A Question for You Jelly/Jammers

[Midnightmom]

Just processed 8 pints of strawberry jam (low sugar variation) and I was wondering why it is seperating into 2 layers?

Liquid on the bottom, fruit on the top. Is there any way to "fix" this? Or do I just stir it up when I open it for consumption? 

(ETA: the pectin was within the use by date)

 

 

 

 

Btw- Had some "left-over." 

 

Edited May 23, 2022 by Midnightmom

[Annarchy]

Did you flip the jars after processing?  I’ve had that happen when I didn’t turn the jars upside down, immediately after pulling them out.  IDK for sure.   Most of the jams & jelly’s I process have recommended flipping the jars, let sit 20-30 minutes & flip right side up.  They ping, even upside down, for me.  

[Midnightmom]

7 hours ago, Annarchy said:

Did you flip the jars after processing?  I’ve had that happen when I didn’t turn the jars upside down, immediately after pulling them out.  IDK for sure.   Most of the jams & jelly’s I process have recommended flipping the jars, let sit 20-30 minutes & flip right side up.  They ping, even upside down, for me.  

 

No I didn't. The instructions in the box didn't say anything about it but one of the YT channels I follow said to make sure you don't tilt the jars, so I assumed turning them over would be a no-no. 

 

The jars are "set" now. Do you think I can reheat the jars and shake them up to redistribute the contents???  

 

Edited May 23, 2022 by Midnightmom

[euphrasyne]

That usually happens to me when I try a low sugar recipe.   It is thinner than regular sugar and the solids float towards whichever end is up.  

[Jeepers]

Flipping the jar while still hot can cause it to not seal from the pressure of the food on the lid. The only thing I'd know to do is to reheat the jars and gently swirl the jars as they are cooling to help redistribute the food. Worse comes to worst you have made syrup for ice cream or pancakes. 

 

It reminds me of when people can butter they shake the jars as they are cooling to incorporate the milk solids back into the liquid parts before it sets up.   

[Homesteader]

Mine have always done this. All of us pass around homemade jams at Christmas time that look that way. When opened for the first time, we just swirl them around with a knife. I should have asked them in Amish country how they get everything to gel together in their country stores. 

[Midnightmom]

3 hours ago, Homesteader said:

Mine have always done this. All of us pass around homemade jams at Christmas time that look that way. When opened for the first time, we just swirl them around with a knife. 

 

Thank you Homey. I will store them as they are and mix them up as I open them for use. 

[Midnightmom]

Moving on to a slightly different topic; but still jelly related.

Inquisitive minds want to know: Is it possible to turn store bought (NSA/Splenda sweetened) juice into jelly?

Most of the flavors do not have any real fruit in them but would be interesting if made into a jelly- think strawberry/watermelon, cranberry/apple, etc.

[Annarchy]

On 5/23/2022 at 5:17 AM, Jeepers said:

Flipping the jar while still hot can cause it to not seal from the pressure of the food on the lid.

Ok….  Sorry…. Here’s a pic of ‘old’ instructions I’ve added to in my cook books….years ago….

 

 I have never had a jar to fail sealing….

 

[Jeepers]

They used to do that in the old days. It was common back then. I think it is called 'open kettle' canning.

 

But in reality it isn't really canning the food. The hot food is put in the jar but it isn't being sterilized by boiling water or by pressure canning. The heat needed to make the food safe isn't reaching the middle of the food. The jar seals from the heat but the food inside the jar is not being processed. It would probably have the same result even if you didn't turn the jar upside down.  

 

Bottom line is the jar is sealing but the food inside is not being properly processed. It is no longer considered safe. 

 

 

[Mother]

If I read all of Annarchy’s recipe they are sealing jam or jelly, right?   I noticed the instructions call for bringing the product to a full rolling boil (one that cannot be stopped while stirring continually on high heat).  And you are talking fruit and sugar.  It specifically says NOT to reduce the amount of sugar OR use sugar substitutes.  The sugar is the preservative in this recipe.  The sealing is more to keep the product clean and more easily stored without spilling.  
 

“In the past”,,,,, (and I AM talking sugar and fruit, not veggies or artificial sweeteners) If this combination of fruit and sugar were to set on the counter without sealing it would eventually ferment and become old fashioned ‘tutti fruitti’ which would eventually become alcoholic.  Both fermentation and alcohol are forms of preserving.  Also in the past jellies and jams were sealed with melted wax poured on the top of the product and allowed to harden.  The jar was then covered with a paper or a lid to keep it clean.  If the top of the wax became moldy the wax and any mold on the top of the product was simply skimmed off and the jelly eaten.  The wax would be washed, stored, and remelted to be used on subsequent jars of jam or jelly.  An alternative to melting the wax was to thinly shave wax into the bottom of the jar before pouring in the boiling jam or jelly.  The wax would melt, float to the top, and then harden as the jelly cooled to seal the jelly or jam in the jar.  
 

