7 recipes for making rhubarb jam with orange and lemon

For those who have never tried rhubarb jam with the addition of oranges and do not know about the beneficial properties of this perennial herb, this information will probably be interesting. Today, rhubarb has almost been eradicated from gardens and summer cottages. But in vain - it contains many useful substances, its composition is similar to the composition of sorrel, which is more popular among summer residents. We will tell you how to use this valuable product from our gardens, how to make delicious, original jam for the winter from it.

Features of making rhubarb jam

Stems selected for preservation must be cleared of hard veins and surface skin - all this is hard and harms the taste of the product. A few more tips before cooking:

• If you can’t make the jam right away, you can keep the stems fresh. Before cooking, place them in a plastic bag and place them in the refrigerator. In refrigerators of the No Frost system, rhubarb is preserved worse than in devices with conventional dynamic cooling;
• According to the cooking technology, such a preparation should be cooked in two steps, with an interval of half a day between cooking. This is done so that the rhubarb is soaked in sweet syrup and remains transparent;
• the acid contained in the petioles preserves the workpiece well, so the product will last a long time without any sterilization.

Useful properties of the product

The young petioles of the plant contain an optimal set of substances useful to the human body. These are malic and ascorbic acids, vitamins and various microelements. In addition, there is a lot of pectin, thanks to which you can prepare excellent jelly, as well as compotes, jams, marmalade, etc.

Rules for selecting and preparing ingredients

Many people classify rhubarb as a vegetable, but in fact it is a perennial herb whose aerial parts—the leaves and stems—are considered edible. The root is not eaten; it contains toxic substances. However, as a rule, only petioles, that is, stems, are used for food. The leaves are rough and look like burdock.

The peculiarity of the plant is that its harvest is very short - the stems need to be cut in May, in some latitudes until mid-June. Further harvesting is unsafe, because later the leaves and petioles accumulate a lot of oxalic acid. The petioles become tasteless and unhealthy, especially for people suffering from gastrointestinal diseases.

Oxalates, which are present in oxalic acid, in large volumes can lead to intoxication.

Therefore, we harvest quickly, choosing stems that are thick, fleshy, and well-colored with a reddish color. Jam made from such raw materials will be both tasty and beautifully pinkish.

How to prepare containers for the start of the process?

When preparing containers for jam, we remember that the plant is sour, and therefore it is better to cook it in a saucepan or basin or in a stainless steel bowl. Copper basins, like tin pans, are not suitable - the oxidation process occurs quickly in them.

Wash and sterilize jars and lids as usual. It is very important that they are not only clean, but also dry before laying out the jam, otherwise the workpiece may sour.

The best cooking recipes

Many have underestimated the jam made from this herb. Partly because they don’t know how to cook it. Spring rhubarb is the first to be harvested, even before strawberries. And if you enrich it with fruits, such as oranges, you will get aromatic, slightly sour jam with a delicate and refined taste. Several cooking recipes.

Rhubarb jam with orange in a pan

The jam is usually boiled in a basin, but rhubarb requires preliminary blanching, so it can be boiled in the same pan in which it was blanched.

Products:

• 1 kg of petioles;
• 1600 g granulated sugar;
• 2 glasses of water;
• 3 large oranges.

Let's prepare it like this:

1. Place rhubarb petioles, cut into 1 cm long pieces, into a saucepan of boiling water and blanch for a minute.
2. Drain the water - it contains oxalic acid. Pour sugar into a saucepan, add 2 cups of water and prepare syrup.
3. Place the stalks into the boiling syrup and bring to a boil.
4. Leave for 12 hours to soak the rhubarb in syrup.
5. Cut oranges into circles, divide each circle into quarters. Fold over the rhubarb and let it boil. After boiling, simmer thoroughly over low heat to soften the fruit. Stir gently from time to time, avoiding burning. Do not peel the oranges; it gives the jam an aroma and a specific bitterness.
6. Place the finished jam into jars and roll up.

Fast way

Dessert for the winter can be prepared without double cooking. It's done like this.

We take:

• 1 kg rhubarb;
• 1.5 kg sugar;
• 3 oranges.

Progress:

1. Place the peeled and cut into pieces petioles into a deep bowl and sprinkle sugar on top. The rhubarb is juicy enough to yield juice within three hours.
2. Place the bowl on low heat and wait for the jam to boil.
3. Meanwhile, remove the zest from the orange (you can use the whole peel, but only the zest is more flavorful). Cut it into thin long strips. Place in a bowl.
4. Peel the orange from the veins and chop the pulp coarsely.
5. Place in jam and let it boil.
6. Place hot into jars and roll up.

Multicooker recipe

The same recipe is also suitable for cooking in a slow cooker. The difference is in proportions - the bowl holds less food, so you will have to reduce the amount:

• half a kilo of medium-sized chopped petioles;
• 800 g granulated sugar;
• a couple of oranges.

We prepare it in the same way as in the previously given recipe: add sugar, heat it after three hours, add orange zest and pulp, put the bowl in a multicooker with stewing mode and cook for an hour. Pack into containers and screw on the lids.

With added banana

Jam with banana additives has an even richer taste and contains less sugar:

• 2 kg rhubarb;
• 4 oranges and bananas;
• 600 g sugar.

The preparation is quite simple - leave chopped rhubarb sprinkled with sugar in a saucepan overnight. In the morning, add chopped banana slices and half-circles of orange to the mixture (do not peel off the skin!). After stirring, set to heat and, bringing to a boil, simmer over low heat for about five minutes. After this, put into jars and roll up.

With ginger

Jam with rhubarb and oranges can be an excellent warming agent if you add ginger to it. The spicy, aromatic spice will add additional notes of taste and help with many diseases.

Cooking:

• 1 kg each of rhubarb and sugar;
• 1 orange;
• ginger root to taste.

Place chopped rhubarb and sugar in a bowl and leave for 12 hours. As soon as the juice appears, let it cook. While it’s boiling, grind the ginger and orange in a meat grinder and put this mixture into the rhubarb.

The jam is cooked over low heat and stirring for 40 minutes, after which it is ready. We pack.

With lemon

For 2 kg rhubarb:

• 1 kg granulated sugar;
• 1 glass of water;
• one lemon and one orange.

The taste and aroma of this jam is rich, bright, perfect for making pies. It is prepared like this:

1. Chop all the fruits and rhubarb to the same size.
2. Combine rhubarb with sugar and water and cook. You can cook without water, but in this case the rhubarb is sprinkled with sugar and left until the juice is released. Jam without water will be thicker.
3. Once it boils, add citrus fruits, bring to a boil and remove from heat.
4. Let cool and bring to a boil again. We do this three times. After this, the jam is ready.

With apples

Jam with apples:

• 2 kg rhubarb;
• 400 ml water;
• 2 oranges;
• 0.8 kg apples;
• 3 kg sugar.

Don’t be confused by this amount of sugar - rhubarb is sour, boiled apples are also more sour than raw ones, so it will be fine. Thanks to apples and their pectin content, the jam will be thick even with the use of water.

The dessert is prepared like this:

• diced rhubarb and apples are transferred to a saucepan and boiled in water for 15-20 minutes;
• pour sugar into the pan, add orange slices with peel and boil again for 20 minutes;
• Place in jars and cover with lids.

How and for how long is the finished product stored?

Rhubarb jam does not require special storage conditions, since it is quite sour and contains a lot of sugar. However, if you cook for five minutes, it is better to store such a dessert in the refrigerator. And what has been subjected to prolonged cooking is stored indoors, in a dark and cool place.