Well I did it. I put up 1.5 pints of blackberries this morning. I did
a very small batch in case I messed up since it's been like 5 year since
I made jam. It was supposed to be jam but it is really glue! So please
help me understand what I need to do to not have this happen again.
This is what I did:

I used a recipe I found online from a reliable source. It was a
no-added pectin recipe for Blackberry-Lime jam. My measurements were
all made according to the recipe. I've always used store-bought pectin
in the past but I wanted to try some recipes without added pectin (less
sweet, more tart is what we like here). Little did I know it would
work so well! The recipe said to precook the lime pulp and I did. It
looked quite gelatinous before the allotted time was up so I added the
blackberries and sugar.

The recipe said to cook over medium heat until the mixture "thickened".
Not knowing what that meant (it never ever seemed thick in the pot), I
relied on the sheeting test from the Ball Blue Book. And I think this
is where I made my error. Maybe I was too slow getting the spoon from
the fridge to the jam pot because my mixture never seemed to get past
the 1st stage. It was just always light and syrupy. By the time I let
my common sense take hold and put some of the mix on a plate from the
freezer, it was clearly set..... way way way over-gelled.

So I have 3 half-pints of wonderful-tasting blackberry glue. My
daughter said, "Wow, this is like fruit roll-ups". LOL Good thing I
did the blackberries before starting in on the plums. I have no idea
how to fix this so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I'm
sure I'll have at least a couple more cups of blackberries by tomorrow
or the day after. It's been raining here today.

I'm guessing that a candy thermometer would have worked better. I have
one. Should I have used that instead?

Isabella
--
"I will show you fear in a handful of dust"
-T.S. Eliot

On Thu, 24 Jul 2008 14:17:55 -0500, Isabella Woodhouse
wrote:


Well I did it. I put up 1.5 pints of blackberries this morning. I did
a very small batch in case I messed up since it's been like 5 year since
I made jam. It was supposed to be jam but it is really glue! So please
help me understand what I need to do to not have this happen again.
This is what I did:

Wiser ones than I will answer your basic question, but this doesn't
have to be a waste. I made some grapefruit marmalade that was perfect
before the jar went in the frig, and when it was cold it couldn't even
be spooned out. I put two tablespoons of water and popped it in the
microwave for awhile, stirred it up. Wouldn't give it as gifts as it
was, but and it was good enough for me to eat.
** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **

Epiphany wrote:
On Thu, 24 Jul 2008 14:17:55 -0500, Isabella Woodhouse
wrote:

Well I did it. I put up 1.5 pints of blackberries this morning. I did
a very small batch in case I messed up since it's been like 5 year since
I made jam. It was supposed to be jam but it is really glue! So please
help me understand what I need to do to not have this happen again.
This is what I did:

Wiser ones than I will answer your basic question, but this doesn't
have to be a waste. I made some grapefruit marmalade that was perfect
before the jar went in the frig,

I think you mean "fridge". Frig's a whole different thing.

and when it was cold it couldn't even
be spooned out. I put two tablespoons of water and popped it in the
microwave for awhile, stirred it up. Wouldn't give it as gifts as it
was, but and it was good enough for me to eat.

I don't mind the really thick stuff, myself, but yeah, I wouldn't give
it as a gift.

Serene

--
"I think I have an umami receptor that has developed sentience." -- Stef

In article ,
Epiphany wrote:

On Thu, 24 Jul 2008 14:17:55 -0500, Isabella Woodhouse
wrote:


Well I did it. I put up 1.5 pints of blackberries this morning. I did
a very small batch in case I messed up since it's been like 5 year since
I made jam. It was supposed to be jam but it is really glue! So please
help me understand what I need to do to not have this happen again.
This is what I did:

Wiser ones than I will answer your basic question, but this doesn't
have to be a waste. I made some grapefruit marmalade that was perfect
before the jar went in the frig, and when it was cold it couldn't even
be spooned out. I put two tablespoons of water and popped it in the
microwave for awhile, stirred it up. Wouldn't give it as gifts as it
was, but and it was good enough for me to eat.
** Posted from http://www.teranews.com **

Thanks. I will indeed try that.

In the meantime, I did some reading at the NCHFP and I'm pretty sure I
know where I went wrong. The first problem was the recipe. It called
for way too much additional pectin from limes. The NCHFP calls for no
additional pectin for fresh blackberries. I should have just used the
Ball Blue Book recipe but the lime one sounded so good.

And second, I should have just used a candy thermometer instead of the
spoon test. Lesson learned. I've looked up our elevation (770') and
tomorrow I'll likely try plum jam.

Isabella
--
"I will show you fear in a handful of dust"
-T.S. Eliot