What's the difference between Jams, Jellies, Preserves, Spreads, and B (2024)

FAQs

What's the difference between Jams, Jellies, Preserves, Spreads, and B? ›

Jelly: Jelly is made with strained fruit juice. There are no pieces of fruit in jelly. Jam: Jam is made with mashed fruit. Preserves: Preserves have whole fruit or large pieces of fruit.

According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), a spread has to be made from at least 55% sugar to classify as a jam. It also uses small fruit particles, giving the spread more texture. It is slightly harder to spread than jelly and not as transparent. Preserves are the thickest, chunkiest mixture of all.

While jam uses the whole fruit, jelly calls for just the essence — the fruit juice. Jelly has no seeds or fruit pulp in it, and is completely smooth in texture. When jelly is made, the fruit is crushed to extract the juice, which is then strained to keep all the pulp and seeds out.

Jams, jellies, preserves, conserves, marmalades, and butters are all gelled or thickened fruit products. Most are cooked and preserved with sugar.

Fruit preserves are a lot like jam, but they're slightly thicker, thanks to the addition of large chunks or whole pieces of fruit instead of chopped, crushed, or puréed fruit. You'll usually find large bits of fruit suspended in preserves, as well as seeds, in many cases.

Preserves are the closest thing to consuming whole fruit. They contain chunks of the actual fruit, making them richer in fiber and nutrients. As with jam, though, the sugar content can vary based on the brand or recipe. In terms of health benefits, preserves generally come out on top due to their whole fruit content.

How Long Opened Jars Last. An opened jar of jam or jelly will last for about six months in the refrigerator, per the USDA. But it's still a good idea to eat it as soon as possible, says Lee. "Once opened, jams and jellies will be exposed to air, which contain mold and bacterial spores.

It can be made with any type of juice, but the traditional PB&J uses concord grape jelly. It's a soft set that's spreadable with a knife or the back of a spoon. Different from jam, which contains fruit puree or preserves that have pieces of fruit.

If there is less sugar in a fruit spread, that means that it won't meet the FDA's definition of “jelly” or “jam.” That's why Smucker′s® Natural Fruit Spreads products have “fruit spread” in the name, because they don′t contain enough sugar by that standard.

Marmalade is a jelly with pieces of fruit suspended in it. Citrus peel and juice are frequently the basis of marmalade. Preserves contain whole fruit or small pieces of fruit in a thick sugar syrup. Conserves are jams made from a mixture of fruits.

Is ketchup a jelly? ›

Jelly is specifically a fruit preserve that is created just like jam where fruits are boiled and sugar is added until pectin acts as a gelling agent to thicken it into jelly. Jelly just removes the pulp that jam would have. Ketchup is not made this way. Ketchup contains seasons that don't go into fruit preserves.

Jelly: Jelly is made with strained fruit juice. There are no pieces of fruit in jelly. Jam: Jam is made with mashed fruit. Preserves: Preserves have whole fruit or large pieces of fruit.

If the finished product is just sort of runny, call it preserves (they can be great stirred into oatmeal or yogurt, or spooned over waffles). If it's totally sloshy, label it syrup and stir it into sparkling water.

Welch's Jelly is made from fruit juice and Welch's Jam is made from pureed fruit. So to put it simply, though we use the same ingredients, the texture of both products will be different.

Since jam is made from crushed fruit or pulp, it tends to be chunkier (but not as chunky as preserves) and more flavorful, but less spreadable. On the other hand, jelly is only made from juice or syrup, so it's easy to spread but doesn't bring as much to the table in terms of flavor.

In the U.S., “jam” typically has fruit pulp in it, while “jelly” is made using fruit juice. (We also have preserves, which is usually made with whole fruit.) Here are strawberry jelly, jam, and preserves: Americans say 'jelly', Brits say 'jam'.

Looking for the most authentic flavor? Jam or preserves will contain the richest portions of fruitiness, while a jelly's flavor will be slightly bogged down by the gelatin. This is why preserves are often called for in cooking and baking, as they contain the largest amount of the fruit's flavor in a mixable form.

The word preserve can be used as an umbrella term for all sorts of fruit spreads, but typically a preserve will have a higher fruit content and lovely chunks of fruit pieces in it, which matches us perfectly so this is what we choose to call them.