Help making jam!?
Ok, first off, I do not wish to use pectin or a lot of excess sugar. I received this recipe from someone whom I cannot ask questions from as they have passed away. I did love eating this jam though. Here is the recipe…
2 cups strawberries
1 3oz package strawberry jello
1-2 tbls sugar
water as needed
I boiled the berries and sugar and added a enough water so they wouldn’t burn. I removed the pot from heat and stirred in the jello and poured into jars.
Here is my problem. This jam, when made by the recipe’s creator, it was a little runny and spread easily onto bread. Mine came out very solid, like jello, with the fruit floating up and pure jello for the bottom inch of the jar. Can anyone help me on how I can get my jam to not be like jello please?
Iguana pretty much answered your question. I would cut down on the quantity of the jello – I don’t think the heat or lack thereof would keep it from getting so thick with the quantity of jello you have in there.
I was just curious why you don’t want to use pectin? Pectin is from fruit such as apples. The thickener in jello is from animal products (no I’m not a vegetarian and I do eat everything).
I love to make my regular jam recipe but double it because then the pectin doesn’t set up to a hard jam. Instead, if I keep it in the freezer, it never freezes but you can spread it on toast and, if you refrigerate it instead, it makes a wonderful topping for ice cream. I cut the sugar quantity down from the recipe in the pectin box, double the recipe and there you go.
But, for your recipe – I would just cut back on the jello – that would keep it from being solid. Also, depending on your strawberries – riper ones would add more juice to the mix than ones not too ripe.
One more thing, if you mix the sugar into the strawberries and let them sit in a bowl for 4 hours, the strawberries will exude their moisture, create a nice juice, and help with the flavor and consistency of your jam.
Hope that helps.
Jam Drops