I have been very excited all summer as I have a self-sown honeydew melon growing in my vegie patch. When setting up my vegie patch, I added some compost from Perth. Clearly, a honeydew seed came along for the ride.
At first, I didn’t know what it was. I looked after it hoping it would turn out to be a pumpkin but, as it started fruiting, I realised it was going to be a melon. The only melon I buy is honeydew, so honeydew was most likely.
The trouble was, I didn’t know when to pick them. I looked up as many sites as I could. They advise to pick the melons when they smell of melon, when the base becomes soft and when the fruit comes away from the stem. Well, my melons never did any of those. I willed them to smell of ripe melon but they never did. When I eventually picked them, they tasted over-ripe. Damn it.
I have been thinking of my melons for a while as I knew when I did eventually pick them, there would be no way we could eat all nine. I settled on melon and ginger jam.
I find jam very tricky – it is all about pectin levels. If you are a novice jam maker, it is good to know the pectin level of the fruit you are using. Citrus fruit, especially lemons, and quinces are high in pectin and will, usually, set without added pectin. Other fruits usually need an added source of pectin to set. A lot of recipes will mix high pectin fruit with low pectin fruit to aid setting.
You also need to know that for commercial pectin to work, you need 55% sugar so always work on equal quantities of fruit to sugar.
Some very good advice I have learned the hard way is: if your jam has not set by the maximum amount of cooking time recommended by the recipe, do not keep boiling. If you do, you will end up with either toffee or a very badly burnt pot, or both. If your jam hasn’t set, take it off the heat, add more pectin, put it back on the heat, boil for 5 minutes then test again. If it hasn’t set, add more pectin. Keep doing this until it sets. This is how I made this jam. I knew the melons would be low in pectin and, therefore, added pectin would be called for but I didn’t know how much. I started off with 100g of Jamsetta. Because it hadn’t set after 10 minutes of hard boil, I took it off the heat, added another packet of Jamsetta and boiled it for an additional 10 minutes. It still wasn’t set then, so I added another packet. I tested it after 5 minutes and jackpot! .
If in doubt, a good way to test for pectin is to simmer your fruit until soft and then put one teaspoon into a jar. When it is cool, add 3 teaspoons of methylated spirit and give it a swirl. If, after one minute or so, you have a large firm clump of jelly, your fruit is high in pectin and your jam will set without added pectin. If you have two or three small clumps, your fruit has medium pectin (you may get away with adding lemon juice) and if you have lots of little clumps or no clumps at all, your fruit is low in pectin and you will definitely need an additional source of pectin.
This jam tastes seriously good. The three flavours work really well together. Feel free to halve or third the recipe. I made 15 smallish jars.
- 3 kgs of honeydew melon flesh (Weigh the melon after peeling and removing the seeds. I used 3 medium-sized honeydews.)
- 3 kgs sugar
- 200 mls lemon juice
- rind of lemons used to make juice, finely grated
- 450g glacéd ginger, cut into very fine strips
- 200g Jamsetta (Jamsetta is an Australian product which is sugar (as a carrier), pectin and citric acid. Balls has a similar product in the US and I am sure there would be an English equivalent.)
- Cut melon into cubes.
- Mix the cubed melons with the sugar in a large bowl, cover with plastic wrap and leave overnight.
- The next day, tip the melon, juice and any undissolved sugar into a preserving pan.
- Add the rind, lemon juice and ginger.
- Bring to the boil and simmer gently until the melon looks transparent.
- Take off the heat and add the Jamsetta.
- Raise the heat and boil hard for 5-10 minutes until the jam has set. Begin testing after 5 minutes.
- Let jam cool for about 5 minutes and then pour into hot sterilised jars. Seal immediately.
Passion Fruit Garden 
My Mum used to make melon & ginger jam and as I have recently got into ginger scones (yum) in place of my usual lavender scones, thought about different jam (I make lots of jam – strawberry & lavender, raspberry and apricot & almond.) I give most of it away – my neighbours love them. I even re-use the lids, but cover the jars first with plastic jam covers or clingfilm. Unfortunately could not find my Mum’s recipe. I’m pretty sure she used to “strew” a lot!!
