We have been getting a lot of calls and questions about problems with jams and jellies in the last few weeks.
We do have directions for remaking jams and jellies and often give this information to callers. The remade jam or jelly will be a slightly different flavor and texture as the directions call for adding more sugar and pectin but no more fruit or fruit juice. These directions will allow you to save the jelly or jam and still have a spreadable product.
Other callers have been concerned about jam that was too stiff to spread without breaking the bread. Their jam may have been overcooked or they may have chosen too much under-ripe fruit. The under-ripe fruit contains more naturally occurring pectin than ripe fruit and the extra pectin could make a stiff jel.
Jelly or jam containing many bubbles may actually be fermenting in the jar. This product may not have been heated enough before filling jars or it may have been under-processed during canning.
If you find crystals that seem like glass, especially in grape jelly, it would be tartrate crystals. Letting the juice stand overnight in the refrigerator and then straining the juice before making jelly can eliminate this problem.
Jam that appears to have a layer of jelly on the bottom and then floating fruit in the rest of the jar is a common problem. We often see this in strawberry jam. Floating fruit is due to a difference in density between the fruit and the liquid. If this your problem, try cutting the fruit into smaller pieces and using only ripe fruit to make jam.
We love to help callers with jam and jelly problems, please contact us and we will do our best to help.
Memories of Dr Miller!
I remember the gooseberry jelly that we spent, it seems like forever, taking out of the jar and returning it to the jar.
I made Jalapeno jelly for the first time and it was really good tasting but ended up like a really thick syrup. Any ideas on what i did wrong?
Thank You!
Hi Melinda, did you follow a safe, tested recipe exactly as written? That would be the first thing I would look at.
I made peach jam last year. I checked on the jars today and they have many peach colored hard bits floating in the jam… when I crack them open they are white. Smells fine. What is this? Is it okay to eat? I did probably put more pectin in the recipe because it wasn’t jelling well.
Hi Wendy, from your description, it seems that the white bits within the jam are likely undissolved pectin. There is a remote chance that they are also sugar crystals, but not likely. (Sugar crystals form when the sugar is not fully dissolved in the jam.) In either case, the jam should be safe. If the bits are undissolved pectin, the bite will be a bit chewy. If by chance they are crystals, the bite will be granular.