How to Fix (or Remake) Jam or Jelly That Turns Out Too Soft or Runny (2024)

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How to Fix (or Remake) Jam or Jelly That Turns Out Too Soft or Runny

Sometimes after you have canned your jam, jelly or other preserves and let it cool,you open a jar, only to find it hasn't set properly an d is too runny! If yourjam or jelly turns out too soft or runny, don't despair, and don't throw itaway! It can be fixed! Here's how!

If the jam is too thick, before you put it in the jars, just heat 1 or 2 cupsof grape juice (or any other fruit juice of similar or neutral taste, like appleor white grape) to boiling. Then, gradually pour and stir it in until youreach the desired consistency, then continue canning!

If the jars are already sealed / canned, then when youuse them, just stir in a little grape juice until you reach the desiredthickness.

If the jam turns out too runny, that is a littledifferent to fix. Here's how:

Or click here for aPDF version that prints nicely! If you wantthis page inmetric units, click here! AndGoogle has a great conversion calculator that will convert from anyunits to any units.

Ingredients

• The jars of jam to be remade
• No-sugar-needed type pectin - available at most grocery storesand big box stores and online here, at right. If you useregular pectin, that may make the jam or jelly too sweet! 1 box ofdry pectin is equal to 1.75 oz (by weight, or 7 tablespoons, oralmost 1/2 cup or 21 teaspoons).
• Lemon juice
• Sugar

Supplies

• New lids for the jars (you can reuse the rings and wash the jars.)

Background

It takes 3 ingredients forjams and jellies to set: pectin, sugar and acidity. The amount of pectin that isnaturally occurring in the fruit varies from one type of fruit to another and byripeness (counter intuitively, unripe contains more pectin).See this page for more about pectin infruit. It takes the right balance, and sufficient amounts of each of pectin,sugar and acidity to result in a firm jam or jelly.

And beyond the balance of those ingredients, there are twoconditions that must be met: the right amount of heat for the right amountof time. It takes a briefperiod (1 minute) of a hard boil, to provide enough heat to bring the threetogether. Generally speaking, if your jam doesn't firm up, you wereshort in pectin, sugar or acidity or didn't get a hard boil. We will correctthat when we remake the jam or jelly!

Finally, you CANNOT reliably make batches of jam larger than 6 cups ofraw fruit (of course, but the time you add sweetener, lemon juice, etc. it willbe more than that). No matter how much you stir, you won't get effectiveheat penetration in larger batches, so some pectin gets overcooked, whileother pectin is not activated. So, to reliably fix the jam, you will need tosplit it into batches of less than 7 cups each.

Step 1 - Empty the jars into a pot and clean the jars

Empty the jars that are to be remade into a large pot (I like 16qt)

Then clean the jars and discard the used lids. Your jars need tobe clean and "sterile" - Sterile means put them into the boilingwater bath when you fill the canner and then remove them rightbefore you fill them. That way the will be hot and sanitized.The lids should be kept in hot, steamy (but not boiling) water(around 180 to 200 F, or 80 - 90 C)

Step2 -Determine how much jam or jelly needs to be remade

Measure the jam or jelly to be recooked. Work with no more than 4 to 6 cupsat a time. Check all the jars from the batch - if one failed to set, most or allprobably failed. You can check by just turning them upside down and seeinghow quickly the jam or jelly shlooshes* around in the jar.
(* - Schloosh - from the old Pennsylvania Dutch verb, "schlushen" meaning to flop around like afreshly caught trout)

Add up the volumes of all the jars to be reworked, to figure out the size ofthe batch (in quarts) for step 2.

1 qt = 32 oz = 2 pints = four 8oz jars = eight 4oz jars).

Open the jars to be fixed and dump them all into a large pot.

Since you will probably want to reuse the jars, get the now emptied jarswashing in the dishwasher.

Step 3 - Measure out additional pectin, water, sugar and lemon juice

If you are using powdered pectin:

For each quart of jam or jelly to be fixed, mix 1/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cupwater or white grape juice, 2 tablespoons bottled lemon juice, and 4 teaspoonspowdered pectin in a large pot. So, if you made a batch of jam and have 10eight-ounce jars that didn't set, that would be an average batch (10 cups or 2.5quarts). For that average batch of about 2.5 quarts total, you would need 2/3 cups sugar,2/3 cups water orjuice and about 1/3 cup lemon juice, plus about 3/4 of a box of pectin, preferably theno-sugar variety.

This table may help you with calculations:

Remember, if you have more than 6 cups of jam,

If you are using liquid pectin:

For each quart of jam or jelly, measure 3/4 cup sugar, 2 tablespoons bottled lemonjuice, and 2 tablespoons liquid pectin in a large pot.

Step 4 - Mix with the jam or jelly and bring to a boil

Add the jam or jelly to the pectin mixture and bring it to a rolling boil, over high heat, stirring constantly.Keep in mind that one reason jams and jellies don't set is because people try todouble batches, and there is non-uniform heating. That results in some pectinbecoming over-cooked and some pectin in the batch is under cooked. Nevermake a new batch of jam or jelly starting with more than 6 cups of crushed freshor frozen fruit; and never try to remake a batch larger than 2.5 quarts.

Once it is a rolling boil, then boil it hard for 45 to 60 seconds (1 minute).A "hard boil" is distinctly different from a "rolling boil". A rolling boil issimply the production of bubbles but is not all-encompassing and mayeven be stirred down.

