Purely Preserves

I absolutely LOVE what I do. You never really realize the difference between a job and a career until you find that one thing that you are extremely passionate about. I started out just wanting to give my kids something that was a better alternative for them then the high fructose corn syrup products you find in the stores. The very few jams that are on the shelf without HFCS still have pectin (which doubles your sugar per jar). My little 5 year old is a peanut butter and jelly feign. Morning, noon, and night she would have it if I let her. I am glad that I can give her something that is not only healthier but full of flavor! She is not only my taste tester she is my inspiration! I hope you enjoy these jams as much as we do =) I am happy that I can now offer this healthy alternative to the public and that the feedback is FANTASTIC. Thanks everyone for the support. We truly feel blessed.

Common questions on why I choose to make jam WITHOUT pectin:

Question #1
What is pectin? What are the pros and cons?
Answer
There is nothing TECHNICALLY wrong with it. It is considered a natural ingredient used to help "set" or as others would say "make my jelly jel" but it is unnecessary to me. When you use pectin it requires your sugar to practically double ...in your recipe while the amount of berries used stay the same (as in a pectin free recipe). This causes your recipe to dilute your berries. It may yield more jars using pectin but decreases the amount of berries in each jar while increasing the amount of sugar. So when you buy jam (or jelly at the supermarket) with pectin as an ingredient (my opinion) you are buying a jar full of sugar with a hint of berries. If you buy a jar without pectin the flavor is out of this world. Very fruity.

Question #2
Is it a preservative? Does it make the jelly last longer?
Answer
Not a preservative. It is actually a natural ingredient found in all fruit. The powder or liquid pectin you buy from the stores has been extracted from apples to help boost the natural pectin in the fruit you are already cooking and canning. Pectin free has the same shelf life as recipes that use pectin. The only difference is pectin free takes a hair longer to cook (which is good when you think of botulism) in order to pull all the natural pectin out from your berries so it will set just right after it cools. With all this being said ~ when you go pectin free your recipe makes less jars (because less sugar is used) which makes the price increase per jar. But you will notice I can manage to keep my prices below the competitor that uses pectin in their recipes.  Quality and price!! What a good combination!!