The rum has boiled off its alcohol before it was put in jars. Pineapple is acidic enough that it needs no added acids. The sugar is OK, but I am not sure if you actually get a set without a pectin.

I'm curious too...what was the cooking time...but it looks safe enough but I'm no where near an expert.

It sounds yummy. I wouldn't have though to do that, but now I have to try to make some.
Donna

In the Jamlady Cookbook, she (Beverly Schoonmaker Alfeld) says that alcohol can be addded to any jam recipe. She puts a lot of emphasis on safe canning procedures, so I trust her as a source (though if anyone disagrees, please let me know!). That alcohol would be safe also makes sense given that you can preserve fruits by submerging them in brandy (as in Ball's Spirited Fruits recipes in their Complete Book of Home Preserving); also note the existence of wine jellies (also in the Ball book).

I have posted before a peach-rum preserve with a mango-lime-rum variation. You do see a lot of jams and preserves with spirits in them.

A lot of spirits are below the 4.6 pH boundary for acidity anyway. One issue is over-doing the spirits. Too much will overwhelm the flavor of the fruit. Also, as with prunes in armagnac or other spirit-based recipes, some aging is helpful in mellowing the flavor.

I do agree on the assessment of Jamlady. She is very careful about food safety in preserving. Her book on pickles is an interesting study of the issues.

I was disappointed in Ziedrich's new "Joy of Jams, Jellies and Sweet Preserves," because unlike her pickling book, almost no information is provided about acidity with low-acid fruits like figs. The recipes themselves seem fine and I would feel confident using them, but inexperienced preservers don't get the tools they need to make informed decisions. I could easily see someone looking at her fig jam and deciding they don't want the lemon juice, not realizing it's there for acidity as much as flavor. Or deciding to sub mango for peach thinking they're essentially the same, when in canning terms they're not at all.

Jamlady is definitely superior in that regard. You can learn tons from her book, even if you never make a single one of her recipes.

Carol

I could never log back in so I'm a "new me"...
Thanks for the responses.

This does take a while to cook... 45 minutes??? I use a thermometer for the jelling stage, it seems to work. Haven't done the plate test thing.

This ended up being less "bright" than the basic lemon-pineapple (I posted about it as sunshine jam) and the spices add complexity. It's definitely not a marmalade about lemon or pineapple, it's mostly about tart and tang. Also added a splash of vanilla to the very last jar but it was so soft that I missed the original brightness.

Here is a link that might be useful: Sunshine jam post

Brightness abd character can be improved by adding an acid blend.