Strawberry Jam question

[grammynelliebelle]

Spent this afternoon making cooked strawberry jam with my dgd. We used the hotwater type of canner and the quilted jam jars with the two piece screw lids. Newbies to this. We followed the directions to the letter, but our finished product has the fruit on the top of the jar and the jelly part on the bottom! (It looks liquidy)I did notice the pectin we used was dated May,2007, but that was the only one on the shelf. Does anyone have an idea as to what happened? The seals seem tight so I hope it will be ok. DGD wants to do different jams over the summer to use for Christmas gifts so we want to "get it right". TIA for any suggestions. Grammy

 

[wdw_dine_junkie]

I do strawberry jam every year and my fruit always floats to the top. I just stir it up well when I open it. I do occasionally get a batch here and there that refuses to set up and stays fairly liquid and I still don't know why. I have found that Sure-Jell is the best pectin to use.

The ones that don't set up are great for ice cream topping

 

[grammynelliebelle]

Thanks for letting me know! I thought we made a mistake somehow. I will look for the Surejell. Just for "insurance" we put the jars in the freezer in case there was any problem with the jars closing properly. I sure have a new founded respect for Smuckers! Grammy

 

[cryssi]

that pretty much always happens to me...

 

[jann1033]

i haven't had a problem with that but i usually turn my jars upside down when i take them out don't know if that does something or not