Jam not setting

Slinky

I've had a go at making strawberry jam today, and it's not setting after we've put it into jars. I don't think I had enough lemon juice to introduce pectin.  If I get some more lemons tomorrow, could I reboil it with more lemon and get it to set?

ETA a bit of research on line suggests this is possible. I'll have another go tomorrow or Tuesday.

Brie

Happy to take a jar off you whether it sets well or not!!  Homemade jam is wonderful!!!

Aslan69

Yes, reboil your jam with more lemon juice to boost acidity and pectin activation. Add about 15 ml lemon per 500 g fruit, boil, and test the set on a cold plate. If it stays runny, cook longer or add pectin. Next time, don’t skip the lemon.

camelot1001

I would re-boil with more lemon juice. Such a shame when you spend all that time boiling and putting it in jars but it will be worth it.
If it doesn't work it will be lovely as a strawberry sauce on ice cream etc.

Slinky

Aslan69 said:

Yes, reboil your jam with more lemon juice to boost acidity and pectin activation. Add about 15 ml lemon per 500 g fruit, boil, and test the set on a cold plate. If it stays runny, cook longer or add pectin. Next time, don’t skip the lemon.

I had a kilo of strawberries but only one lemon. Will get a couple more tomorrow.

Rosa_Damascena

I'm with @Brie !

@Slinky- on balance there is nothing much to lose with just a kilo of strawberries. Once you have perfected the fruit to acid ratio you can scale up, slap on a fancy label (I suggest "Always"(R)) and charge £15 for a pot of your strawberry spread

Nelliegrace

Well done, @Slinky, It will be delicious even if it is soft set. It might not keep very well so enjoy it soon. More lemon will affect the taste. Reboiling makes a darker jam, and it can have an unpleasant, treacly texture if it is overcooked. 

I use smaller strawberries for jam, not over-ripe. When the strawberries reach boiling I measure the depth, (I marked centimetres on a wooden chopstick,) then boil them until the level has reduced by a third, before turning off the heat and adding the sugar. 

Did you use the wrinkle test on a cold saucer? I find it more reliable than my jam thermometer. 

Most of the strawberry jams in the WI competition at the county show were made using pectin, jam sugar. The jars made with strawberries, sugar and lemons, in the traditional way, were given a lower score because they didn’t have the lurid, commercial strawberry jam colour. It still rankles! 

@Rosa_Damascena, I used to make jams for the school Christmas Bazaar over twenty years ago and they sold at far more than I would charge and many times more than they cost to make. 

twopenny

Used to do pick your own strawberries with a friend and go back to make jam.
We always used pectin for strawberries. It's tough to set.

If you have to boil again you could be over boiling so it won't set.
In this case I'd go straight for the pectin.

It's important to catch it before it boils too much. There's a certain point which is why you keep testing 

I had some raspberry jam that wouldn't set this year but I bottled it anyway thinking it would be easy to spread.
However when I got some out to use it had set a little more all on it's own 

Slinky

Thanks all. I got a couple more lemons and put about 1.5 lemon's worth of juice in, and it's done the trick. Still cooling down, so not entirely sure of the consistency, but it's definitely set. Hopefully not like concrete!  The fruit was home grown and largely harvested and frozen by my friend who looked after the garden when we were on holiday, so I'm hoping it's good enough to give some to her as thanks.

Nelliegrace

As guide, use 10% extra fruit in the jam recipe if frozen fruit is used. 

Slinky

Just to report the jam has set, with a good consistency.  The only thing that happened with the second attempt is the fruit seems to have broken down a lot, so no chunks of strawberry in it.