Farmer Tad often gets asked "What's the difference between all of these fruits in a jar? What works well on toast? What would I like best?"
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. Some fruits such as blackberries or raspberries will not stay whole during the processing so there may not be much difference between raspberry jam and raspberry preserve.
Fruit spreads (only fruit): These are 100% fruit with no sugar added. If needed, a sweet fruit juice such as white grape juice or apple juice may be added. Because of the sugar in the fruit we cannot call these products sugarless. These spreads offer the most amount of pure fruit flavor.
Butters: Butters are made from pureed fruit. They are not as sweet as preserves, jams, or jellies but offer a full fruit flavor. Butters are cooked for over 6 hours ,at a low temperature, allowing the product to thicken. Butters tend to be dark because of the exposure to air during the cooking. These are also available with no sugar added.
Now you know! Stop by our Jams, Jellies, Preserves, and Spreads section to order some today!