A thermometer is one way to test for a set. I find the wrinkle test easy enough though. The trick is to pull the pan off the heat (or turn the gas right down) while you test so it doesn't get overdone if it's at setting point. Having said that, I did once make a batch of strawberry jam that tasted "caramelised" .
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
This is especially important for things like strawberry jam, as this has very little pectin. I guess the same is true for marrows.
Always weigh the ingredients. Jam making, like baking, is a bit of a science and you need the right ratio of ingredients for the correct chemical and physical reactions to take place and give the results you want.
I also use a jam thermometer. Before I got one I used a cold plate in the freezer. Put a little jam on it, when cooled. If it's right the jam should slide slowly and steadily down the plate.
Gardener of a driveway pot garden - flowers one side, veg the other and a car in the middle. I am so looking forward to the day we can move into a house with a bigger garden.
I’ll confess that I make all my jam in the microwave, in small quantities! It means I can use less sugar as I only make about a jars worth at a time, and keep it in the fridge until it’s used up, which isn’t very long. I also use frozen fruit, so I can stock up on damsons when they are in season, and use them when I want to. As I don’t grow any fruit myself, this method works well for me. Still working on the setting too hard problem!
Another thought is that if when making jam you do everything exactly right until you reach the setting point, then continue to boil the jam, it will go past the setting point, turn into syrupy liquid and nothing will make it set.
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Next time try jam sugar, which has pectin in it.
This is especially important for things like strawberry jam, as this has very little pectin. I guess the same is true for marrows.
Always weigh the ingredients. Jam making, like baking, is a bit of a science and you need the right ratio of ingredients for the correct chemical and physical reactions to take place and give the results you want.
I also use a jam thermometer. Before I got one I used a cold plate in the freezer. Put a little jam on it, when cooled. If it's right the jam should slide slowly and steadily down the plate.
Over the years I've got to know which fruits need more/less sugar, and which need lemon juice or bottled pectin added.
My favourite is rhubarb and vanilla ..... it doesn't last long!
Bee x
A single bee creates just one twelfth of a teaspoon of honey in her lifetime