Why it works: Pineapple and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 19% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 4,841 recipes. Both carry 2-nonenal, which smells fatty, green. The science ↓
Pineapple Jam
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the pineapple
Pare the pineapple and remove the eyes.
Grate the fruit on a coarse grater, discarding the cores.
Weigh the grated pineapple and use an equal amount of sugar.
Macerate and cook
Sprinkle the sugar over the grated pineapple and let it stand overnight.
In the morning, boil the mixture for 10 to 15 minutes over high heat.
Pour into tumblers and cover when cold.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
Explore the science
The flavor team
The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.
-
Pineapple + sugartop 19% of all pairsSmell alikelowCooked together4,841 recipes
Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).
Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs
What each ingredient does
- Pineapple
- Provides the fruit base, flavour and pectin-bearing pulp that thickens the jam as it cooks.
- Sugar
- Sweetens the jam and draws moisture out of the fruit, helping it set and keeping it preserved.
The step that matters
Boiling the mixture. Boiling over high heat for the stated 10 to 15 minutes drives off water and concentrates the sugar and fruit pectin so the jam thickens. Undercooking leaves it runny; overcooking can make it stiff and dark.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
More pineapple jam recipes
You might also like
Pineapple Sherbet116 recipes
Pineapple Pudding72 recipes
Pineapple Cream58 recipes
Pineapple Jelly39 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.