Tefal Vitafruit Le Confiturier July 2008
A first look at the extra-quick jam maker
Home-made jam can be a true joy, but is often marred by the lengthy preparation time and risks of burns from traditional jam-making pots. We put Tefal's Vitafruit jam maker through its paces to see if it really is possible to make quality jam in under an hour.
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£79.99
Tefal's machine is easier to clean than traditional jam kettles
An automatic jam maker that takes the fuss out of making homemade preserves seems like a good idea, but this product was severely let down by very poor instructions.
The manual was poorly laid out, and our testers had to refer to three non-consecutive pages to make a handful of jars of strawberry jam. Awkward translation and design also means that it’s difficult to be sure you’re following the instructions correctly – one tester described it as ‘completely baffling’.
It has several modes: ‘traditional’, which should take about 45 minutes, ‘vital’, which uses less sugar than standard jam-making, and ‘quick’, which requires you to add pectin to speed up production.
We found that the ‘traditional’ mode took considerably longer than the 45 minutes specified, and still produced a very runny jam at the end of the cooking time. We were disappointed with both the flavour and texture of the jam. Washing up is much easier than when using a jam kettle as the pan is non-stick, and there’s a special mode that gives it a good rinse first.
Some users will like the small batch sizes, which allow you to make just three pots of jam at a time. However, if you’re used to making big batches, the pan size won’t satisfy.
Although no previous experience of jam making is necessary to get the device working, we felt that experience would help ensure that jam was cooked for long enough to gain a good texture. However, if you’re a regular jam maker, you probably already own traditional jam-making equipment, in which case it’s not worth replacing it with this device.
Pros: Easy to clean, doesn’t require constant stirring, automatic temperature monitoring, makes small batches.
Cons: Confusing instructions, requires some knowledge of jam making to get the best results.