Jam, Jelly and Canning Experts >>> Help.

M

marilynfl

Moderator
I finally achieved Peach JELLY, but am uncertain how to store it.

Here's the LONG story:

I dumped three 8 oz jars of unjellied jelly (even after boil and process twice) and 3 jars of Bourbon peach jelly liquid (boiled and processed once and then strained from peaches, which went into the freezer) >> 6 cups of multi-processed liquid PLUS another 1/2 cup of liquid pectin and cooked on high in my crock pot for three hours. Jarred that into FIVE bottles and processed those for 10 minutes in boiling water.

Waited over-night and NOTHING! Still liquid-y.

Dumped those into the 3.5 QT pot and simmered stovetop for another 2 hours, skimming and testing with spoon dipped in ice. When it had the SLIGHTEST (and I mean SLIGHTEST) hint of thickening, my patience left the building and had a stiff drink while I bottled the reduced syrup into 3 jars and processed those for 10 minutes.

Waited overnight and pried one open.

PRAISE THE LORD AND THROW IN A FEW HALLELUJAHS. I HAVE JELLY.

Of course, we now come to the reason I've asked for your help. The entire purpose of this exercise was to be able to store the jelly in the pantry and give it away at Christmas. Well, that "was" the idea when I thought I'd end up with 12 jars of jam.

I don't have room in the freezer...let's toss out that solution right now.

I could keep them in the refrigerator, but would prefer to give them away with the certainty that they can stored in pantry.

Question: Is there some way to test the pH or whatever in the one opened jar to see if the other two are safe for pantry storage??? I no longer have any idea of the ratio of fruit/pectin/sugar/lemon in this stuff.

I gave the long details to indicate how many times it's been boiled, both as a juice and processed in the jars. But I still want to feel confident about this.

Worst case is I keep them in the refrigerator and give notice they must be kept in the refrigerator, even unopened. I can live with that--after 5 frigging days of trying to make something folks figured out centuries ago. But I'd like to know for my own knowledge.

Thank you.

PS: Did I kill the pectin by boiling it TOO MUCH? All the literature said to make sure juice is boiling heavily before adding and then boiling afterward, but could my multi-processing have been TOO MUCH?

PS: Also, I started out with 6 jars of sugared/pectin'd liquid and ended up with 3. Does that sound right?

 
Mistral is the real expert, but...

It sounds like after much trial and error, you got the jam to set and you also got a seal when canning, so I’m not sure why you don’t think it’s shelf stable?

If you didn’t get a seal, The one thing I would question is how much a gap are you leaving at the top of the jar when filling because anything more than a quarter of an inch and I don’t get a seal. If you do have a seal and I check my sealed by making sure that I can lift the jar by the lid without the ring on it, I think you’re golden.

 
I have REALLY been trying to find the answer to your situation from the start.

And yes, Mistral is the master canner.
I will say that yes, I think you have finally done the pectin in by too much boiling (I found a couple of things about that).
I will suggest to you to use my "recipe" above for a no fail jam.
As for what you have now, if the seal is concave and "tinny" you have a jar that can be stored, IMO.
The thing about jam is that with the proper ratio of fruit, sugar, acidity almost anything will gel. Peach is low pectin so add it--I MUCH prefer powdered. You can cook jam and jelly to a temperature (220*) as a checkpoint if your mix is going to gel. Or you can do the "drip/sheet test" that I described above also.
Don't give up. Homemade preserves are just TOO good not to do them and your experience, IMO, is really unusual, and I cannot explain it.
Good luck.

 
Acid levels affect gel formation

Too much acid and you get a gel that sets really fast and hard, not enough acid prevents a gel from forming, so often times you can add some lemon juice to low acid fruits to increase their acidity and therefore get a firmer gel formation.

Also, one can combine a high pectin fruit like apples with a low pectin one like rhubarb to get the required level of pectin to get a good gel.

My favorite gel test is the stick a plate in the freezer one. In the cardamom plum jam I just made, I used pectin, Against my better judgment but I wanted to make it the way Steve made it. The second batch I made with amaretto I didn’t bother with the pectin and used a little lemon juice instead and it set up just fine if not better than the one with added pectin – because plums have a lot of natural pectin in them.

 
pH level has more to do with things like tomatoes. I am not up on the

level for fruit although I have often not added any acid to my jams--just forgot more than anything.
I would put this behind you and start over. One rule not to be broken is never double a batch. I am sure this didn't happen with you 'cause you used two different types of pectin.
I have been buying my pectin in the jars they have now instead of individual packages. And as I said, for jams I prefer powdered where you dissolve it in the fruit first, then add sugar and boil.
I used to make jelly (blackberry) with no added pectin and you "can" do that with almost any fruit but you have to cook it to the gel stage (the state where the fruit fibers and sugar "mesh") and your number of jars is much smaller than with added pectin. Apples are certainly one jelly you can make without adding pectin since that is what most commercial pectin is made from!! Peels, especially.

 
If it is jelly, with commercial pectin, fruit juice, sugar and . . .

the bourbon is only in flavoring amout (like a couple of tablespoons), your jelly should be shelf stable.

Fruit juice, sugar and pectin becomes jelly due to a combination of sugar, acid and pectin (in fruit juice, and/or added). Preservation is due to a combination of: acid level (fruit juice is acid and most harmful organisms are kept from growing in a too-acid environment), sugar helps to keep water from harmful organisms so they cannot grow and heat kills off harmful organisms. Add the final step of boiling water bath processing and you have a quadruple control of stuff that might make your jelly go bad, so you have good jelly longer. Properly processed jelly can be edible for years, but will lose flavor after the first year of storage, and so will not be as tasty.

Jelly CAN be made with nothing but fruit juice and sugar; commercial pectin is not needed.

As your jelly has fruit juice, sugar, pectin (extra acid added in this) AND you did the boiling water bath processing. . . Your jelly is good for shelf storage room temps.

Remember to keep your headspace at 1/4 inch for the hardest seal during b-w processing.

I recommend you wash and your jars, label and date them for storage. Store with the rings OFF, so that if something should happen to your jelly you will see it. You can polish the jars with a little vinegar in water, so those jars will shine like jewels--this will also let you know if something grows and runs over the edges of the jars, plus the jars will be beautiful and sparkly for presents.

One added caution: Traditional peaches are generally considered high-acid fruit and therefore ok for boiling water bath processing. However, the newer low acid (aka sub-acid) peaches are NOT recommended for preserving by the University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources as their acid content may be too low to hold harmful organisms in check.

 
Perfect! Thank you, mistral. Jars are going into the pantry.

That anal-retentive part of me likes to understand the HOW of how things work. But, more often than not, it turns out I need to know HOW I screwed it up.

 
Very interesting about lower acid peaches. Did not know canning is not recommended. Thanks Mistral

 
Nor did I but it turns out you probably wouldn't have chosen them for jam anyway--

or at least I wouldn't. They are the white peaches, which I DO love to eat but they are much more delicate in flavor and to me wouldn't make a flavorful jam.
Along with acidity the sugar concentration (and heat) is a very powerful preservative which is why the jams with less sugar will mold quicker. Jams would not be subject to botulism but to mold more likely.

https://www.saundersbrothers.com/_ccLib/attachments/pages/peach+schedule.pdf
file:///C:/Users/Owner/Downloads/53cfc612-5fe4-4bae-bd6a-23ad0a000075.pdf

 
Yes, I am with you--those low acid peaches are not very good canned or jammed . . .

good to eat fresh, but not much flavor in jam or canned.

 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top