Heating Sugar

Experienced Irish jam makers always heat their sugar before adding it to the fruit. The reasoning is that hot sugar added to the already cooking fruit doesn’t delay the process. It brings the boiling jam to temperature much quicker so it can set faster and the fruit doesn’t have that overcooked taste some jams have. And in a side-by-side taste test, you truly can tell the difference between, say, strawberry jam that was long-boiled with its “cooked” jammy taste, and the fresh, berry-ish strawberry flavor of jam made with heated sugar, which boiled for no longer than five minutes. To heat sugar, preheat the oven to 200 degrees F, spread the sugar on a rimmed baking sheet, and heat for 15 to 20 minutes, until hot through but not at all melted.