Jam Makers - particularly those who have learned by their mistakes.........

[VeniVidiVickiQV]

What do you do if you have made a jam this is "too set".

I made a plum jam didnt have ordinary sugar so used jam sugar and i find it too thick now.

Help!

Oh, am I the voice of experience on this one.

I don't know if you're meant to do this, but this is what I did when I ended up with rock hard grape jelly. And I've done it with solid plum jam too:

Scrape it out of the jar, put it in a large pan, and add some boiling water. Quantity will depend on the consistency you want. Stir it well until the water is dissolved, then put it back into sterilised jars. Make sure you do re-sterilise the jars otherwise the jam might get contaminated and go off, or whatever it's meant not to do.

It's not ideal but it does work.

And for next time, invest in a jam thermometer. My mum bought me one in return for all the pounds of jam I'd given her, and it really does make life easier as you don't have to faff around testing for setting points.

Good luck.

plums make pretty thick jam anyway so you dont need much pectin (in jam sugar)

Thanks BH - i might experiment on one of the jars. Enid, I realised that plums had alot pectin but I was already cooking them when i found i had no normal sugar. What should I have done instead - add more water?) (Other than check the cupboards first before starting to make it).