Strawberry Jam Is NOT Gelling -- What to Do Now?

Did she substitute sugar for a sweetener? Did she cook it long enough? Was the Sure Jell fresh?

I make tons of jam every year and thats all I can think of.

I found this.....it is for cherry, but I think it apply's to all cook jams....


Setting a Runny Jam

I made 6 pints of Bing cherry jam, following the instructions from the pectin package. I sealed it in jars but did not use a water bath. The jam has not set up; it is still very liquid after 2 weeks. Is there anything I can do to thicken it now?

First a few comments, but be sure to read all the way to the end. Sealing the jars in a water bath has nothing to do with whether the jam sets or not. Setting is a function of cooking the fruit to the right point, either with or without additional pectin, so that the sugar and pectin react and begin to set. Pectin is a natural carbohydrate present in fruit that enables it to gel. Cherries are notoriously low in natural pectin, so most recipes advise you to add either a store-bought pectin or a home-made pectin mix made from apples. Ripe cherries (like most fruit) are lower in pectin than immature cherries, which is why many canners use a mix of 75% ripe fruit with 25% not yet ripe.


There are a number of circumstances that affect whether or how well your jam sets. If your jam does not set, chances are it contains too little pectin. It’s also possible there is an imbalance between the pectin and the acid in your jam. Adding a little lemon juice helps the pectin, and also helps create an environment hostile to bacteria. High humidity in the kitchen can cause problems with jam. Finally, you can defeat the whole purpose of adding pectin if you boil the mixture too long — overcooking causes the pectin to break down and lose its thickening capacity.

People have different perspectives on fixing a jam that does not set. Joan Hassol, author of Well Preserved and owner of a jam business of the same name, doesn’t like to add more pectin to a soupy jam. She dumps it all back in the pot, adds a little sugar and lemon juice, and reboils. If it doesn’t set up the second time, she says, she labels it "Pancake Sauce," and moves on to other projects. Other sources advise you to add more pectin and bring the jam to a boil until the setting point is reached.

But a greater concern is what has been happening to your cherry jam in the past two weeks. Since you did not process the jars in a hot-water bath, you sidestepped the primary mechanism for preserving the jam and keeping it safe. A boiling-water bath heats the jam, jars, lid, etc. to a temperature that kills the bacteria, yeast, and molds that cause the food to spoil. More importantly, a boiling-water bath is adequate with high-acid foods (like fruit jams) to kill the bacteria that causes botulism, which otherwise can thrive in the vacuum of a sealed jelly jar. (Non-acidic foods need to be heated under pressure to reach a temperature of 240° F (115°C) to be safe.)

If your jam hasn’t been kept in the refrigerator since it was made, we would be cautious about keeping it at all. It would be wiser to try to fix a sloshing jam right away, and then to go through the process — however laborious — of preserving it in a water bath.
http://www.ochef.com/220.htm

Runny jam is not a real problem...throwing it out is a terrible waste...just call it strawberry syrup and use it on your pancakes. It is still good, delicious probably.

Next time add more pectin...and perhaps sqeez a lemon.

USDA said:

Runny jam is not a real problem...throwing it out is a terrible waste...just call it strawberry syrup and use it on your pancakes. It is still good, delicious probably.

Next time add more pectin...and perhaps sqeez a lemon.

Click to expand...

Ditto! I've probably made as much berry syrup as I have jam! And it's just as useful!

Kathleen

My wife DID use the water bath canner processing method.


I just asked her about the cooking time, and she said the directions say to cook it one minute after it hits a rolling boil. She says she did that, though it does tend to stay at a rolling boil for maybe 30 seconds or so after she turns the fire off on her electric cooking kettle.


She says she used the 7 cups of sugar that the directions called for, no more and no less.


She might have used just a little bit more fruit than the directions called for, but just a little, if it happened at all. She was using a measuring cup for the fruit that was a bit hard to get precise measurements on, she said.


She did NOT use lemon juice, she said, but the directions do not call for using lemon juice.


