Bacon Jam

I've been in love with making jam and jelly since about October of 2011. (GWW to be exact)

I've loved onion jam, and savory blueberry jam as much as, if not more than strawberry margarita and dutch apple.

So my next jam adventure: BACON JAM

I began searching through recipe after recipe until I found one that I thought would agree with me.

http://www.food.com/recipe/bacon-jam-463068#ixzz1q4042wNN

I followed it almost entirely....

1 lb bacon, (cooked in the oven for about 20 minutes at 375) then chopped into pieces

4 garlic cloves minced

1/2 large yellow onion sliced

4 tablespoons brown sugar

a few dashes of chipotle Tabasco sauce (although many other recipes called for Siracha)

1 cup brewed coffee

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup maple syrup

and the extra water

I followed directions from the original recipe:

cooked the bacon

sauteed the onions and garlic

added back the cut up bacon - with the rest of the ingredients (minus the water)

simmered for the 2 hours, adding water along the way

I cooled the mixture and then added it to my food processor in two batches

...

but here is where I was perplexed....

1) this was a lot of effort and only a few tiny jars of "jam" would result

and

2) this was nothing like jam... no pectin... no sugar... no jamming process at all.

So I took this spread and added into to my favorite jam pot.

added in a splash more apple cider vinegar

a splash more balsamic vinegar

and 3 cups apple cider or apple juice

bring to boil

add pectin, stir, bring to boil

add sugar, stirring constantly until boils, continue 1 minute more

then do your jamming process as usual.

the taste testers in the house at the time of completion liked it, but mentioned it could stand to have a stronger bacon flavor...

things to consider....

a) I got rid of as much bacon grease as I could in the interest of healthy arteries... you could leave some in, or cook the onions in it as suggested in the recipe I started from.

b) use less apple cider (apple juice) and sugar in the final jamming cooking.

overall a nice first attempt and all 11 mini jars will be donated to the St Jude's tournament at Allied Gardens on 3/25/2012... but if it rains and the event is cancelled, they may find their way to another good cause near you!