Sugar in Freezer Jam Question

[Triathlon13]

Quick question -

What is the reason for the sugar in freezer jam? I was just discussing this with someone - and we like the taste of just the fruit, but we made the freezer jam with sugar because that is what it asked for (but a lot less of course), but do we really need the sugar????

Thanks,

Michelle:D

[deepfryerdan]

The sugar helps the fruit to retain its color and texture. Sugar is hydroscopic and helps to pull some of the moisture out of the fruit. If too much moisture is in the fruit when it comes time to freeze, the water will turn into large ice crystals that rip holes in the fruit. Upon thawing you end up with mushy/slimy fruit. So, the sugar helps keep the ice crystals in the fruit small enough that they won't damage the integrity of the fruit. :)

[zwieback]

This is what I found while reading through some recipes online:

" Sugar inhibits the growth of bacteria, keeping your jam fresh, fruity, and safe to eat. Jam recipes are formulated to call for a certain ratio of pectin to sugar, and they will not jell properly if you don't use the correct amount of sugar. If you'd like to make less-sweet jam, you'll need to buy a special kind of pectin that's formulated to work with less sugar."

http://allrecipes.com/HowTo/freezer-jam/detail.aspx

[Triathlon13]

Great-thank you both so much. Good think I used the pectin that I did;). Thank you again for answering - that was exactly what we needed to know!

Michelle:D