I spent my new year’s holiday making jam — five different varieties of raspberry jam — and we held the first Half Pint Harvest taste-test on New Year’s Day. All the jams were made from the same raspberries (Whole Foods, frozen), but the type and amount of sugar and pectin varied. The options were:

1) no pectin, 50% sugar
2) with homemade pectin, 25% sugar
3) with homemade pectin, 25% sugar + honey
4) with homemade pectin, 25% sugar + honey, no hot water bath
5) with homemade pectin, 25% sugar, added cranberries and orange
6) a popular organic store-bought raspberry jam

The winner: Cranberry-Rasberry (#5)
Everyone liked the cranberry orange variety (#5) the best, but that doesn’t tell us much expect that this group liked more complex jams.
The raspberry-only winner: Split decision between #2 and #3
Of the pure rasberry varieties, the group was split between #2 and #3. Some like the “flowery” flavor of the honeyed jam, while others like the “bright” flavor of the low-sugar variety.

The losers: Everyone thought #1 was too sweet, and that #6 was too runny. Variety #4 was generally judged too thick (though one panelist preferred this consistency, and the honey-lovers liked the flavor).

A couple notes:
– Using honey instead of sugar usually results in a softer gel. I replaced half of the sugar with honey, and noticed no significant difference in consistency between #2 and #3.
– I tried to test the effect of less boiling (no water bath, just hot fill seal) on one jar of the honeyed jam. We did find a consistency change (the water bath seemed to reduce the gelling), but couldn’t detect a flavor difference. The honey was a bit overpowering, though, so I might try this test again with just fruit, sugar, and pectin.