Pages Menu
Categories Menu

Posted by on Dec 11, 2015 in TellMeWhy |

What Is the Difference Between Jam and Jelly?

What Is the Difference Between Jam and Jelly?

The difference between jelly and jam is that jam is made from whole or crushed fruit, and jelly is made from the strained fruit juice only. Almost any fruit makes delicious jam or jelly.

Jelly is made by boiling fruit juice with sugar. The substance that makes jelly “jell” when it is cooked, instead of remain thin and syrupy, is called “pectin”.

Pectin is present in all fruits from which jellies and jams can be made. When it cools, the pectin thickens, or jells, the sweetened juice into jelly. Jam is made by cooking and jelling the fruit in its own juice.

In making jam, instead of straining the juice, the crushed fruit is left in, often with the seeds, if they are relatively small, such as with certain berries.

If you are wondering how to tell the difference between jelly and jam on sight, the jelly will spread pretty evenly, while the jam will tend to be a little lumpy.

For whatever reason, jelly is significantly more popular with kids than jam and jam is significantly more popular with adults than jelly.

Content for this question contributed by Angela Stover, resident of Cleveland, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, USA