Happy Solstice! I thought I was being clever by semi-processing my sour cherries and berries in July when I didn't have time to can everything. I mixed fruit and sugar 2/1, cooked it together just until it started to break down and the sugar dissolved, then froze everything for jam making later (now). It worked beautifully for the sour cherries, the thermometer hit 219, and into the jars it went. The red raspberries on the other hand cooked fo-evah, spattered all over the kitchen, but never got above 217. I noticed it starting to thicken up, and put it in the jars and canned as usual. I stirred almost constantly, checked the temp frequently, but the fruit tastes off, and slightly burnt, although there was no sign of burning on the bottom of the pan. I know there are a million variables, but I'd appreciate any ideas you might have about how it could have never reached temperature, but still set up and tastes funky. (The fruit-sugar mix tasted fine when thawed and in the pot.) Thank you!
Happy solstice & great question! So there's a couple of things at play here....
First, both of those fruits are low pectin fruits to start with, which is tricky in terms of jam. They work with fresh fruit well enough, but freezing fruit breaks down the pectin. A week in the freezer reduces the pectin content of fruit by about 50%, and beyond that the breakdown is less dramatic, but at 6 months they're well under half their original pectin content...which was minimal to start.
(Even high pectin fruits have trouble jelling properly after freezing, and you can make whole berry cranberry sauce with frozen cranberries...but jellied cranberry sauce just won't set, even though cranberries are one of the highest pectin fruits. This is actually really useful in winemaking, where you freeze fruits on purpose to break down pectin before making them into wine.)
For the sour cherries, they will still thicken into a jam, largely because they still have their skins there. Sour cherry jam, at least how I make it (https://practicalselfreliance.com/sour-cherry-jam/) isn't "technically" a jam, it's what's known as a preserve. More of a sugar thickened fruit that looks like a jam because it has nice skins in there to make it jam-ish...but it doesn't actually have enough natural pectin in it to be considered a "jam" if you want to get technical about it. It does still work with frozen fruit.
Raspberries are technically a low pectin fruit, but they have other parts in there that's not really understood by "jam science" if that's such a thing, and they're often treated as a high pectin fruit for jam making purposes. I make plain jam with them, no pectin added, and it's one of my very favorites (https://creativecanning.com/raspberry-jam/).
I would have guessed that they'd be ok with frozen fruit, honestly, since it's not technically pectin thickening them either...but apparently not? The other non-pectin magic that makes them thicken into jam (whatever it is) must also be damaged by freezing. (I've never tried making raspberry jam with frozen fruit.)
I've had what you describe happen when making a lower sugar strawberry jam...it cooked fo-evah, like 2 to 3 hours... sputtered like mad and tasted like fruit leather instead of jam, and never get anywhere near 220 F. I'd guess that's where you're at...the sugar to pectin ratio, with whatever pectin (or pectin like) substance that broke down in the freezer was off somehow, and it thickened...but like fruit leather rather than jam. Really just cooked down to thicken, but didn't "gel" in the proper sense.
It might work if you put in a boat load of sugar, but I wouldn't count on it. Your best bet, if you have more in the freezer, it to add some high pectin fruit (like cranberries or apples).
Given that the sugar's already in it, you can't use regular boxed pectin, but you could use liquid pectin. The downside there is that it requires astronomical amounts of sugar to set (like 7 cups sugar to 4 cups fruit) and it has sodium benzoate, etc to keep the liquid pectin from spoiling in the pouch.
Your other options are to just use it as a thin cranberry compote/sauce/syrup, or to convert it into something else (like wine).
Sorry it didn't turn out! It's so sad to lose raspberries =(
Boom. That sounds exactly like what I'm facing. "Fruit leather thickening rather than gelling". Thank you so much for that detailed and thoughtful analysis. I DO have lots more frozen fruit/sugar, and will figure out something else to do with it. I didn't see anything searching the interwebs about freezing breaking down pectin, but I had a feeling you would have an answer for me. Thanks again!
Happy to report that after cooling the raspberry fruit leather jam is quite palatable if a bit thick and seedy. Thanks again for the amazing resource that you and your site are to so many of us!
Hi, Ashley - love you, love your blog! Every time something pings my mailbox from you it feels like a happy hug/validation of the life simpler life I'm choosing to live. :)
Thanks for the winemaking/mead info you sent a while back. I've been experimenting with all sorts of microbrews lately. Even batched up some butternut squash and zucchini wines yesterday - will see on those, but worth a try with the garden leftovers I'm tired of. New motto: "When in doubt, make wine!"
