Does jam need to set to keep

[witchwithallthetrimmings]

Made chilli jam on Friday but it is very sloppy but also very yummy. I could not boil it for long enough as dd did poo in her pants! Is it still safe?

As long as it has boiled and is in sterilised jars with lids that have sealed down, it will be fine. You have simply made sweet chilli sauce instead.

Soft set jam won't keep as long as properly set jam. You can re-boil it to make it set or just keep it in the fridge if you're going to use it up quickly as it'll go mouldy even in the fridge after a couple of months.

If it sat around in the pan between cooking and bottling, while you sorted out dd, then I would reboil it. OTOH If you bottled it immediately then it should be fine.

Despite goofing up the set, I've never had sealed jars of jam, syrup or sauce go off as long as the sterility was correct. Though TBH I always store runny jams in the fridge, even unopened.

I will re boil then and make sure dp is around to deal with any poo emergencies thanks both

One of the reasons jams keep is that the water is all tied up with the sugar, so if you have free water then it won't keep as long at all. I've made quite runny jam like things (actually using a different sugar) though and they still keep for many weeks in the fridge as ProfYaffle says.