# Are you the QUEEN/KING of Strawberry Jam?



## Laura Zone 5 (Jan 13, 2010)

If so.....HELP!!!!!
I am attempting strawberry jam.
I think I am failing, epically.

I am following the recipe in the Ball blue book.

My first batch was runny.
I added more pectin.
I boiled more.
I had my spoons in cold water, then dipped into jam and let cool on plate to get the right consistancy.......NOT

Help me.
Do you have a tried and true method / recipe that is dern near fail proof!!??
Please, share, please!


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## Tinga (Jul 24, 2011)

I use the one that comes with the Pectin lol 
Turns out just fine. I didn't do a spoon test with it, just boiled it for the amount of time suggested. Only one I did have trouble with was Agave Cactus Fruit and low sugar Pectin.. YUCK. Had to add MORE pectin and finally got it not so runny.


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## Laura Zone 5 (Jan 13, 2010)

Does it go into the jar like a thick liquid then set up later??


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## catzkids (May 11, 2011)

It sometimes takes several weeks to set up once its in the jar...and if it doesn't set up, it makes great topping for ice cream!


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## Tinga (Jul 24, 2011)

Laura Zone 5 said:


> Does it go into the jar like a thick liquid then set up later??


Yeah, for me it does. Like lumpy runny jam, but it sets up pretty quickly after that. We don't like "hard" jams and never eat jelly, but the recipe I used worked well.


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## hillbillygal (Jan 16, 2008)

I don't spoon test my jam. I just add the pectin and cook for however long it states. Then I pour it in the jar and can it up. It sets up later in the jar.


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## katydidagain (Jun 11, 2004)

My strawberry jam (requested by many) is made from frozen berries. (Fresh berries are for eating out of hand or over ice cream IMO.) 

I kinda use the Sure Jell recipe but, since I'm too cheap to buy those boxes, I use bulk pectin so have to interpolate, drop the sugar back by about 1/3 (yes, you're not supposed to but I'm not a sweet freak) and I mash it all very well because I hate those hard bits. Mine ends up more like a cross between ice cream topping and store bought preserves. It does get firmer after a couple of weeks in the jar but remains quite spoonable.


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## KEW_Farms (Nov 25, 2011)

Try this site:

How to make Jam - easily! With step by step photos, recipe ingredients and costs


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## emma's sheep (Mar 11, 2010)

Make sure your pectin has not expired because that will cause your jam to not set up. I have had that happen to me. But jam that is runny still makes a good topping. Emma


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## Catalpa (Dec 18, 2011)

I have had a problem if I use old pectin.

Someone once told me that beet sugar doesn't set up like cane sugar; possibly due to the GMO tinkering that's been done to the beets. I don't know if there's fact to it, but I had done a batch of peach jam with beet sugar that just wouldn't set up no matter what I tried. The next day with peaches from the same basket and the same pectin I made another batch with cane sugar, and it worked. So????

I made a lot of strawberry jam last year, used cane sugar, new pectin, fresh berries, and the recipe from the pectin box. Turned out great. 

Seems like jam is just one of those things with no rhyme or reason to it sometimes.


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## Mountain Mick (Sep 10, 2005)

My Strawberry Jam
Â© Mick Blake 1985

My Strawberry jam is not just fool proof because I can make it so that make it almost Idiot proof. 5Lbs strawberries green bits cut off and half the strawberries cut up and other half lefty whole now add 5Lbs white sugar and 1 & 1/2cup lemon juice mix ans sitt in fridge for 4 days now slowly bring up to the boil stirring allmost all the time so the bottom don't burn, once it boils turn heat down and simmer until it reduces to a cosistance that you like no lid on the pot ever, now bottle and enjoy you get about 7Lbs of jam may be a bit less. but you get the best Strawberry jam ever.


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## Quiver0f10 (Jun 17, 2003)

KEW_Farms said:


> Try this site:
> 
> How to make Jam - easily! With step by step photos, recipe ingredients and costs


I love this site!


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## mammabooh (Sep 1, 2004)

I must recommend Pomona's pectin. Pardon me for being so bold, but it makes jams and jellies made from other pectin taste like junk. I've been using it for years, and the only failure I've had in that time was when I tripled the recipe, but forgot to adjust the pectin!

When/if you find Pomona's (I buy it on-line by the pound), it will seem expensive. However, a little goes a long way and you can use way less sugar with it than you do with regular pectin. It uses calcium to set instead of sugar.


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## Bettacreek (May 19, 2012)

I use one from Pickyourown.org. I interchange different berries (strawberries, blackberries, huckleberries, etc) and don't have much of an issue. I did end up with one batch being a little runny, but they're still awesome. I like the runny jams for stuff like english muffins (runny allows it to get into the air holes and soften it up some), in cottage cheese (omg, to die for) and pancakes for syrup. Just keep notes... If you use 52g pectin and it's runny, next time try 62g. I also use Dutch Jel vs the pectin you buy in the little boxes. It costs about the same per pound as it does for one of those tiny packets.


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## olivehill (Aug 17, 2009)

The spoon test has never worked here, even with (added) Pectin-Free preserves. You just get to the point where you can see it's about done and jar it up. No secret other than practice.


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