Question for your ASK ANYTHING> WHAT SEED CATALOG(S) DO YOU RECOMMEND? We usually just buy off-the-shelf at our local ag co-op/hardware store, but want to try some of the more exotic planting you write about (husk cherries, sorrel, jerusalem artichokes, etc) that aren't found on a co-op shelf. We are NW WI, so in the same planting zone as you.
Looking for best value for decent quality/selection, without having to agonize about compare-and-contrast to find the best one(s). Knowing you, you've been there / done that (and probably already written about it), so I'm going straight to the expert on this one :)
Great question! The most dependable catalog for this growing region is Fedco Seeds out of Maine. Just about everything they sell will do wonderfully in zone 3/4/5 and we get most of our stuff from them. They have a "fedco trees" catalog too, where they sell perennials and a bulbs catalog where they sell garlic/ginger/etc along with flower bulbs.
The catalog is black and white on newsprint, so not the pretty picture seed catalog you'd get in many places, but their descriptions are wonderful. They're also the least expensive catalog out there, and seed packets are about 1/4 the price of others largely because they save a bit of money not sending picture catalogs (and their packets are plain too, no pictures).
Hi, I’m new to pressure canning. I’ve successfully done bone broth. I want to do some soups next. I’m confused from all the information I’ve read. Some say to layer the meat and veggies in the bottom 1/3 to f the jar, and top off with broth. Can’t I just make my regular soup recipes and keep under the 1 1/4 inch top ? I know I can’t add pasta, rice, thickening agents etc. Help please. Chris
So it's tricky....the generic "soup" recipe from the USDA has you fill the jar halfway with solids and then top with broth. They allow you to do that with any ingredient that can be canned, so as you say, no pasta, etc.
That's the generic instructions they give if you want to make your own soup recipe for canning. The reason is that some ingredients can result in a soup that's really thick, and might not process well (like recipes with lot of potatoes or beans). When you only fill the jar halfway there's now way for things to expand and get thick.
There are, however, a lot of specifically tested soup recipes that don't get too thick and that you can process with full jars rather than having a brothy soup. I have most of those that are publicly available online linked to here (along with more info on the USDA's process): https://practicalselfreliance.com/canning-soup/
This month is all about being at peace with not doing as much canning as I'd like to, fixing the antique sewing machine (sears kenmore 95), reviewing seed orders, and plucking delicious rose hips from the bushes while my kid plays outside in the frozen dirt.
I'd love to see what kind of pots/containers you use for dipping candles. I've always made poured, even though I prefer the dipped.
You can store it in the fridge, but if you're keeping it there for more than 6ish weeks you'll need to feed it occasionally (like a sourdough starter).
Good question, and I had to look that one up. I don't think there's a way to pay for subscription early until yours expires. I looked though, and you're good through Mid-June next year, so I'm sure it'll email you at that point. Glad to have you along!
Great read as always! Jill asked the same subject I was going to ask. I live in Suburban Chicago. Hope to "rebuild" my soil. Have leaves and grass covering the soil for now, want to prepare for next year garden...seeds, when to start plants, I know it's early, but I'm slow...😁
Here's what I told Jill, and it's also a great option for urban/suburban areas because there's no smell and it's racoon proof:
A compost tumbler is a great option for composting in winter, especially close to the house. They're really efficient and control smells, so you can compost things that generally don't do well in a regular pile (bones, meat scraps, oily things, corn cobs, etc). Some of the best are made by Jora: https://www.joracomposters.com/
Hi, we just moved and have not had time to build a composter. And when we do, it will be some distance from the house. Do you have a suggestion for how to compost close to the house in winter?
A compost tumbler is a great option for composting in winter, especially close to the house. They're really efficient and control smells, so you can compost things that generally don't do well in a regular pile (bones, meat scraps, oily things, corn cobs, etc). Some of the best are made by Jora: https://www.joracomposters.com/
Hi Ashley,
Happy Solstice! I thought I was being clever by semi-processing my sour cherries and berries in July when I didn't have time to can everything. I mixed fruit and sugar 2/1, cooked it together just until it started to break down and the sugar dissolved, then froze everything for jam making later (now). It worked beautifully for the sour cherries, the thermometer hit 219, and into the jars it went. The red raspberries on the other hand cooked fo-evah, spattered all over the kitchen, but never got above 217. I noticed it starting to thicken up, and put it in the jars and canned as usual. I stirred almost constantly, checked the temp frequently, but the fruit tastes off, and slightly burnt, although there was no sign of burning on the bottom of the pan. I know there are a million variables, but I'd appreciate any ideas you might have about how it could have never reached temperature, but still set up and tastes funky. (The fruit-sugar mix tasted fine when thawed and in the pot.) Thank you!