I am not saying these are USA government approved ways to seal jam or jelly.  But I believe you will find that it is an approved method in many many other countries still today and it is an alternative that might be needed if the  and another method cannot be found.
 

MM,  I have not made jelly from artificially sweetened juice.   You might check your low sugar pectin recipes to see if that’s possible.  I have seen recipes that use agar or gelatin to make jelly from unsweetened juice.  Those I’ve seen were refrigerator stored though and not “canned”.  I always make my own no sugar jello that way from unsweetened juice. I also know that home made apple juice, made with the peel intact (the peels are pectin rich) with NO sugar can be “boiled down” to make a thick jell that can be waterbath canned to preserve it.  Apple peels were often used to produce pectin for ‘making’ jams and jellies in the past when store bought was not available. 
 

None of us wants to risk food poisoning but I believe it would be a good idea, an especially interesting one, to learn the different methods of preserving foods, not only in our grandparent’s day but also those used in other countries today.  After all, canning, and especially home canning, is a relatively new method.  

Edited August 25, 2022 by Mother

[Jeepers]

I agree Mother. I started canning back in the 1970's. My MIL taught me what she knew. We canned what most women canned back then. Green beans. And like everyone else we water bathed them for 3 hours. You could boil them until the cows come home. The temperature would still only reach 212 degrees regardless. Pressure canning reaches a safe 240 degrees. I'll admit that I did lose quite a few jars from spoiled food. Some years were better than others. I think one thing that saved us was we boiled our food for 10 minutes before we tasted it.  

 

We also used the wax method on our jelly and jams. I probably still have a block or two of Gulf wax (paraffin) around here someplace. We melted it and poured it over the jam/jelly. After we used it we would wash the disks from the jars and reuse it over and over. We had one designated sauce pan we used that held the wax. Sometimes mold would still grow under the wax seal. We just scraped it off and ate the jelly under it. We didn't realize that mold could send threads of invisible toxins down into the food. 

 

Basically, it only takes 5 minutes to water bath a jar of jelly. Stick a jar of jelly in a pot of boiling water for 5 minutes and err on the side of caution. 

 

Sometimes I think that God protects the innocent who are trying their best.  Up to a point.  But when you know better...you do better.

 

We have been canning food since 1809. We've come a long way baby. 

 

I also agree that we should know how to safely preserve food. For example, I know nothing about fermenting food. That is probably a gaping hole in my food preparations. Lots of veggies could be preserved from the garden using that method. 

 

I have some of the jars with clips on them that are popular in Europe. They aren't used much here but are standard over there. I'd like to try to use them for something. Maybe juice. Very pretty jars with glass lids. They are pretty expensive too but I got them on close out at Lehman's one year. Weck. That's the name. 

 

There is a woman on Youtube who is talking about canning the Amish way. She has an Amish friend who water baths everything. Including vegetables and meat. I'm afraid she is going to start demonstrating some of their methods. I can't remember her channel name. I has the word 'more' in it twice. 

 

[euphrasyne]

I cheat all the time with my orange grapefruit jelly and use bought orange juice.  It always turns out fine.   I have not done this with any other juice, but my ex-mil did make some with applejuice.  

[Midnightmom]

3 hours ago, Jeepers said:

There is a woman on Youtube who is talking about canning the Amish way. She has an Amish friend who water baths everything. Including vegetables and meat. I'm afraid she is going to start demonstrating some of their methods. I can't remember her channel name. I has the word 'more' in it twice. 

Her vids have come up in my "suggested" list, but I have NOT watched any of them. Why waste my time???

 

3 hours ago, Jeepers said:

Sometimes I think that God protects the innocent who are trying their best.  Up to a point.  But when you know better...you do better.

Agreed!

 

3 hours ago, Jeepers said:

I also agree that we should know how to safely preserve food. For example, I know nothing about fermenting food. That is probably a gaping hole in my food preparations. Lots of veggies could be preserved from the garden using that method. 

Check out "Mary's Nest." She has a YT channel, a FB page, and a "dot com."

So far I have made sauerkraut and Gardenaria from her instructions.

 

And, if you are interested in dehydrating, you should check out "The Purposeful Pantry" who is also on those three platforms.

Edited August 25, 2022 by Midnightmom

[Jeepers]

I only watched the "more" channel 2-3 times. I knew it was about canning but at first I didn't know she was going to be a rogue channel. So, I didn't save her link. It's a strange name with the word "more' in it twice.  By rogue I mean beyond rebel canning. I rebel can tomato products.  

