# Strawberry jam separated



## NBC3Mom (May 14, 2005)

I made 10 jars of strawberry jam last night using the Ball canning book recipe. When I took them out of the canner the jam had separated, clear jelly on the bottom and fruit on the top. I had some leftover that I put in a jar in the refrigerator, it did not separate. Tonight I will be canning another batch and hope to not have the same thing happen. Any suggestions? The recipe called for 8 cups of berries crushed *maybe I made them too juicy*, 7 cups of sugar, 1 box pectic, 1/4 cup lemon juice *should I skip the lemon juice* Boiled hard for 1 minute then into jars and can for 10 minutes.


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## MichaelK! (Oct 22, 2010)

NBC3Mom said:


> The recipe called for 8 cups of berries crushed *maybe I made them too juicy*, 7 cups of sugar, 1 box pectic, 1/4 cup lemon juice *should I skip the lemon juice* Boiled hard for 1 minute then into jars


The most likely factor that made you fail was the "boiled for 1 minute" part. Never, ever do it that way again! Also, DO NOT EXCLUDE the lemon juice. It is there to help gelling, retart spoilage, and add favor.

Place a few teacup saucers in the freezer as you start making your jelly. Continue to add the ingredients into the mix according to the directions.

Once the mix has come to a full boil for one minute, turn the heat down and take a spoonful of your boiling mix and drop it on one of the cold saucers you've taken back out of the freezer. Once the jam has cooled on the cold porcelain it should solidify. If it DOES NOT GEL, bring the jam back to a hard boil again for another minute. Test again on a cold saucer. Continue boiling/testing till you observe gelling. Do not put it into jar untill you SEE gelling! You continue with the 10 minute canning boil as usual.

An alternative is to observe "sheeting" on your mixing spoon. Lift a spoonful of the hot jelly mix out of the pot and pour it back in. If the liquid pours out of the spoon without any disturbance, it hasn't yet gelled. If however it is gelling, it will pour out sort of like a wrinkley sheet spilling off of the bed, and will cling to the bottum edge of the spoon.

You can speed things up if you use the sheeting test at the beginning of the boil and reserve the saucer test for the final confirmation.


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## NBC3Mom (May 14, 2005)

Thank you for that helpful information. I will definitely try the saucer test tonight.
The separated jam is safe to eat, right? 
(I am new to canning, obviously


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## wally (Oct 9, 2007)

Where o where has my suitcase sally gone..please help us out..


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## mekasmom (Jan 19, 2010)

You could just reboil it then recan.


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## iluvgkc (Jun 28, 2014)

I was reading this post over and over again last Saturday night . I made strawberry jam, made sure I followed all the steps and voila! It separated! ugh. I finally found someone reliable to email with and he said this is very common and natural because the density of the fruit part is less so it floats to the top. Here was his suggestion. Once jam is ready to jar, wait, and leave the jam in the pot for 5 min. Stir again to help redistribute the fruit. . Put it in the jar. He said once canning in completed and jars have cooled for an hours or so very carefully turn the jar upside down to distribute the jam. Or don't. It's more of an appearance thing. Unless of course your jam did not set. That's a different story. Mine set. It's safe to store on the shelf, the jar sealed, the jam set. It's just separated.


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## iluvgkc (Jun 28, 2014)

I have also read often that smaller batches are safer to work with. Safer meaning having the jam set.


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## RedDirt Cowgirl (Sep 21, 2010)

Sure-Jell directions for marmalade - "After cooking and before ladling into jars, stir 5 minutes to prevent floating peel. While processed jars are cooling, shake jars gently once or twice to evenly distribute fruit."


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## countryfied2011 (Jul 5, 2011)

I never have a problem with my strawberry jam separating. I use the recipe on the Sure Jell box. I even take strawberries frozen from the prior year and make jam. I made 8 pints the other day from strawberries that I froze last year. 

5 cups of strawberries, 7 cups of sugar, 1 box of pectin and no lemon juice. Put fruit in pot and pectin, bring to a rolling boil, add sugar and bring to a rolling boil again cook 1 minute...add to hot jars process 10 minutes. Been doing that for years. And everyone loves my strawberry jam.

One thing I do is smash my strawberries with a potato masher like the directions say.


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## Jeepgirl86 (May 18, 2012)

Two years ago I made strawberry jam and it separated, I just wait til I open a jar and stir it and put in the fridge, it isn't pretty but it works.


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## Cookie2 (Feb 21, 2014)

I agree, fruit separating is caused by one of two problems: not enough sugar or not enough cooking time to create a gel. The gel is made by the candy process - cooking the mixture enough so the excess liquid boils off and the sugar solidifies. If you have ever made candy (like caramel), the process is exactly the same.

If you want to fix it, you can cook the mixture longer or your can just add Sure Gel then re-process in a water bath.


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## Vickie44 (Jul 27, 2010)

Jeepgirl86 said:


> Two years ago I made strawberry jam and it separated, I just wait til I open a jar and stir it and put in the fridge, it isn't pretty but it works.


I was going to say this :clap:


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## JohnnyP (Nov 4, 2012)

Michael & Cookie are right on. Last year my strawberry jam separated and it was definitely due to not cooking it down long enough. I learned from my mistake and made a nice batch 2 weeks ago. Boiled it down till it was like lava then hard for 1m. Raspeberry Jam next!


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## BlackFeather (Jun 17, 2014)

I've stopped using pectin, mostly because I forget to buy it. I cook the jam down using a candy thermometer and the spoon sheeting test, don't have any problems. In case you aren't familiar its equal parts sugar and fruit, boil till the temperature is about 223 degrees, I usually go to 225 since it's easier to read on the thermometer, and test with a spoon to double check, had a thermometer refuse to go above 215, something wrong with it, but the spoon test told when it was done. Expect to spend 20-30 minutes cooking it though.


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## randumguy (Feb 15, 2014)

Strawberry jam? I only have 2 words. "FREEZER JAM" I will not eat strawberry jam any other way. My experience is that you do need the corn syrup to make it set properly.

That is just my opinion though.


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