Skip to main content
Dessert

Rhubarb Jam

A jam made from rhubarb, sugar, lemon, and optional pineapple, boiled and jarred.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 4 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Rhubarb and lemon match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 7% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 546 recipes. Both carry acetic acid, which smells sour, vinegar. The science ↓

Rhubarb Jam

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. In a large pot, combine the rhubarb, sugar, and lemon slices.

  2. If using, add the chopped pineapple for every 7 pounds of rhubarb.

Cook and jar

  1. Boil the mixture briskly for 30 minutes.

  2. Pour the jam into jars and seal.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

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.

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.

  1. Rhubarb + lemontop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together546 recipes

    Shared aroma: acetic acid (sour, vinegar).

  2. Rhubarb + pineappletop 10% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together56 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyl cinnamate (strawberry).

  3. Lemon + pineappletop 12% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,964 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  4. Sugar + lemontop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together53,532 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  5. Rhubarb + sugartop 18% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together1,852 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

Sugar and lemon barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 53,532 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Rhubarb
Provides the main fruit body and tart flavor of the jam.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and, as the mixture thickens, helps preserve the jam and set its texture.
Lemon
Adds acidity that brightens flavor and helps the jam set.
Pineapple
Adds sweetness and a fruity aroma when used.

The step that matters

Boil briskly for the full 30 minutes. Boiling drives off water and concentrates the sugar and fruit pectin until the jam reaches a gel-like set. Too short a boil leaves the jam runny, while overcooking can darken and scorch it.

Swap the pineapple

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (rhubarb, sugar, lemon):

  1. Orangefits better
  2. Vanillafits better
  3. Limefits better
  4. Pineapplethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against rhubarb, sugar, lemon. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“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 rhubarb jam recipes

Green 3Lemon 3 See all 107 →

You might also like

Lemon CakeLemon Cake228 recipesRhubarb PieRhubarb Pie152 recipesLemon IceLemon Ice147 recipesPineapple SherbetPineapple Sherbet116 recipes