And as for the fruit pectin, it was Sure Jell fruit pectin with a Feb 2009 expiration date. She bought all the Sure Jell fruit pectin that the local WalMart had at the end of the season at a discount price, when they were trying to get rid of their canning supplies. (She also bought jars and lids at a discount at the same time).


She did say, however, that the strawberries were a bit riper than she normally uses. Most years, we go out to the Mennonite's U Pick It farm out in Whiteville, TN and we pick the fruit ourselves. But this year, my daughter had a birthday party to go to yesterday and we had other stuff going on, so I drove out there on Friday and just bought 20 pounds that the farm owners had picked.


When I got home, my wife noticed that some down at the bottom of the container were really very ripe.


She's wondering now if she should not have used the overly ripe strawberries.

I would dump it back in a pan and add more pectin if jam was what I really wanted. Over the years I have made my share of pancake syrup and ice cream topping. Last year's pectin has never worked all that well for me unless I added extra pectin and lemon juice. I have gotten so I really prefer fruit preserves as I can use less sugar and don't have the cost of the pectin. The cooking time is longer but the taste is wonderful.

ok, the berries on the market now, don't have the right acid, if they are bought from a commercial grower.
ok, she can dump the jam into the pot tomorrow, and just start over, and add more pectin, have her do it, like the recipe says, and have her add some lemon juice, the juice of one lemon should do it. and let it biol for one full minute, or probably a little tad over, and also when she takes it off the stove, she could add, one large box of strawberry jello.
but to throw it out, is a crime around here, we use it on Ice cream, pancakes, french toast, and plenty of other uses, never throw out jam or jelly, because it didn't set. just mark it syrup, if it doesn't set this time.
If it were me, I would dump the whole 20 pints in a big pot, and add, one box sure jell, and 2 large boxes of strawberry jello. and boil. for one full minute.

Know this sounds crazy, but never can jelly and jams when it is raining it won't set up. My grandma gave me this tip. I can't remember why it doesn't work but I canned some on a nice rainy day because I had nothing better to do, it didn't set up. I don't know why but works fine when it isn't raining. lol

Don't throw it out just because it won't set, tsk, tsk. It can be used for so much more, added to pancake batter, add to cream cheese, the list is endless. Can you tell I had my share?? lol

Since I changed over from the high priced sure jell and certo to "Dutch Gel" I have never had a problem with making jam. It is a different process as you cook the dutch gel with the fruit and lemon juice if called for. Then you add the sugar after the fruit and pectin boils, bring to a boil again and boil for 1 minute. You only use 1/3 cup + 1 full tablespoon of dutch gel per recipe. You can also make freezer jams with dutch gel. If you ask for instructions, they will usually send them with your order.

I also always add one teaspoon of butter to all of my jams and jellies as it keeps the mixture from foaming while cooking.

I do water bath all of my jams.

Here is a place where you can buy it online for $1.63 for .48 lbs (almost a half pound). If I remember correctly, a pound makes about 6 or 7 batches of jam or jelly.

http://www.yodersmart.com/catalog/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=4501

I agree with the posters about having a lot of rain can make a difference. I had the same problem with a batch of freezer jam, one year, and wrote to Pillsbury, the maker of the jel (I forget its name).....they wrote me that altho this was an unsual case, it had to do with the excess rain we'd been having. The berries were saturated.

Another year, I made a rhubarb pie that the cookbook said was a favorite for years, at fairs, etc., and it was soupy. I finally realized that we had been having a lot of rain, and the rhubarb was also saturated. A later attempt at the same recipe turned out fine.

Thanks for the tip about the Dutch Gel, Sandra....that's worth having on hand! I'll get me some.

First thing I would do is simply give it more time. A few hours is not much time. Sometimes it takes several days to set well. I use Mrs. Wages pectin. Never had it fail. You might try adding a little pure apple juice. It will help jelly and jam to set up. Jam that is a little runny tastes wonderful on pancakes and waffles. Barb