I just made my first batch of jam ever yesterday with wild
blackberries grown in the state forest behind my house. I am pretty
thrilled with how it came out. However, I noticed that with one of
the jars, if turned on it's side it will move around in the jar. The
other jars don't do that. You can turn them upside down and the
headspace still stays empty and the jam stays in place. Does anyone
know why this might have happened? I remember feeling like one of the
jars was a little over on the amount of head space (short on jam).

Thanks in advance for any help.

Andy

"AndrewMcGibbon" > wrote in message
ups.com...
>I just made my first batch of jam ever yesterday with wild
> blackberries grown in the state forest behind my house. I am pretty
> thrilled with how it came out. However, I noticed that with one of
> the jars, if turned on it's side it will move around in the jar. The
> other jars don't do that. You can turn them upside down and the
> headspace still stays empty and the jam stays in place. Does anyone
> know why this might have happened? I remember feeling like one of the
> jars was a little over on the amount of head space (short on jam).
>
> Thanks in advance for any help.
>
> Andy
>

Andy,

for starters, don't worry too much yet - some fruits can take a little
longer to set - is it only one jar? Blackberry sauce on pancakes, ice
cream, or cheesecake sounds pretty good to me...;-)

What kind of recipe did you use?

Kathi

"AndrewMcGibbon" > wrote in message
ups.com...
>I just made my first batch of jam ever yesterday with wild
> blackberries grown in the state forest behind my house. I am pretty
> thrilled with how it came out. However, I noticed that with one of
> the jars, if turned on it's side it will move around in the jar. The
> other jars don't do that. You can turn them upside down and the
> headspace still stays empty and the jam stays in place. Does anyone
> know why this might have happened? I remember feeling like one of the
> jars was a little over on the amount of head space (short on jam).
>
> Thanks in advance for any help.
>
> Andy

I had a jar out of the last batch of strawberry (made with pectin) that did
that. Must be a conspiracy. Jam should "slip" a little bit, according to the
judges at the fair. I don't think headspace was a problem, but you might
want to use up that jar first. Or in the interests of science, wait a bit
like Kathi says.
Edrena

AndrewMcGibbon wrote:
> I just made my first batch of jam ever yesterday with wild
> blackberries grown in the state forest behind my house.

Speaking of foragers, where's William Watt?

B/

"AndrewMcGibbon" > wrote in message
ups.com...
>I just made my first batch of jam ever yesterday with wild
> blackberries grown in the state forest behind my house. I am pretty
> thrilled with how it came out. However, I noticed that with one of
> the jars, if turned on it's side it will move around in the jar. The
> other jars don't do that. You can turn them upside down and the
> headspace still stays empty and the jam stays in place. Does anyone
> know why this might have happened? I remember feeling like one of the
> jars was a little over on the amount of head space (short on jam).
>
> Thanks in advance for any help.
>
> Andy
>

Probably none of it is any good so you should just pack it all up and ship
to me...

Cheryl

"AndrewMcGibbon" > wrote in message
ups.com...
> I just made my first batch of jam ever yesterday with wild
> blackberries grown in the state forest behind my house. I am pretty
> thrilled with how it came out. However, I noticed that with one of
> the jars, if turned on it's side it will move around in the jar. The
> other jars don't do that. You can turn them upside down and the
> headspace still stays empty and the jam stays in place. Does anyone
> know why this might have happened?

Actually I would bet that all of them would do that if you turned them
upside down and left them overnight. What's probably happened is
the top "skin" on the jam in the moving-around jar has detached from
the sides of the jar, maybe you bumped that jar a bit while it was
cooling.

It's nothing to worry about. Wild blackberries are naturally more
acidic than farm raised blackberries (they taste far better, IMHO)
and the jell that forms may "weep" a bit of liquid as a result, that
can lubricate the sides of the jar and allow the entire jelled mass
to move around inside the jar. You might try adding a half cup more
sugar next time.

Ted