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[sage]

I made 8lb of strawberry jam yesterday and it wont set. I use jam sugar, the juice of 2 lemons & 2 bottles of pectin.

Can I retip it and add another bottle of pectin.

 

 

Sage

[Eggasperated]

I had a similar problem with mine thread here ,it's still very runny and I found some mould growing on top of the wax disc on one of my jars. Even though I made it a few weeks ago I'm considering reboiling it as I'm worried the whole lot will go mouldy, I've never had a problem like it before now and I've been making jam for over 25 years.

 

Sorry, this probably isn't much help, perhaps its due to all the rain this year affecting the fruit .

[Lavenders_Blue]

I had exactly the same problem with my strawberry jam this year (no mould thankfully!) and so did my mum when she made hers.

 

perhaps its due to all the rain this year affecting the fruit .

 

My mum had the same thought - she wondered if the fruit was more watery than usual?

[Eggasperated]

Well, I must be a glutton for punishment, I decided to make another batch of strawberry jam to see if I could get it right. I used a slightly different recipe and this time, although it is a runny jam, the liquidy part of it has a much more jelly-like consistency than the previous batch (hope that makes sense). Hoping this lot will now be ok.

The previous batch, which OH said made a lovely sauce for my home-made ice-cream, has now been divided up and frozen so I can use it as a sauce; I don't think it will keep very long mostly because of the amount OH puts on his ice-cream .

[ubereglu]

Reboil and boil it on a rolling boil for at least 10 minutes. Then add more certos. It's been a really bad year in terms of the level of pectin for fruit this year due to the wet weather and general lack of any sunshine.

 

For example we made a batch of plum jam today (used 2lb 10oz of fruit), boiled it for 10 minutes and added half a bottle of certos-it hadn't set...Mum later reboiled it in the afternoon for 10 minutes and added the other half of the bottle-seems to have done the trick now!

[Angie]

My strawberry jam has behaved to the tee...strawberries were local grown and very firm fruit.

It was my plum i had trouble with....thanks to a sales rep at the door...i didn't take the pan off the heat so it is a very Firm set jam......may have to start again with that.

The kiwi took longer to bring to the set than normal , despite the pectin and apple.I think it is all due to the wet summer but the nicest of all is my fig jam ....heaven

[lillybettybabs]

My plum jam took a while to reach setting point, I gave up on the thermometer and used the plate in the

freezer method instead; You can reboil successfully but the jars will need cleaning, dipping and oven drying

again.

Each type of fruit has different levels of pectin and ripe fruit starts to loose it's pectin which can hinder

setting.

[The Dogmother]

I agree, re-boil and use the saucer method to determine setting point. As LBB has said, you'll need to wash and re-sterilise your jars.

[Eggasperated]

Found a wonderful use for my non-setting Strawberry jam - made a batch of vanilla ice-cream, whizzed up half a jar of the jam in my mini-processor and swirled it through the ice-cream, an absolutely gorgeous strawberry ripple ice-cream.

All my family really impressed, now I'll have to make my jam like that every year .

[Lavenders_Blue]

ooooh yum, what a great idea!

[Chickendoodle]

Got really fed up with strawberry jam not setting - it is so difficult to get right. One of my books recommend adding a small amount of gooseberries as they are really high in pectin - about 1/5th of the fruit should be gooseberries.

 

The jam was perfect - slightly different taste but mostly not quite as sweet.

 

I always make it with gooseberries now

[chickencam]

I do the same with gooseberries, makes a jam with a lovely texture and not too sweet.

[craftyhunnypie]

I always grate an apple in my strawberry / plum jam. I've not had any problems, but then again I've not done strawberry this year.

I made more blackberry jam & some orange & fresh ginger marmelade yesterday.

Emma.x

[The Dogmother]

Really tart apples or crab apples are good, the core and skin contain the most pectin, so just quarter one and bung it in then it's easier to retrieve afterwards.

 

Mind you, you'll be lucky to find many apples this year!