Seed or No Seed, that is the question

July 11, 2020 10:52 AM

I bought myself 8 pounds of marionberries to jam. I've jammed a few other berries before like strawberries and raspberries, but I've avoided the blackberry varieties because of the seeds, etc. Should I run these through my food mill first, or just jam as is?

Extra question: is lemon juice necessary for these or can I do without?

posted by Mister Fabulous to Food & Drink (7 answers total)

I like to remove the seeds if possible with blackberries, but I do this when making a mixed berry ice-cream, not jam, and I personally really hate the seed texture.

With all jam making, I like to follow a recipe from a reputable source, because I fear botulism. I think having the right acid content is important to prevent botulism.
posted by ice-cream forever at 11:03 AM on July 11, 2020

I run half ; good ratio of effort to outcome
posted by dipolemoment at 12:20 PM on July 11, 2020

Best answer: I’d run 2/3 of the berries through a food mill and leave the seeds in the last third. Yes to lemon.
posted by la glaneuse at 12:22 PM on July 11, 2020

It's so nice not to have to deal with deeds.
posted by theora55 at 3:50 PM on July 11, 2020

Best answer: Lemon juice helps the jam set. It tweaks the pH of the jam, which helps activate the pectin in the berries. Plus, lemon juice itself contains some pectin. Details here.
posted by jenquat at 4:49 PM on July 11, 2020

Ditto on removing the seeds from half of the blackberry puree - it tends to be SO seedy otherwise. I also like a teeny drop (say 1/8 tsp) of vanilla extract in my blackberry jam. Yum!
posted by urbanlenny at 10:54 PM on July 11, 2020

When we cared enough to do it with fruit jams of all varieties, we would boil the berries down with seeds (for the pectin) and then strain the seeds from the result with either a fine sieve or cheesecloth before adding sugar to make things set. This works, and since the seeds are slightly bitter (in blackberries at least) when you bite into them it's probably preferable to grinding them into the fruit.

That said, there is nothing wrong with jam with seeds in. Strawberries and raspberries also have seeds, and I'm not sure why other seeds would bother you much more.
posted by How much is that froggie in the window at 11:31 PM on July 11, 2020