The taste of sweet apple jam is familiar to everyone. The cooking process is simple and requires minimal effort and time. The recipes do not use a lot of sugar due to the natural sweetness of the fruit. This dessert is popular, it is considered one of the most delicious and healthy, it contains many vitamins, pectin, microelements and a small amount of calories.
Features of making sweet apple jam for the winter
Different varieties of apples are used for jam. The thickness, color and taste of the jam will depend on the density, sweetness and juiciness of the selected fruits.
Popular sweet varieties
When making jams, it is better to give preference to sour varieties. But for jam with whole pieces, hard and sweet varieties are suitable.
The most popular of them are:
- Gloucester;
- Champion;
- Lungwort;
- Antonovka;
- Spartacus;
- Belarusian sweet.
Selection and preparation of fruits
From the variety of red, green, yellow apples, it is important to choose the best. Having decided on the variety, you need to carefully approach the selection of the fruits themselves. Imported apples are often tasteless and unflavoured. The choice should be made in favor of homemade fruits. The fruit should be firm and free of dark spots.
Preparation stages:
- The fruits are thoroughly washed.
- Remove the peel and core.
- Sliced.
- Soak in soda solution.
Baking soda will prevent the apples from boiling and darkening. Per liter of water you will need 2 tsp. soda The fruits are soaked for 5-7 minutes and washed.
How to prepare containers
Since ancient times, apple jam has been cooked in copper vessels. Modern research has shown that copper ions destroy many vitamins contained in apples. Copper oxide that gets into jam is harmful to health.
Aluminum containers are not the best choice. When cooked, apples release acid, which corrodes the thin oxide film of such cookware, and aluminum enters the product. This may lead to poisoning.
It is best to use stainless steel utensils. The volume of the container should be 10 or 15 liters, because jam should be prepared in large quantities.
You also need to take care of the containers in which the finished treat will be placed. These are glass jars. They should be washed, sterilized and dried.
If you do not dry the jars, mold will inevitably appear over time and the jam will spoil.
Cooking recipes
There are many options for making sweet apple jam. Here are collected those that are designed for long-term storage.
Whole apple jam
To prepare you will need:
- 1.2 kg apples;
- 220 g granulated sugar;
- glass of water.
Small fruits should be taken. Sweet varieties are good - Kitayka or Ranetka.
Cooking steps:
- Sort the apples and rinse in cold water.
- Pierce each apple with a toothpick in several places.
- Place the fruits in a large saucepan.
- In another saucepan, cook the syrup: add sugar to boiled water and bring it to full over low heat.
- Pour hot syrup over apples, do not stir.
- Apples are infused in syrup for 24 hours.
- After a day, cook the mixture after boiling for 5 minutes over low heat.
- The jam is infused for a day.
- After this, boil the apples for 10 minutes, place them hot in prepared jars.
- Cover the container with a blanket and leave it in a cool place.
The jam turns out transparent and very tasty.
Apple jam slices
To prepare you will need:
- 1.7 kg apple slices;
- 1.3 kg sugar;
- glass of water.
Cooking process:
- Boil the syrup. Pour water into a saucepan, dissolve sugar in it, bring to a boil.
- Add the prepared apple slices to the hot syrup and cook for 20 minutes after boiling over low heat.
- Pour the jam into sterilized jars and screw on the previously boiled lids.
- Turn the jars over and leave to cool, covered with a blanket. Then transfer the jam to a cool place.
The finished product has a rich amber color.
Option without sterilization
The process of preparing canned food for the winter involves mandatory sterilization of jars and boiling of the lids. This cannot be neglected, but there are jam recipes that do not require long-term storage and do not require sterilization of the jars.
You will need:
- 1.5 kg apples;
- 50 ml water;
- 800 g sugar.
Cooking process:
- Peel the fruit and cut into slices. Place in a saucepan, add 50 ml of cold water, add 400 g of sugar. Stir, add a cinnamon stick.
- Bring to a boil over high heat, stirring continuously. After boiling, cook over low heat for 10 minutes.
- Leave the jam for an hour.
- Put the pan back on the fire, add another 400 g of sugar. Cook for an hour over medium heat, stirring constantly.
- Transparent and thick jam cools in the pan.
Apple jam with cinnamon is ready to eat! And what you haven’t been able to eat yet, put it in the refrigerator.
Storage rules
When storing jam, you should adhere to the following basic rules:
- Long-term preparations require mandatory sterilization of the jars.
- The container must be dried.
- It is better to give preference to varnish-coated lids.
- Banks should not be placed close to heat sources.
- The storage room should be dry and cool (5-15 ᵒC).
In such conditions, the jam will be stored for a long time and will delight the whole family.
