They be jammin’

Stonewall Kitchen don’t crush their berries, just the competition

By Jill Strauss

For information on where to find Stonewall Kitchen’s wares, call (800) 207-JAMS.

Just before my houseguests bid me farewell last month, they presented me with a bulging tote bag with the words Stonewall Kitchen neatly stitched across it. The offering triggered some guilt since I was secretly relieved that I no longer had to play charming host, accommodating cook, and enlightening tour guide to my dear but demanding relatives from Indiana. My youngest cousin, unaware of my shame, reached into the canvas bag and pulled out several individually tissue-wrapped gifts, which she insisted I unwrap immediately. There were glass jars and bottles with intriguing labels like Martini Mustard, Onion Chutney, Fig and Walnut Butter, Porcini Parmesan Caesar Dressing, Mango Salsa, and finally one with a familiar title: Wild Maine Blueberry Jam.

Obviously, my mid-western relatives were trying to please me, since their idea of a boldly flavored topping is Welch’s Grape Jelly. In fact, when I served my fair-haired kin a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with my homemade wild blueberry preserves, she insisted on picking out all the fruit. “We know you make your own sometimes, but the saleswoman at the store said this is their best selling item, so we thought you’d like to try it,” my older cousin said. And then they drove away and I was left alone with my condiments.

Peace and quiet descended and it seemed like a perfect time to have a cup of tea, a bit of bread and butter, and some of my own leftover blueberry spread; but the freshly unwrapped jar of Wild Maine Blueberry Jam seemed to be calling my name. I decided to conduct a taste test. My own version (taken straight from the recipe in the Ball Jar box) was very pleasant — not too sweet, not too much lemon. I could certainly taste the wild blueberries and, with each bite, I remembered what I went through to rake and sort them myself. The Stonewall Kitchen version, however, was better. It was sweeter, brighter, and to my amazement, the tiny navy blue balls within the shimmering mélange had miraculously retained their shape. After all of my home canning experiments, I couldn’t imagine how this could be.

“It’s all in the agitation,” Jim Stott, co-owner of Stonewall Kitchen, explained to me several days later as he proudly pointed me towards a huge steam kettle in the upstairs production area of his 55,000 square-foot facility in York, Maine. Six years ago, 47-year-old Stott and his 37-year-old partner Jonathan King, two of the most prolific and innovative condiment makers in the nation (They’ve won 9 gold and 16 silver awards from the prestigious National Association for the Specialty Food Trade over the past 10 years.) decided they wanted to improve the texture of their jams.

Following numerous discussions with agitator specialists at Hamilton Kettles, they commissioned a custom-made, stainless steel kettle with agitator blades pitched at specific angles. Once the gentle mixing technique was perfected, they installed a wide pipe in the bottom of the kettle so that the blueberries could flow through the second floor, directly into pre-heated jars on a conveyor belt on the first floor. This unique treatment accounts for the fact that the fruit in Wild Maine Blueberry Jam is neither bruised nor broken.

STONEWALL KITCHEN: is their blueberry jam better than homemade?

During my tour, Stott unashamedly displayed his obsession with every aspect of his business (“I get ferklempt if Stonewall Kitchen labels are not perfectly placed on jars.”) but he was especially exuberant about the quality of the ingredients used at Stonewall.

“Want to see the wild blueberries?” he asked me excitedly. And before I could respond Stott led me into a walk-in freezer, where he ripped open a box of individually quick frozen wild blueberries from Machias. “We pay more for our fruit now than when we bought it fresh because only perfect fruit is set aside for IQF processing.”

I looked at his blueberries and they were indeed beautiful. No wonder this craftsman from Maine has been invited several times to demonstrate jam making techniques on Martha Stewart Living. The Empress of Excellence must have found Stott and King’s passion for perfection endearing.

If blueberries bore you, try Stonewall’s most recent triumph: Fig and Walnut Butter. It’s a dark, thick, somewhat nutty spread that just won first place in the outstanding dessert-topping category at the NASFT summer food show. I actually prefer the newer Fig and Ginger Jam. It’s less cloying and, according to Portland’s Stonewall Kitchen Company Store Manager Sue Cole, the jam is so popular it’s difficult to keep it in stock.

Truthfully, I never fully investigated the condiment craze that has been sweeping this country until I received my recent hostess gifts. Although jars of specialty preserves cost 40 to 60 cents an ounce, about double the cost of mass-produced brands, Chris Crocker, Vice President of Media Development for NASFT, says people are willing to pay more for high quality condiments because people today crave quality. And Crocker says, “Jim and Jonathan have a tremendous sense of quality.” So why not buy some of Stonewall’s snazzy jams or chutneys, salsas or sauces for a deserving hostess you know? Or better yet, buy some for yourself.

Jill Strauss can be reached at straussj@adelphia.net.