What do you do with a pack of rhubarb?
Make my Rhubarb & Ginger Jam (no pectin recipe) that’s what!
I love rhubarb and when it’s in season at a reasonable price or reduced (you know me, love a bargain) then I just have to buy it. So having had a pack of rhubarb in my fridge for a few days I realised it needed using up. I looked around for some inspiration and spied my crystallised ginger in the cupboard! In the past I’ve made Rhubarb & Ginger Cake so I knew these flavours married really well together.
So what’s so special about Rhubarb & Ginger Jam?
Well oh my golly gosh, this Rhubarb & Ginger Jam just blew me away! The sharpness of the rhubarb is totally mellowed and given a delicious warmth from the crystallised ginger. I’ve had 3 scones with it on so far this week, I may have had one for breakfast too (don’t judge)! Even hubby who doesn’t usually like ginger loved my jam too! As usual there’s no pectin or jam sugar in this recipe and the jam has a fairly soft set.
How much Rhubarb & Ginger Jam will this recipe make?
From one 400 g pack of rhubarb you will get 2 x 200 ml jars or 1 x 400 ml jar. If you end up with slightly less prepared weight of rhubarb then just use an equal weight of sugar but packs usually have slightly more weight in them than they say!
Where can you find rhubarb for free?
After making this Rhubarb & Ginger Jam I needed to get hold of some more rhubarb to style the photographs! As luck would have it, I stumbled across a post in a local Facebook group flagging up some free food and produce via an app called Olio. I downloaded the app and saw that there was also rhubarb on offer which is now gracing my jam shots (and since been turned into my Rhubarb Compote).
On arriving to collect the rhubarb I was also offered other food and produce which you can see in the picture above. The app is global and all about reducing food (and toiletries) waste so if you need some or have some to give whether as an individual or corporation then I can’t recommend it enough. Please spread the word to stop good food going to landfill!
What other rhubarb or ginger preserve recipes are there?
I asked a few bloggers for their recommendations and here is what they came up with, plus a few of my own:
- Simple Rhubarb & Gin Jam
- Rhubarb & Strawberry Jam
- Rhubarb, Lemon & Vanilla Jam
- Rhubarb & Orange Jam
- Ginger Orange Marmalade
- Pumpkin & Ginger Jam
I do hope you try my Rhubarb & Ginger Jam and by all means scale up the recipe. You’ll probably need to add a few extra minutes to the boiling time but start with the time stated just to be on the safe side and gauge it from there!
Why not pin for later?
Rhubarb & Ginger Jam
Ingredients
- 400 g chopped rhubarb narrow stalks best (prepared weight)
- 30 g crystallised stem ginger finely chopped
- 400 g granulated sugar
- 2 tbsp lemon juice freshly squeezed
Instructions
- Wash and dry the rhubarb, then chop into equal sized cubes.
- Place in a bowl and add the chopped crystallised stem ginger, sugar and lemon juice.
- Cover with a plate and set aside for 2 – 3 hrs to allow the rhubarb juices to start flowing and ginger flavour develop.
- Transfer to a pan and heat gently whilst stirring with a wooden spoon until the sugar dissolves. (You’ll notice there will no longer be any scratching sounds from the sugar).
Bring to a rolling boil and time for 6 minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon to prevent the jam from sticking to the pan and burning.
- Turn off the heat and test a few drops of jam on a chilled saucer, if a finger pushed through it makes and crinkle and it appears tacky, it’s ready.
- If it’s not ready boil for another 2 minutes and repeat until is passes the test.
- Ladle jam into hot sterilised jar/s and seal immediately.
- Allow to cool before serving.
- Store in a cool, dark place where it will keep for a year and most likely more (if you can resist it that long)!
Recipe Video
Recipe Notes
Sterilise jars by washing in hot soapy water (or take straight from dishwasher), fill with boiling water, empty and then place in oven for 20 minutes at 140°C where you leave them until the jam is ready. Washed lids should be sterilised with boiling water and then left to drain.
SooHo
Hi there!
Do you think strawberries would taste good in this jam? I have some wild ones in my freezer I would love to use up!
Camilla
Hi, no I really think the strawberries need to shine so you’re better off making my Rhubarb & Strawberry Jam which is equally delicious:-) https://www.fabfood4all.co.uk/rhubarb-strawberry-jam/
B
If you want followers from the US, you are going to have to translate those “g”‘s into cups/ teaspoon/etc
Camilla
Hi B, my aim is to provide recipes that work to an exact scientific formula, cups are not measures of weight but measures of volume. So yes I could get some conversion software to spit out inaccurate conversions and “cash in” on a US audience but that’s not what I’m about. Integrity is everything with me. I keep saying that for my recipes to work as written you need to make a small investment in a set of digital scales. My son who is at university and cooks for himself was over the moon with the set I bought him for Christmas. I also invested money in a set of cups once they came available in the UK. Having tried to measure out blueberries in those cups for my blueberry jam (I really wanted to please my US readers, believe me) it became very apparent that depending on what size the blueberries were, the weights per cup were markedly different and when you scale that up to a few cups then the weight difference is even greater and hence the scope for error. So forgive me for not providing cup measurements but you wouldn’t thank me for a recipe that didn’t turn out the exact way it was meant to. I have a Scottish US based blogger friend with a donut recipe that had to remove the cup measures from her recipe as everyone who used them ended in failure but the ones that used scales loved the recipe. Happy New Year and I hope you understand a little more my rationale. xx
Kim
I have a lot of rhubarb in my freezer. Can you make this with frozen rhubarb?
Camilla
Yes you can make any jam with frozen fruit. I haven’t tried this yet but have read it’s nearly as good as using fresh fruit.
Sarah Wale
I regularly make jam from frozen strawberries, raspberries and plums and it’s always successful! The plums are soft when they defrost so it’s much easier to get the stones out than from fresh ones – a real bonus! I just use equal weight (or rather less, never more) of Jam Sugar and the squeezed juice of a lemon if I have one – it doesn’t seem to make a lot of difference. Put everything in a non-reactive saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring to keep the sugar off the bottom and burning. When it has dissolved completely add a small knob of butter to prevent scum forming and bring to a fast, rolling boil. Leave it to boil for about 4 minutes and test; if you like a slack jam, bottle now or leave for a further period, testing minute by minute until you get the setting point you like. 6 minutes will give a good firm set but much more and it might end up becoming too hard and chewy!
Camilla
Fab, although I have to say I used jam sugar once and never again, I just use lemon/juice for all my low pectin fruit jams. So not sure why lemon would be needed when using added pectin ie jam sugar.