A hard boil often produces foam and the jam expands, rises tofill more of the pot, and cannot be stirred away

Don't "overboil" Just 1 minute of a "hard boil"

Step 5 - Testing for "gel" (thickness)

Ikeep a metal tablespoon sitting in a glass of ice water, take it out, shake offthe water and then take a halfspoonful of the mix and let it cool to room temperature on the spoon. in aminute or so. If itthickens up to the consistency I like, then I know the jam is ready. If not, Imix in a little more pectin (about 1/4 to 1/2 of another package) and bring itto a boil again for 1 minute.

Step 6 - Remove, from heat, skim and fill the jars

Remove from heat, and quickly skim the foam off jam or jelly.

Fill sterile jars (automatic dishwashers often have a sanitize setting,otherwise, wash and dry and add 5 minutes to the processing time), leaving1/4-inch headspace. Adjust new lids (don't reuse the previous lids, theyare single use) and...

Step 7 - Process in the water bath

... process as recommended in the table below.

*Larger sizes are generally not recommended for jams and jellies

Lessons learned

• If the jam was too runny, then next time you might want to add about 20% more pectin to start with, or makesure you bring to a full hard boil for 1 minute (not less, and not more than afew seconds longer).
• If it was too thick, add a little less pectin, and/or a bit of fruit juicebefore you cook it!
• Limit your batch sizes to no more than 6 to 8 cups of crushed fruitto start - meaning each batch should produce no more than 8 to 11 jars(8 oz each) of jam or jelly.

If you want to learn more about pectin, how it works and the different types of pectin, and where to get it; see this page.

Can I use Instant freezer pectin to make cooked / canned jams andjellies?

See thispage for the answer!

Feedback

• A visitor writes on September 15, 2017: "Thank you so muchfor the jam repair recipe, especially for liquid pectin since that iswhat I used. Worked perfectly.. Also I boiled it hard like you said andwow it is stiffer now Great flavor no corn syrup since I made it my selfJust glad I did not have to throw it out Blessings to you and yoursHappy Alaskan
• A visitor writes on July 18, 2016: "Hello, I just wanted tothank you for the information on "fixing" my runny jam. I have been anavid home cook my entire life - even had a catering business in the1980's. After several (large) batches of very runny - liquid - jam - Iwas ready to throw them out the window! I will try your helpfulsuggestions and re-make my 19 jars of blackberry jam with fingerscrossed. I did not use pectin, following the recipe that was theproblem! My husband keeps a farm diary on his Facebook page at BramleyFarm LLC. Thank you again for your great information! Sincerely, Pam"
• A visitor writes on July 13, 2016: "Thank you. You saved mystrawberry jam from becoming sauce!"
• A visitor writes on August 03, 2014: "The recipe for remakingworked great. Now we can officially enter it into the fair. It was a lotof work making jelly and I (like many others on your awesome website)did not want to waste the fruit. Thanks so much"
• A visitor writes on July 11, 2014: "THANK YOU!! Your websiteand directions for how to fix runny jam SAVED me and my Strawberry jamyesterday! Originally from PA and with German heritage, my jam wasdefinitely "schlooshing" around. I remade 8 cups (yes too much -berriesvery ripe) to your instructions and with a little extra pectin and we'reall good! Thank you for this site and what you do here! Very helpful...Lisa M."
• A visitor writes on November 03, 2013: "Thanks for your pageon redoing jelly that doesn't set the first time. It saved a batch ofapple jelly I had made previously. Your website is a wonderful resourcefor canning, especially if you are just starting out. The directions areclear and easy to understand. Thank you again for all the work!"
• A visitor writes on October 20, 2013: "I am new to canning soit was no surprise that I messed up my a batch of pomegranate pear jam.I knew it was too runny when I put it into the jars but I wasn't surewhat i had done wrong. I found your blog and recooked the jam as youinstructed and, voila!, to my great surprise and joy, my jam is nowthick and gorgeous. Just thought you'd enjoy knowing you saved my jamfrom the bin. Thank you soooo much. "
• A visitor writes on September 29, 2013: "Thanks so much foryour tips on how to fix runny jelly. Mom and I made some Rootbeer jellyand it didn't set up but with your tips on how to fix the jelly it savedthe day! Thanks so much mom and I have used your site a lot for tips andhow to's on canning."
• A visitor writes on September 18, 2013: "My husband and Ipicked a bunch of beach plums this month, and rendered several quarts ofjuice. My usually reliable recipe for jelly failed, and I was horrified!If you have ever made beach plum jelly, you know that it's more preciousthan gold! I was so thankful to come across your instructions forremaking failed jelly - it worked beautifully! Not only that, but thiswebsite is AWESOME!! Thank you so much! I've sent the page to mydaughter and all of my friends who can and preserve."
• A visitor writes on July 17, 2013: "Made strawberry jam andit did not set properly. Followed your directions to fix unset jam andworked like a charm!! Thank you for saving my jam :)"
• Comments from a visitor on November 05, 2010: "Your "How To FixRunny Jam" worked great for me too. I made the "Grapefruit Marmalade"from the "Ball Blue Book of Preserving", but it didn't set at all.Marmalade is not usually as set as jam, but it's not liquid, which minewas. I reprocessed using your instructions and it worked perfectly, fora 16-cup batch no less. "
• Comments from a visitor on July 17, 2010: "Thank you for your methodto fix runny jam. I used it on my kumquat jam and it worked beautifully.My three little kumquat trees bear lots of fruit and I make jam everyyear with more or less success. This year it is the best ever - I havenever made such beautifully set jam. Wish you could taste it too. KindRegards, Claire"

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