Hey Lance,
Happy solstice & great question! So there's a couple of things at play here....
First, both of those fruits are low pectin fruits to start with, which is tricky in terms of jam. They work with fresh fruit well enough, but freezing fruit breaks down the pectin. A week in the freezer reduces the pectin content of fruit by about 50%, and beyond that the breakdown is less dramatic, but at 6 months they're well under half their original pectin content...which was minimal to start.
(Even high pectin fruits have trouble jelling properly after freezing, and you can make whole berry cranberry sauce with frozen cranberries...but jellied cranberry sauce just won't set, even though cranberries are one of the highest pectin fruits. This is actually really useful in winemaking, where you freeze fruits on purpose to break down pectin before making them into wine.)
For the sour cherries, they will still thicken into a jam, largely because they still have their skins there. Sour cherry jam, at least how I make it (https://practicalselfreliance.com/sour-cherry-jam/) isn't "technically" a jam, it's what's known as a preserve. More of a sugar thickened fruit that looks like a jam because it has nice skins in there to make it jam-ish...but it doesn't actually have enough natural pectin in it to be considered a "jam" if you want to get technical about it. It does still work with frozen fruit.
Raspberries are technically a low pectin fruit, but they have other parts in there that's not really understood by "jam science" if that's such a thing, and they're often treated as a high pectin fruit for jam making purposes. I make plain jam with them, no pectin added, and it's one of my very favorites (https://creativecanning.com/raspberry-jam/).
I would have guessed that they'd be ok with frozen fruit, honestly, since it's not technically pectin thickening them either...but apparently not? The other non-pectin magic that makes them thicken into jam (whatever it is) must also be damaged by freezing. (I've never tried making raspberry jam with frozen fruit.)
I've had what you describe happen when making a lower sugar strawberry jam...it cooked fo-evah, like 2 to 3 hours... sputtered like mad and tasted like fruit leather instead of jam, and never get anywhere near 220 F. I'd guess that's where you're at...the sugar to pectin ratio, with whatever pectin (or pectin like) substance that broke down in the freezer was off somehow, and it thickened...but like fruit leather rather than jam. Really just cooked down to thicken, but didn't "gel" in the proper sense.
It might work if you put in a boat load of sugar, but I wouldn't count on it. Your best bet, if you have more in the freezer, it to add some high pectin fruit (like cranberries or apples).
Given that the sugar's already in it, you can't use regular boxed pectin, but you could use liquid pectin. The downside there is that it requires astronomical amounts of sugar to set (like 7 cups sugar to 4 cups fruit) and it has sodium benzoate, etc to keep the liquid pectin from spoiling in the pouch.
Your other options are to just use it as a thin cranberry compote/sauce/syrup, or to convert it into something else (like wine).
Sorry it didn't turn out! It's so sad to lose raspberries =(
Boom. That sounds exactly like what I'm facing. "Fruit leather thickening rather than gelling". Thank you so much for that detailed and thoughtful analysis. I DO have lots more frozen fruit/sugar, and will figure out something else to do with it. I didn't see anything searching the interwebs about freezing breaking down pectin, but I had a feeling you would have an answer for me. Thanks again!
You're quite welcome!
Happy to report that after cooling the raspberry fruit leather jam is quite palatable if a bit thick and seedy. Thanks again for the amazing resource that you and your site are to so many of us!
Hi, Ashley - love you, love your blog! Every time something pings my mailbox from you it feels like a happy hug/validation of the life simpler life I'm choosing to live. :)
Thanks for the winemaking/mead info you sent a while back. I've been experimenting with all sorts of microbrews lately. Even batched up some butternut squash and zucchini wines yesterday - will see on those, but worth a try with the garden leftovers I'm tired of. New motto: "When in doubt, make wine!"
Question for your ASK ANYTHING> WHAT SEED CATALOG(S) DO YOU RECOMMEND? We usually just buy off-the-shelf at our local ag co-op/hardware store, but want to try some of the more exotic planting you write about (husk cherries, sorrel, jerusalem artichokes, etc) that aren't found on a co-op shelf. We are NW WI, so in the same planting zone as you.
