Greengage jam - Didn't set!!

[Jules]

For the first time my husband and I took a great deal of trouble netting over our greengage tree so we had a fighting chance with the birds! It worked and we have picked over eight pounds of fruit!
I made jam BUT.....all was going well and I was testing for setting point when it appeared the bottom was burning!
Panic set in and I stopped the boiling and put it all into jars. Its not bad but its certainly not solidly set!!
I used all the right equipment and followed all the right procedures - can anyone help? any suggestions for reboiling? Adding pectin at this stage?
Where do you buy pectin??
Sorry so long!!

[Chantal]

Hi Jules

This happened to me last year. The first batch was fine, the second just failed to set. I reboiled using Certo (pectin) and it worked, but the jam was rather browner than it was green.

You can buy Certo at Sainsbury's, Tesco et all, usually beside the sugar.

[Primrose]

How long did you boil it for? I think normally it should be for about 20 - 25 minutes and possibly if the fruit was over-ripe it didn't have enough natural pectin in it or you might have added just a little too much water. We now make all our jam & marmalade in the microwave which prevents any burning problem because the sugar doesn't burn using this method. You could try bringing one test jar to boiling point in a bowl boiling for a few minutes with some lemon juice added. Then test as usual by dropping a small patch on a cold plate for a few minutes to see if it wrinkles. This worked for me once when I had some very loose set jam. Alternative you could reboil and add some Certo. But you obviously have rather a lot of jam so it might be better to do a small test run first. Let us know how you get on.

[Jules]

Thanks for all your suggestions. I went out and bought some Certo and have added half a bottle to two jars which I reboiled first along with a little lemon juice which I read is supposed to 'help' the Certo. Now I am just watching and waiting.....I really must find some paint thats drying!!!!!!!!
Thanks again! I'll let you know if its a success but if you don't hear its because I am trampling the other plums into the ground!!

[Primrose]

Jules, I can imagine that greengages might be a little more difficult than plums to set in jam because when you eat them raw, especially when ripe, they don't have such a tart "kick" to them as plums, which reflects the pectin content which helps the setting process. You probably now have enough greengage jam (or lightly set "conserve" if your experiment hasn't worked !!) to last you for ages, but next time, if you can pick them slightly more under-ripe, increase the lemon juice and slightly reduce the water content it may reduce the risk of non-setting. The other thing to do is combine the greengages with some plums. Hope your experiment works.

[Jules]

Many thanks Primrose.
No the experiment with the two jars didn't work - maybe I should have used the whole bottle of Certo!!! Anyway I now have yet ANOTHER two jars of 'runnish greengage conserve'!!!!
I do have some pinkish plums (I was given them so have no idea of the name of them)- should I mix these with the rest of my greengages to make some more jam.....or should I give up?!!! Not sure I have any jars left and all my friends and relatives will be getting jam (or runny conserve)this year for Christmas,if I continue!!!!

[Chantal]

I should start pouring it over puddings or ice cream.

[Primrose]

Jules, if I tell you that shortly after I got married many years ago I made 32 jumbo Kilner jars of marmalade (my first attempt ever at making preserves) which didn't set, you will see that I have gradually over the years learned from my mistakes !! After my marmalade didn't set, I reboiled it for another hour in my ignorance, thinking I hadn't boiled it enough, and so learned that you can boil preserves to death beyond the point at which setting point will never be reached, and you may possibly have reached this point. Sorry your experiment didn't work. If you can bear to make up some plum jam, using lots of lemon juice and only half the amount of water your recipe provides, you may be able to make some stiff plum jam, which whilst still warm and mixed in equal quantities with your greengages, will give you a jam which is acceptable. Lack of jars could obviously be a problem but if you're really desperate, you could try pouring the mixture into a casserole dish with a lid and storing, when cool in your fridge, until you can collect enough. Believe it or not, this does work provided you warm the jars, and jam slightly when transferring them later, providing you pack the jam down in its new abode to abolish all the air bubbles. If you can't face another cooking session, perhaps you could whizz up your jam with a stick blender so all the fruit has pulped, and relabel the jars "Greengage Sauce" Ah, the things we try when we're desperate, but sometimes it's only by experimenting that we learn how to rescue things from the jaws of disaster.

[Jules]

Primrose - Thank you so much! Its good to know you're not alone in these matters! B.C. (Before children) - many years ago, in a previous house, we had a crab apple tree and for many years I produced lovely jars of Crab Apple Jelly!
I thought it was all going to be so easy - I hadn't bargained for the dreaded pectin content!!!!
As you say - we live and learn and its good to be learning still even if my cupboard looks a little like a supermarket shelf - with no choice of product though!!
Thanks again - I'll consider your options carefully!

[John]

Hello Jules
Sorry to hear of your jam problems. Its probably of no comfort to you to say that plum jam is usually on of the easiest to make!

Here are a few suggestions - you may well have done them anyway.

Don't try to make too much jam in one go. About 10lb of finished jam is what you can reasonably do in a home kitchen.

Boil the fruit first and get it to a good pulp before adding the sugar, preferably warmed. Then boil hard to reach the setting point.

Try at all costs to avoid using added pectin. It is likely to spoil the fresh fruity flavour of home-made jam. If you think that you might have a problem then test with methylated spirit. Put one teaspoon of pulp in a small glass and let it cool. Then add one tablespoon of meths. If there is plenty of pectin a clear jelly-like blob will form. With a medium pectin level then several blobs will form but with a low pectin level then no real blobs will form at all so extra pectin will then be needed. Strawberry jam is the only one that usually needs extra. Even so this can be avoided by using lemon juice to increase the acidity of the fruit.

Avoid prolonged boiling once you've added the sugar. If all is going well about 10 minutes should do. Much longer and the sugar will start to caramelise and your jam will go a dirty brown colour and taste of treacle.

Keep stirring all the time to avoid the jam beginning to burn on the bottom of the pan.

Get the setting point using a jam or sugar thermometer. Setting point is 105°C or 220°F. This is much more accurate than the cold saucer method. The jam will start to boil below this temperature so keep boiling hard until it just rises to the setting temp.

Don't bother with fancy sugars for jam making. Ordinary 'gran' will work just fine.

Hope this helps.

John

[Primrose]

Well you certain live and learn! I'd never heard about the metholated spirits process for testing pectin levels. I've always just kept a couple of extra lemons handy and squeezed extra juice in if I was worried about a loose set, but I'll certainly remember that in future John.