Pineapple Jam

 This is going to be a tricky post to write and read because I need to differentiate between pineapple (the fruit) and Pineapple (the person). But I will try to make sure this is absolutely clear.

I've been making jams, lately, and pineapple was a natural extension of my foray into jam-making. Pineapple worried that this jam would be too sweet, so I took some extra steps to keep the sweetness low, which seems to have worked out wonderfully.

The last time I prepared this I ended up with a little over a gallon of pineapple jam (4 pint-sized jars [16-ounce] and 1 half-pint [8-ounce] jar). Pineapple stated that the pineapple jam was "tart, but good." We both like jams and sorbets to be tart, so this is high praise.

When I prepared this batch I doubled the pectin and sugar, thinking I had more fruit than expected. The double-pectin guaranteed the jam set, but I think you can go with half the pectin so I provided that recipe, here.

Ingredients

• 2 large pineapples (I usually get these from Costco)
• 1 box Sure-Jell low/no sugar pectin
• 1/4 cup sugar

Tools

• Sous vide (and zip-top bags)
• Blender (I use a blendtec blender)
• Medium-size pot
• Large pot (one which can sanitize 4-6 jars, simultaneously)
• 4-6 pine-sized (16 ounce) Mason Jars, band, and lids
• Canning utensils: canning rack, lifter, funnel, and magnetic lid wand
• Baking sheet
• Small bowl
• Fork
• Rubber scraper
• Ladle
• Towels

Directions

1. Prepare and cook the sous vide pineapples
• You will end up with 8 pineapple quarters in 2-3 gallon-sized zip-top bags.
2. Begin sanitizing the Mason Jars, bands, and lids
1. Place the canning rack in the bottom of the large pot
2. Start filling the pot with water (I prefer hot water so the stove doesn't work as hard)
3. Carefully arrange the jars, bands, and lids in the pot
• I fill the jars with water before setting them in the post so that they do not float as the surrounding water rises
4. Bring the water to a boil
• At this point you can start blending (below) while the
5. Boil for 10 minutes
6. Remove and drain the jars, placing them on the baking sheet for later filling
3. Blend the pineapple until smooth
1. Separate the pineapple quarters from the pineapple juice
• This helps reduce the sugar in the jam
2. Put 4 pineapple quarters in the blender jar
3. Blend on high for 1 minute (I use "whole juice")
4. Pour into the medium pot (next step) and repeat these steps to blend the remaining 4 quarters
4. Cook the pineapple jam
1. Pour the blended pineapple juice into the medium pot
2. Mix in the pectin and sugar
1. In the small bowl, mix the pectin and sugar using a fork
2. Stir the mixture into the blended pineapple juice
3. Boil the pineapple juice for 1 minute
4. Remove from heat
5. Finish canning the jam into jars
1. Using the funnel and ladle, transfer the jam to the sanitized jars
2. Leave less than 1/4 inch of space at the top of the jar
3. Wipe away any drips from the rim
4. Tighten the band and lids onto the jar
5. Put the filled jars back into the large pot
6. Boil for 10 minutes
7. Transfer the cooked jars to towels
8. Let the jars sit for 24 hours
9. Any jars which still have the lids up should go into the fridge
10. Jars with the lids down can be stored in your pantry