Absolutely super jam Thank you. Your melon and ginger jam is my favorite, except I use corgettes instead of melon as I live in Newfoundland and have plenty of them
Hi Pat. Thanks for trying the recipe. Clearly any melons/courgettes will do.
I made a batch of this using Rockmelon. As no honeydew at this time. It turned out lovely. I need this for my Sri Lankan Christmas cakes but will make another just for toast. I’ll do this when the honeydew is in season 😊. One difference I did was to use half glace crystallised ginger and half fresh ginger for a stronger flavour. I cut it into fine strips. Lovely flavour. Thank you!
I Tammy, Thanks so much for letting me know. I love it when people make the recipes.
can you make me 3kg melon and ginger jam.. will pay you
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Hi Glenda, I remember my mum making Melon and Ginger Jam and Melon and Lemon Jam using jam melons(?). I make jams and chutneys in the Blue Mnts. so I was happy to see this recipe. I bought,on impulse, 2 rock melons and some passionfruit and lemons today to try a variation of your recipe (rockmelon and passionfruit jam). Well, we will see what happens!
To determine setting point , I follow the temp. on a jam thermometer and also do the teaspn-of- jam- on- a- cold- saucer test, but also by the look of the bubbles and colour of the jam. Thank you for sharing (and I will tell you how the jam turns out). Mary
Hi Mary, Rockmelon and passionfruit! Now that is different. I would love to know how it turns out. Thanks for visiting.
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Well this is the jam I’m going to make to my friends Wedding so I’m very happy to have found this site where someone has already made it and even an image of jam which is just the colour we were hoping for a summer wedding. I’d better check whether the melons will be available in December!!
Hi Philippa. I hope it all worked out. I am sorry I didn’t see your comment earlier.
Hi Glenda,
I have heard of melon and ginger jam but haven’t made it I am definitely going to give it a go. Just for info, the English equivalent to Jamsetta is called preserving sugar and you would use this instead of normal sugar. The way my Mum taught me to test the set point is to have a cold saucer or plate, I put mine in the freezer, drop some of the boiling jam mix onto it and let it cool, then you just push it with your finger and if there is a crinkling on the top you have reached set point. I made some cherry jam this summer, delicious, but cherries have little narural pectin so I added some juice from stewed gooseberries and it set beautifully, you can also add a cooking apple. This reduces the need for pectin. Hope some of this is Seoul to someone.
Sharon
Hi Sharon, thank you so much for your help. I must admit, I find it hard to know when setting point is reached no matter what method I use.
we have done it and it taste luscious,from thuso and matt. Botswana
Hi Thuso and Matt, Sorry to take so long to reply but I have been away. That is fantastic news that you tried the jam and it worked. Thanks for leaving a comment.
I’ve only been making jams and preserves for 2 years now, so, this one is a new combination for me. That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t like to try it though, Glenda. It sounds delicious! Thanks, too, for the advice/tip regarding jam that refuses to set. One pot of burned jam is enough to last a life time.
Hi John I have had more than my share of burnt pots and jars of toffee so I am a bit of an expert on them:(
Sad news on your little volunteer – is that her in your top pic? She looks sad – did you talk to her as she was growing? I think that may have helped.
I used to do lots and lots of jams every year – only thing I do now is crabapple jelly and a few chutneys – and I now longer use regular pectin, this stuff is SO much easier: http://www.pomonapectin.com/ Have you ever tried it?
Hi Doc, I have never seen it. I don’t think we have it here.
Looks delicious, I have to admit thought, they are 3 flavour combos that i wouldve never thought of but I can see how it would work! Yum 🙂
PS, do you reuse your jam jars and just wash/sterilise them, or buy new one’s for jam?
Hi Lisa. I reuse the jars but use new lids. You can get lids from Cospak or Silverlock. They cost 10-15c per lid. The only problem is you have to spend $50 each time you shop there as they are wholesalers. That is a lot of lids but you will eventually use them. I think the easiest way to sterilise the jars is to put them in an oven preheated to 180 degrees for 20 minutes.