persimmon tree and jam

In the early spring, I planted a bare-root persimmon tree. The persimmon tree is that stick with a tag on it in the photo above

I planted it because I love to use persimmons on my Harmony Boards in the fall.

The little tree set so many blossoms that I was pinching them off daily.

As the fruit set, I eventually put on netting to keep the birds away.

During one of the recent monsoon storms, part of the netting blew off and ended up high in my Joshua tree on the front side of the house.

I tried getting it off with the telescoping pole from my pool net, but it is not budging. I guess it’s there to stay.

Anyhow, the fruit I had left on the tree to ripen was weighing down the branches and putting undue stress on the tree, so I picked the majority of the fruit off last week. The persimmons were small, rock-hard, and not yet ripe, but I discovered that when I left them at room temperature for a few days, they began to ripen and soften.

The outside was still green but the inside flesh was vibrant orange and sweet. What to do with it all? Jam seemed like the best solution.

I did some research and learned that persimmons do not have a high enough pH value to be safe for water bath canning.

The same article suggested adding another fall fruit, such as pears, and plenty of lemon juice. Problem solved.

While I was in Canada with Kim last month, we talked about the dilemma of making jam and all the sugar that is needed. Kim did some research of her own and we learned about Pomona’s Universal Pectin. This brand requires far less sugar.

For instance, I found several pear jam recipes online that used about the same about of fruit as I used in this recipe, but used 4 cups of sugar versus the 1 ½ cups I was able to use because I used Pomona’s Univeral Pectin.

The Pomona’s box also comes with a little packet of calcium powder that you mix with water to activate the pectin. Here is more about the calcium from Pomona’s website:

“Pomona’s Pectin is activated by calcium, so calcium has to be present in the mixture either naturally or added by you. Since most people don’t know the calcium content of their fruit, we recommend a calcium water amount in every recipe to be sure there is calcium in the mixture. If your fruit has calcium in it naturally, you don’t need to add the calcium water.”

One mistake I made was that I didn’t cut the fruit small enough for my small jars. As you can see in the photo above, it wasn’t as much a jam as it was chunky fruit.

To fix that, I transferred the cooked jam to a food processor and used the pulse button to get it to the consistency I wanted. I rectified that in the recipe by calling for diced fruit instead of chopped. But if you want to do less initial chopping, you can use the food processor after the fact too.

Persimmon and Pear Jam

• Ten 4-ounce (1/2 cup) Mason jars
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• 2 ½ teaspoons Pomona’s Universal Pectin
• 14 ounces ripe persimmons, peeled and diced
• 22 ounces (1 pound 6 ounces) firm and ripe pears, peeled cored, and diced
• 1/3 cup lemon juice
• 4 teaspoons prepared calcium water* (dry calcium included with the pectin)

Wash and sterilize the Mason jars. After sterilizing, turn off the heat and keep the jars in the hot water until ready to use. After filling the jars with the jam, warm the lids and rings in the same hot water to sterilize and soften the seal.

In a bowl, whisk together the sugar and pectin powder until thoroughly mixed. Prepare about 2 tablespoons of calcium water from the pectin package (according to package directions).

Place the diced persimmons and pears in a large, heavy saucepan along with the lemon juice and 4 teaspoons of the prepared calcium water. Simmer over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the fruit has softened, about 15 to 18 minutes, then turn the heat up to high.

When the fruit mixture reaches a full rolling boil, pour the sugar and pectin mixture into the saucepan, stirring vigorously until completely dissolved. Continue to stir until the mixture returns to a full boil, about 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Ladle jam into prepared jars, leaving 1/4-inch of headspace. Wipe each of the jar rims and threads clean with a damp paper towel. Tightly screw on the sterilized lids and rings.

Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes. Use tongs to remove from water and let cool completely, at least 12 hours. Check the seals by pressing down on the lid, it should be firm and NOT pop up and make a clicking sound. Any unsealed jars should be refrigerated and used within 3 weeks.

Makes about 5 cups