Cranberry Bacon Jam Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How long does homemade bacon jam last? ›

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.

Why is my bacon jam not thickening? This recipe is all about patience. 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.

They are basically made the same way although cranberry jam is sweeter and may contain extras such as orange juice and spices. Some like to add extra spices such as cloves, allspice and nutmeg. Cranberry sauce is usually made with just sugar and water and is served with meat.

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...

To protect the shelf life and quality of your jams and jellies, it's best to store them in the refrigerator. The cold temperature will significantly slow down the growth of microorganisms, says Alvin Lee, Ph. D., associate professor of food and nutrition at Illinois Institute of Technology.

Q: How long can I keep my homemade jams and jellies on the shelf? A: For best quality, it is recommended that all home-canned foods be used within a year.

Lack of acidity: Acids like lemon juice help lower the jam mixture's pH, which reacts with the natural or added pectin to help thicken the jam. If a jam recipe doesn't call for lemon juice or lime juice, it could rely on another ingredient, like added pectin, to set the jam.

Since pectin is activated by sugar, it requires using a considerable amount of sugar to activate the pectin and set (i.e. thicken) your jam. If you try to cut back on the sugar, it won't set properly.

Cook it again.

A runny batch happens even to the best home jammers. If, after waiting, you find the jam is still too loose for your liking, empty the jars back into a wide pot and cook again.

Nutritional Facts Face-Off

The homemade cranberry sauce has nearly half the calories, carbohydrates, and sugars compared to the store brand. It also has more fiber as well as potassium! Thankfully, buying cranberry sauce at the store is not the only option.

Are cranberries high in pectin? ›

Cranberries are high in pectin, which helps them set naturally into a jelly without the need for any other thickeners. Orange zest and cinnamon are natural flavor pairings for cranberries, enhancing and complementing their tartness.

While there are some editors who prefer homemade cranberry sauce, the canned variety also has quite a following. "There's something so beautifully perfect about the texture of canned cranberry sauce, and none of those homemade mess will ever compete," says Senior Digital Food Editor Kimberly Holland.

It pairs well with a huge range of vegetables, so you can toss carrots, cauliflower, green beans, brussels sprouts, or more with this jam and some seasoning for an upgrade to conventional roasted vegetable side dishes. For other side dish ideas, you can add bacon jam to roasted, fried, or mashed potatoes.

The reason bacon from a diner consistently tastes better than homemade bacon is because it's pre-cooked. Surprisingly, this is the secret to achieving a comparable breakfast hit at home.

Happy Girl Kitchen. We love a jam with fruit vivid and bright enough to make our mouths water. Happy Girl Kitchen does it: their tangy plum jam is wonderfully intense, their strawberry jam balances fresh flavor with cooked richness, and their apricot is more packed with flavor than any fresh apricots we've tried.

For homemade jams made using sugar and processed by canning in a hot water bath, you can expect to get about two years of shelf life when stored in a cool, dry place. Once opened, keep your homemade jam in the refrigerator for up to three months.

Can homemade bacon bits be stored at room temperature? Homemade bacon bits should always be stored in the refrigerator or frozen for longer storage. Bacon bits will last 4-5 days in the refrigerator in an airtight container or up to 6 months in the freezer.

If you've cooked up more bacon than you can eat, you can store it in a well-sealed container for five to seven days in the refrigerator before it goes bad. If you don't think you'll be able to eat it in that time, you can freeze cooked bacon for about a month.

Put the jam into containers and freeze: Pour the jam into clean freezer containers or canning jars, leaving 1/2-inch headspace. (Plastic freezer containers with tight-fitting lids work well for storing freezer jams and jellies.)