 

I don't have a Face Book (Meta) account but I have checked out Mary's Nest YT channel. I like her list and haul and stocking up type videos.   

 

Gardenaria (Jardiniere) was the word I was thinking of.  

 

I do check out Purposeful Pantry (Darcy) too. One of the best dehydrating channel I like is  Dehydrate2Store. It's a very old channel, and the quality shows that, but it's still an oldie but goodie.  How to Food Dehydrator Videos | Dehydrate2Store 

 

Looks like we travel in the same circles.   

 

 

The channel just popped up on my recommend feed. It's called Make It Make.  Not 'more'  .   But I do NOT recommend it for canning instructions!

 

Edited August 25, 2022 by Jeepers
Added info

[Annarchy]

Sorry, some of my canning instructions were handed down, plus, back then, before all the rules & regulations kicked in….we always had wax.  Made our own too.  I can’t count how much we used it in canning.  I guess, I need to do more research to get ‘up to date’ on the regs.  

[Jeepers]

It's okay Annarchy. That's just the problem with older canning books. I have some old home preserving books on the Kindle and in PDF's I love to read them. I really do. Makes me feel all 'Little House on the Prairie-ish'. But things change. Even this year the method for canning raw chicken changed. Sometimes it's hard to keep up. Don't beat yourself up.   

 

I do things I shouldn't. I re-can tomato sauce. I don't like to store it in a tin can and I can't use those huge cans for one meal for one person. I boil it down, add lemon juice and can it in glass jars. 'They' say not to but... 

[Midnightmom]

4 hours ago, Jeepers said:

I do things I shouldn't. I re-can tomato sauce. I don't like to store it in a tin can and I can't use those huge cans for one meal for one person. I boil it down, add lemon juice and can it in glass jars. 'They' say not to but... 

It is my understanding that if you "doctor" tomato sauce by making it more like an ingredient, you certainly can put it up. But, you would probably have to either pressure can it or raise the tomato's acidity by adding citric acid, OR, lemon juice such as you did. BUT - it would have to be ReaLemon as it has a known acidity level of 5%.

 

ETA: Perhaps this will help

Quote

Burning Issue: Acidifying Tomatoes When Canning

Why do I have to add acid when canning tomatoes in the pressure canner??

https://nchfp.uga.edu/publications/nchfp/factsheets/acidifying.html

 

Edited August 26, 2022 by Midnightmom

[Jeepers]

I use ReaLemon in my tomato sauce. I always pressure can it. I think pressure canning is easier than water bath canning.  

 

I still don't know why we add acid to tomato products if we pressure can it. I know that tomatoes aren't as acidic as they once were. They are hybrids now and the soil we grow them has changed. I get all of that. But we can other things like veggies and meat that have less acid in them than tomatoes and we don't add acid to them. Like, why don't we add acid to chicken or peas? We don't even add acid to homemade spaghetti sauce that has onions and peppers added to it. Even the National Center For Home Food Preservation doesn't call for acid in their spaghetti sauce recipe. Yet they say to add acid to plain tomatoes. I still add it but I don't know why. Habit? Fear? 

 

And technically a tomato is a fruit. So there.   

 

I buy large cans of tomatoes from Sam's Club. The ratio I use is usually around one can of chopped tomatoes to two cans of tomato sauce. I cook it down until it's nice and thick and chunky. Similar to spaghetti sauce or salsa. Put in the jars, add the #$^& ReaLemon juice and pressure can 25 (I think) minutes for quarts. 

 

It makes a nice chunky sauce and doesn't have all of that 'tomato water' settling in the bottom of the jar. 

 

This is not an approved method because I'm not using fresh tomatoes. So don't do it! Don't even think about it.  

 

 

Mods, you can move this to the Guerilla section if you want. It's fine with me. 

 

[euphrasyne]

I think fear is a great motivator for either side.   I also love to watch the 'unsafe' practices.  I know there are better ways, but I love knowing how people perserve food.  Just because I see how they do it doesn't mean I will do it just the same.   Understanding what they are doing and the type of recipes used often translates into understanding more about how and what we eat.

 

For instance:  Chimichurri sauce is the modern FAD.  It is everywhere, it is delicious, and pretty much all green sauces are now 'chimichurri.'  It is also a pesto type version of British Parsley sauce....from the 1500s.  It is almost identical to French Persillade sauce, Italian Gremolata, and various 'green sauces' from Europe that are all older than the United States.   

 

The canning techniques are old and outdated, but they influenced modern recipes and techniques.  To me they are worth watching just to see how one is influenced by the other.