Cranberry Bacon Jam Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What to use in place of cranberry jam? ›

Consider a chutney with fresh and dried fruit, a tangy citrus marmalade, and even bacon-onion "jam." The recipes we've gathered are sweet and tart or savory and aromatic, they include the spices, nuts, and deep flavors we associate with autumn and winter, so you won't miss the cranberries one bit.

Bacon jam can be safely refrigerated for two to four weeks. Any amount that you keep in the fridge will need to be used within that length of time. You can store bacon jam in any refrigerator-safe container. Many bacon jam enthusiasts choose to use mason jars for aesthetic reasons.

To achieve a thick texture, all of the liquids need time to reduce. Make sure you're cooking your bacon jam without a lid over your Dutch oven, so your bacon jam can evaporate. If it's still not thick enough, it just needs more time.

Our list of things we want to use this jam in is ever-growing. Here are just a few to get you started: warm potato salad, grilled asparagus, fresh tomatoes, panzanella, grilled cheese, crackers and goat cheese, spinach salad, a spoon, fresh garden peas, scrambled eggs, bagels and cream cheese...

Cooking any mixture of fruit and sugar long enough will result in a jam that will set up in your canning jars. But longer cooking times can mean over-processed flavor, darkened color and a lower yield. Adding pectin allows you to cook jam for a much shorter time, which may result in the jam of your dreams.

If you really want to thicken it to a more spreadable consistency, the easiest way is to heat it up with some thickeners such as cornstarch. Arrowroot flour is more delicate and taste-neutral, but most cooks won't have it. Unflavored gelatin may also be used. Bring the syrupy “jam” to boil in a pot.

For safety, we strongly recommend that bacon jam be refrigerated for times suggested by the recipe (2-4 weeks) or that it be frozen for longer storage.

Unlike chutneys and pickles, jams don't need any maturing. So you can enjoy them straight away. Once opened, store in the fridge and use within a few weeks. The usual advice is that full jars of properly stored jam should be used within a year.

Shelf Life of Homemade Jam

Typically, homemade jam will last around 6 to 12 months when unopened and stored properly. Once opened, it should be consumed within 1 to 3 months to ensure the best taste and quality.

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.

How do you know when a jam is done? ›

Points to remember

Take the jam off the heat while testing. Push your finger through the jam on the plate - you're looking for it to wrinkle and not flood back in to fill the gap. If it's not ready, turn the pan back on, simmer for five minutes and test again.

You will need approximately half the amount of pectin that is indicated by your recipe. Please be careful when adding pectin as too much will leave you with a set that is too solid and it is not possible to rectify this so always add less than you think is necessary and test the set and then add more if required.

The Bacon Jams, a gourmet food producer in the Philadelphia area, which sells at festivals and nationwide online.

Pairs perfectly with breakfast, lunch, or dinner items and can even be blended to create bacon-flavored toppings, dips, or coatings.

Sweet and salty is one of the best flavor combinations to date. One of the most simply delicious recipes we have found to date is bacon and brown sugar. Grab your thick-cut applewood smoked bacon and sprinkle it with some dark brown sugar.

Instead of processed jams or jellies, choose a homemade fruit compote or fruit salsa. A fruit compote is essentially fruit that has been chopped and cooked down to form a delicious gooey topping. Fruit salsa is simply cut fruit, usually marinated in an acid like lemon juice and served cold.

First up is a dried fruit chutney. It has a similar flavor profile to a homemade cranberry sauce without the tart, bitter cranberries. I stew dried cherries, raisins and apricots with ginger, brown sugar and spices. I add a little bit of orange juice and zest to cut the sweetness while adding a fresh flavor.

No, although they contain the same main ingredient, cranberry sauce and cranberry jam are different. Cranberry sauce is usually not as thick and does not contain as much sugar as cranberry jam. Jam usually has a more spreadable consistency and is eaten with bread or used to fill cookies or tarts.

Another Good Substitute: Lingonberries

They are more like a cranberry cousin with the same genus, Vaccinium while redcurrants come from the Ribes family. Because they have a similar flavour to cranberries, they are perfect to substitute in their place in something like cranberry sauce or even a cranberry jam recipe.