Strawberry Jam

[Hoosier65]

I found this recipe in an ad for sure-jell. It taste great but is runny and won't stay on the bread very well. Does anybody know of anything that can be done to it to make it set up more? I have had this trouble before when making freezer jam. This recipe just looked to simple to pass up and the strawberries are just coming on here. This is porbably an impossible thing to do but thought I'd ask. Thanks

[ardes]

I picked strawberries at a local berry farm, and some ladies there were discussing freezer jam. I asked what I needed to make it, and they agreed that I should buy a good name brand sugar, not the store brand because that makes a difference in whether it sets or not. Mine turned out great. This won't save the jam you've already made, but maybe it will next time.

[SHERRY]

We can strawberry jam every year, and use the recipe on the surejell pack...BUT, we do not freeze it..we can it...I think the boiling makes the syrup thicker and our jam turns out perfect...really thick...maybe you could try canning. http://www.cookinglight.com/bbs/smile.gif

[Hoosier65]

Thanks, I like both of those suggestions. I'll try both on the next batch.

[Melman]

Runny strawberry jam!! Everyone missed my begging and pleading message from a couple of weeks ago. I typed in a message with deatils of my dilemma...and THEN found out nothing would post!! I fixed my own disaster alone.

In a nutshell: 1 gallon of freshly picked strawberries, some new jelly jars, sugar, Surejell, and a phone call from my mom. Figured out the problem yet?? :-) I so very, very carefully measured out the 8 cups of chopped strawberries, 7 cups of sugar, got all the jars ready, etc. Made it according to the package directions (I used the regular Surejell package...NOT the less-sugar package.) I've made this year after year after year. This is not new.

SO....how in the world did I end up with not just *8* jars...but 9, 10, 11,...finally *12* jars!! This isn't good!! It hit me as I was screwing on the last lid. PHONE CALL!! Bad idea!! It wasn't *8* cups of strawberries...it was "it MAKES 8 cups of jam". I only needed 5 cups of berries!! [Note..this is when I wrote my begging and pleading note for anyone who had run into wrong measurements in jam..I needed ideas!!]

I worried and fretted over the wasted strawberries all night. Next morning...soupy jam. It didn't gel. There wasn't enough Surejell OR sugar for that much fruit!! The Surejell people wouldn't be on the 800# until the next day.

I fixed it. I went against one of the rules in the directions and DOUBLED the batch. I emptied all the jars, rewashed/sterilized everything, dumped the jam into pot, and started back with the recipe. I added extras of everything to make it equal a double batch.....2 more cups of berries, another Surejell, 7 cups of sugar.

Guess what?? It worked!!! I ended up with something like 17 jars of jam! PERFECT. It turned into JAM almost immediately! The taste is awesome...just like it's supposed to be.

SO.....moral of the story? Don't talk to anyone on the phone when you're measuring large quantities of anything!! :-)

Hoosier65....the first run-through, my jam wouldn't stay on the bread/crackers either. That was another one of my tipoffs. Think back to whether you used the exact amounts of everything. It's also possible that when you washed your berries, they possibly had too much water left in them. I started using my salad spinner on most of my fruits when I make jam. It's a wonderful way to get rid of the excess water. Good luck!!!!

[Beth]

You might try boiling what you have in an open jar and seeing if it thickens up. If not, enjoy it on pancakes, waffles, ice cream or frozen yogurt.