in toward the center of the jar.  When it clicks, you've got a good seal.

Stick some labels on the jars, and you're done!

And if you happen to have a little of the jam left over, that's not a bad thing, either.

 

Comments

[jomamma]

That looks and sounds devine. Glad you found some essential tools. I'm going to see if I can find my Mom's old canning cookbook. I'll send it to you.

[Jayne]

That's so nice of you!

[Calen]

Bizarre ... on June 17, I made ginger-rhubarb jam, a few days after discovering your website, considering following your strawberry-rhubarb jam recipe, and deciding not to spend the money on strawberries. I made up my recipe, which the Joy of Cooking says not to do when it comes to preserves. I wish I'd thought to add vanilla ... I used ginger and lemon zest, and it turned out lovely. Thanks for posting your canning endeavors--it encouraged me to do it myself.

[amy]

You can also (to make less mess) use a small plate to check to see if jam has set. Just put any small plate in the freezer, when you think the jam is thickened put a tsp or so on the plate return to the freezer for a moment and when the jam crinkles at your finger (and doesn't run back together - tho that makes a thicker jam) - it's done. No more bowl and sink full of ice water!

[Dina]

Hi there,

I stumbled upon your website while searching for rhubarb jam recipes. I just want to thank you for your informative and helpful tips and photos! This was my first stab at making jam and you made it all look so easy! I made my first batch last night and followed your instructions precisely. I think it turned out well, and I managed to do it without the special tongs or a candy thermometer. I ended up with 4 cups, which I poured into my 1 cup sized glass jars. 2 of the jars popped right away, and the other 2 popped maybe an hour or so later. whew! Now that I know how to do it, I am going to make another couple of batches and give these away as Xmas gifts. I had Vanilla-Rhubarb jam while in Paris several years ago, and I've never been able to find it either here or back in Paris again since. Next time I might up the vanilla a bit (I used half a bean plus added some pure extract).

Anyway, thanks again!!!!

[stephchows]

Mmmm sounds delicious to me! Would you have any interest in joining a jam exchange? I'm hosting one this month: http://stephchows.blogspot.com/2009/07/jam-exchange.html

[[email protected]]

I think this is an old Scottish recipe, but that recipe typically has lemon - I am going to try it this weekend as I still have loads of rhubarb in my garden !

[jane]

I may have made a rookie's error when making jam for the first time last night..using this recipe from memory and notes. I washed my jars and lids in hot soapy water, then just dunked them in the boiling water. I did NOT let them sit for 10 min. Should I not eat the resulting jam??

[Jayne]

That depends. How long did you process the jam for in the big pot?

Ive read that if you dont sterilize the jars, you should process the filled jars for an extra five minutes...heres a great source/resource for jam-making info...http://www.pickyourown.org/jam.htm. Hope your jam is okay!

[sara]

I think in general, if you have thoroughly cleaned the jars and submersed them in boiling water, they should be nearly sterile, sterility being the goal. Additionally, if the jars sealed adequately, that's a good sign. If you have any doubt, just keep the jam in the fridge. It should keep in the fridge for several months.

[Henrietta]

I know this is 2 years on since you posted this but I've only just found it when looking for a new recipe for rhubarb and ginger jam.

I'm a life-long (50 years) jam maker and I'm wondering why you had to go through all the canning rigmarole? If the jam is made properly with the correct ratio of sugar to fruit (usually a pound of sugar to a pound of fruit), boiled for the correct amount of time and potted properly in jars which have been thoroughly washed (I put mine in the dishwasher but it isn't essential) and then you put then in the oven on a low temperature so that they are sterilised you don't need to put the sealed jars in the water bath. We never do so in the UK and to the best of my knowledge it isn't done elsewhere. Confession time - I recently sorted out a cupboard which I rarely use and found a jar of my home-made gooseberry jam dated Summer 1999. It was perfectly edible if a bit dry. I made a jam tart with it and we are all still here to tell the tale.

[Donna Cormier]

Can you make this jam using frozen rhubarb?

[Leisa]

Thank you for this recipe. I pinched part of it and added ginger to a peach rhubarb recipe which I found here. http://www.sbcanning.com/2012/06/peach-rhubarb-jam-yum.html# In general, I know that mucking about with recipes can screw up the PH. Ginger is more alkaline (at 5.6-5.9). However, I think that I'm good with quantities as my proportion is significantly less than your recipe here. Otherwise, I'll be a CDC statistic.

To Henrietta's comment regarding rigamarole "We never do so in the UK and to the best of my knowledge it isn't done elsewhere. " USDA provides standards for processing. While I'm confident that these standards are an overkill, it is what is prescribed here in the United States, though many use less rigorous (but perhaps still safe) methods. My preference is to follow the standards.