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Dear Yahoo!:
What's the difference between jam, jelly, and preserves?
Ryan
Millville, Ohio
Dear Ryan:
Where would your trusty Ask Yahoo! team be without Howstuffworks.com? Up jelly junction, that's where. Here's your answer, lovingly plagiarized:

Jelly, jam and preserves are all made from fruit mixed with sugar and pectin. The difference between them comes in the form that the fruit takes.

Specifically, the fruit in jelly comes in the form of fruit juice. Jam, on the other hand, uses fruit pulp or crushed fruit, which explains why it's "less stiff" than jelly. Finally, in fancy-pants preserves, the fruit comes in syrup-laden chunks.

And here's more on the sticky subject from The Straight Dope. They go the extra mile to explain marmalade, a foodstuff you mysteriously, even suspiciously, omitted from your query.

Jelly is made from fruit juice and so has no fruit bits. Jam is made by boiling fruit and does have fruit bits. Preserves are basically the same as jam... Marmalade typically is a citrus-based preserve, sometimes containing the rind, but other fruits can be used.

So there you have it. And since we found today's answer in such a jiffy, you may be wondering if we're going to get a head start on tomorrow's question.

Don't be such a Smucker.

 
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