deborah jean's Dandelion House
Last night I was making some Plum Jam. I had some pretty ripe fruit; but it was still good. I had enough to do a With POWDERED PECTIN recipe and followed the instructions on the box. All good.
The other batch was smaller and I followed the Blue Ball Canning guide. Only thing... I didn't read up on 'gel set' and 'sheeting'. That is important when making Jams and Jellies.
So...needless to say, this batch didn't set up properly. FAIL.
The five jars on the cutting board...very saucy jams!
Not being one to waste perfectly good tasting plum jam... that isn't 'JAMMY'. It's Saucy! I started searching online on how to REMAKE the JAM!
***Here is the link I found with a PDF format... you can download. It gives instructions for remaking jams and jellies. They give instructions for remaking 'freezer jam', runny jams (soft set), and too thick (stiff jams).
Most people say ...just use it for sauce. Put it on pancakes, etc. But... I don't want to do that this time. I figure this is the perfect opportunity to try something different.
A "JAMMY" DO-OVER so to speak.
It's already PLUM MESSED UP. What is the worst that can happen?
I just wanted to pass the info along.
So here is what I did... The instructions say to wait about 3 days for a resting period for the jams.
I'm impatient. I. DID. NOT. WAIT.
I had about 5 1/2 cups of jam. It called for 4 tsps of powdered pectin and 1/2 cup of water.
My jam was pretty watery. It WOULD NOT SHEET OFF THE SPOON!!!
Looking back, I think next time I'll add less water. But... THIS TIME... I ADDED MORE PECTIN. (REMEMBER, THIS WAS NOT A PECTIN RECIPE TO BEGIN WITH)
So instead of 4 tsp. of pectin I increased it to about 6 tsps.
I am happy to report-- All is well in the Jelly cupboard. The Jam has set...it has a little bit of a twang to it, because of the lemon juice. But otherwise...it's quite tasty!!!
This is the extra jar, from the first batch; the one that didn't get processed. I always pour the last bit into an extra jar to eat right away!! This is from the GOOD BATCH...do you do this? Well, now All batches are good batches.
Don't you just love eating fresh jam on toast?
This is the remade batch of Plum Jam~~
YUMMIE!
Don't you just love eating fresh jam on toast?
This is the remade batch of Plum Jam~~
(THERE IS ONE JAR MISSING, I GAVE IT TO MY BROTHER... he likes plum jam too.) ;)
The grace of the LORD Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Philippians 4:23
8 comments:
I had to laugh a little when I saw your thumbnail title in the Farmgirl Friday Linky section BECAUSE this just happened to me. I've never made jam and used this super easy, pectin-free recipe and mine is kind of runny. It's been in the refrigerator for about a week now and it's thickened up a lot since I first made it, but when I gave some to my mom, she used it as a sauce over ice cream. LOL I kept telling her it was unjammed jam. :-)
You can see my jam here: http://artisticexpressionsbyelisabeth.blogspot.com/2012/06/taste-of-blueberries-recipes.html
Great post!
It's been ages since I made jam! I'm glad your fix paid off for you! All that work would make it twice as sweet for you.
Canning is hard work! I'm glad you were able to fix the jam.
-Revi
Glad you figured it out and it worked! I just recently posted about my jam - I use sure-gel and a recipe from an old sure-gel instert that my aunt used. they don't have the same recipe in the pack anymore. It is for canned jam but instead of canning we freeze it after cooking and filling the jars. best jam i've ever had!
Yours looks yummy too!
I cannot wait to have fresh plums right off our property. We've put in a plum, peach, and two apple trees. The property already had pear trees. Plum Jam sounds delicious.
I've had this happen to and it normally gets used up over ice cream. My hubby would eat it with a spoon if he could. He probably does when I'm not looking!
Beautiful! Can't believe you already have ripe plums, and I just saw corn on the cob on Plum Doodle's blog. It's a couple months til either are ripe here. :-( You all are making me hungry! :-)
That looks awesome, can't wait to try!
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