Looking for best value for decent quality/selection, without having to agonize about compare-and-contrast to find the best one(s). Knowing you, you've been there / done that (and probably already written about it), so I'm going straight to the expert on this one :)
Thanks for any advice you can give.
Happy December/ Holiday Season!
~Jen H, NW WI
Hi Jen,
Great question! The most dependable catalog for this growing region is Fedco Seeds out of Maine. Just about everything they sell will do wonderfully in zone 3/4/5 and we get most of our stuff from them. They have a "fedco trees" catalog too, where they sell perennials and a bulbs catalog where they sell garlic/ginger/etc along with flower bulbs.
The catalog is black and white on newsprint, so not the pretty picture seed catalog you'd get in many places, but their descriptions are wonderful. They're also the least expensive catalog out there, and seed packets are about 1/4 the price of others largely because they save a bit of money not sending picture catalogs (and their packets are plain too, no pictures).
Thanks! Can't wait to check it out and start dreaming about next year's gardening.
Thanks for clarifying that 💕
Hi, I’m new to pressure canning. I’ve successfully done bone broth. I want to do some soups next. I’m confused from all the information I’ve read. Some say to layer the meat and veggies in the bottom 1/3 to f the jar, and top off with broth. Can’t I just make my regular soup recipes and keep under the 1 1/4 inch top ? I know I can’t add pasta, rice, thickening agents etc. Help please. Chris
So it's tricky....the generic "soup" recipe from the USDA has you fill the jar halfway with solids and then top with broth. They allow you to do that with any ingredient that can be canned, so as you say, no pasta, etc.
That's the generic instructions they give if you want to make your own soup recipe for canning. The reason is that some ingredients can result in a soup that's really thick, and might not process well (like recipes with lot of potatoes or beans). When you only fill the jar halfway there's now way for things to expand and get thick.
There are, however, a lot of specifically tested soup recipes that don't get too thick and that you can process with full jars rather than having a brothy soup. I have most of those that are publicly available online linked to here (along with more info on the USDA's process): https://practicalselfreliance.com/canning-soup/
Also thanks for all the links. Can’t wait to get started
This month is all about being at peace with not doing as much canning as I'd like to, fixing the antique sewing machine (sears kenmore 95), reviewing seed orders, and plucking delicious rose hips from the bushes while my kid plays outside in the frozen dirt.
I'd love to see what kind of pots/containers you use for dipping candles. I've always made poured, even though I prefer the dipped.
There's a really simple setup here using an olive oil can (but a big no.10 can would work too): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIWt23aiEb0
I like to brew Jun. Sometimes I need to take a break for a few months. How can I safely store my SCOBY in the fridge without it dying?
You can store it in the fridge, but if you're keeping it there for more than 6ish weeks you'll need to feed it occasionally (like a sourdough starter).
There are some options for storing kombucha skobys here (and Jun works the same): https://culturesforhealth.com/blogs/learn/making-a-scoby-hotel-to-store-your-scoby
thanks Ashley!
Can you post a link as to how I can pay for my subscription next year? I only see the gift subscription link..
Good question, and I had to look that one up. I don't think there's a way to pay for subscription early until yours expires. I looked though, and you're good through Mid-June next year, so I'm sure it'll email you at that point. Glad to have you along!
Great read as always! Jill asked the same subject I was going to ask. I live in Suburban Chicago. Hope to "rebuild" my soil. Have leaves and grass covering the soil for now, want to prepare for next year garden...seeds, when to start plants, I know it's early, but I'm slow...😁
Here's what I told Jill, and it's also a great option for urban/suburban areas because there's no smell and it's racoon proof:
A compost tumbler is a great option for composting in winter, especially close to the house. They're really efficient and control smells, so you can compost things that generally don't do well in a regular pile (bones, meat scraps, oily things, corn cobs, etc). Some of the best are made by Jora: https://www.joracomposters.com/
There are a lot of brand though.
Hi, we just moved and have not had time to build a composter. And when we do, it will be some distance from the house. Do you have a suggestion for how to compost close to the house in winter?
A compost tumbler is a great option for composting in winter, especially close to the house. They're really efficient and control smells, so you can compost things that generally don't do well in a regular pile (bones, meat scraps, oily things, corn cobs, etc). Some of the best are made by Jora: https://www.joracomposters.com/
There are a lot of brand though.
Thanks so much Jay!