It was an interesting word confusion that arose over breakfast. What is the difference between jam, jelly, and preserves?
All three are cooked using fruit, sugar, and pectin. The difference is in the amount of fruit used, the consistency, and the texture.
Jelly is the most spreadable as it is made with strained fruit juice. There are no chunks of fruit in jelly.
Jam is also made by crushing fruit, but the mashed fruit is left in. It easily complements cheeses and crackers, as there is more flavor.
Preserves contain the most fruit chunks, which are mixed with sugar to keep them fresh and combined with a syrup or jam to contain them. Preserves will have the greatest amount of fruit flavor and are frequently used in cooking and baking.
Preserves may also refer to any food that is canned for future use.
NOTE: I’m only exploring “Jam vs Jelly vs Preserves” as they relate to the noun and those adjectives and verbs that relate to the noun’s definition.
Exploring Later . . .
You may want to explore “Jam versus Jamb” or “Gel versus Jell“.
Word Confusions . . .
. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noire for you from either end.
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| Jam | Jelly | Preserves |
|---|---|---|
Strawberry Jam (Home Preservation) by Nutrition, Food Safety & Health is under the CC0 1.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons. |
Kanten Jelly is 円周率３パーセント‘s own work is under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons. |
Pear Preserves by Leslie Seaton is under the CC BY 2.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons. |
| Part of Grammar: | ||
| Noun
Plural: jams |
Adjective; Noun; Verb, intransitive & transitive
Plural for the noun: jellies Third person present verb: jellies |
Noun
Plural: preserves |
| A sweet spread or preserve made from fruit and sugar boiled to a thick consistency | Adjective: Containing or made, spread, or topped with jelly or syrup
Noun:
Something, such as a body part, that has suddenly become limp or enervated A shapeless, pulpy mass Verb, intransitive: To make jelly To acquire the consistency of jelly Something having the consistency of a soft, semisolid food substance Verb, transitive: |
Noun: [Usually preserves] A sweet food made with fruit preserved in sugar Verb, transitive: |
| Examples: | ||
| My favorite is raspberry jam with seeds.
She’d made jam sandwiches for our picnic. She won first prize for her raspberry jam at the Mitchell county fair. Gooseberries are used for making pies and jam. We were served scones with butter and jam. The recipe uses a whole jarful of jam. There are different types of jam: chutney, conserves, purees, and compotes. |
Adjective: Henry does love jelly apples. The jelly mold was shaped like a crown. “There were a few cup fungi, which are not proper mushrooms, and bright orange witches’ butter, a jelly fungus that grows on trees” (Netburn). Noun: What? Another jar of grape jelly? Marmalade is a clear, jellylike preserve made primarily from the rind of fruits, especially citrus fruits. I do enjoy jellybeans at Easter. I never suspected I could like roast duck with jalapeño jelly. Jell-o is a type of jelly that’s usually sweet. We had calf’s-foot jelly as part of the main course. Her knees turned to jelly when she learned she won first prize. The contents of the bag had turned into an amorphous mass of jelly. She spread the Vaseline over her heels. Verb, intransitive: “Part of the issue is that we don’t really know what to do with them if they aren’t canned, jellied, or dried” (Kimball). “If the stock is not jellied, skim off all the fat possible, and then turn the stock through a napkin wrung out of ice water” (Kellogg). We jellied for two weeks straight, and I can’t stand the sight of jelly any more. Verb, transitive: I prefer to jelly my own fresh cranberries. We jellied the apples in no time flat. |
Noun: She opened a jar of cherry preserves. I do miss my mom’s home-made preserves. We’re putting up preserves and pickles this weekend. Elijah doesn’t care for apricot preserves. There were rows and rows of jars of preserves. Verb, transitive: She canned the vegetables and preserved the fruit from the garden. We had oranges preserved in brandy. |
| Derivatives: | ||
| Adjective: jammy Noun: jammer |
Adjective: jellylike Noun: jell, jellyfish Verb: jellify |
Adjective: preservable, nonpreservable, unpreservable Noun: preservability, preservation, preserver |
| History of the Word: | ||
| Its first known use was circa 1736. | Late Middle English from the Old French gelee meaning frost, jelly, from the Latin gelata meaning frozen, from gelare meaning freeze, from gelu meaning frost. | Late Middle English in the sense keep safe from harm from the Old French preserver, from the late Latin praeservare, from prae- (before, in advance) + servare (to keep). |
C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!
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Resources for Jam vs Jelly vs Preserves
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Alimentos SAS. “Types of Jams: What do you know about them?” SAS. 2 Feb 2022. Accessed 28 Aug 2023. <https://eng.alimentossas.com/blog/types-of-jams-the-essential-about-fruit-preserves-production>.
Apple Dictionary.com
Cambridge Dictionary: jam, preserves
Dictionary.com: jam
The Free Dictionary: jelly
Hogeback, Jonathan. “What’s the Difference Between Jam, Jelly, and Preserves?” Britannica. n.d. Accessed 28 Aug 2023. <https://www.britannica.com/story/whats-the-difference-between-jam-jelly-and-preserves>.
Kellogg, Ella E. Science in the Kitchen: A Scientific Treatise On Food Substances and Their Properties Together with Wholesome Recipes. Innovate Book Publisher, 2023. <https://amzn.to/3L00FyU>. Print.
Kimball, Molly. “6 Health Benefits of Cranberries.” NOLA.com. 15 Sept 2016. Accessed 28 Aug 2023. <https://www.longlifenutri.com/blogs/news/6-health-benefits-of-cranberries>.
Masonic Village PR. “What’s the Difference Between Jams, Jellies, Preserves, Spreads, and Butters?” Masonic Village Farm Market. 26 Jan 2015. Accessed 28 Aug 2023. <https://www.mvfarmmarket.com/blogs/news/16861488-whats-the-difference-between-jams-jellies-preserves-spreads-and-butters>.
Netburn, Deborah. “Exploring the Magic and Mystery of Mushrooms with the LA Mycological Society.” Los Angeles Times. 4 Apr 2017. Accessed 28 Aug 2023. <https://phys.org/news/2017-04-exploring-magic-mystery-mushrooms-la.html>.
Pinterest Photo Credits:
Assorted Jams, Jelly, and Preserves are in the public domain, via PxFuel.
