I made a BIG mistake- Help!!!

lesa

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We woke up at 5 am to pick strawberries at my friends organic field. We picked 20 quarts. I came right home and made most of it into jam.... I know how carefully you have to measure, etc. But, somehow my eyes went to the 8 cups and I did the fruit measurement wrong!! Needless to say, the jam did not set...
I used 8 cups of fruit and 7 cups of sugar. Should have been 5 cups of fruit, to 7 cups of sugar. Is there anyway out of this?? I am so disappointed. I can use some of it for pancakes and ice cream- but 20 quarts is a lot of berries!!!
Hoping somebody has some ideas!! Thanks!
 

wifezilla

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Yikes!

The last thing I canned that didn't set I added no sugar needed pectin to it and tried again. It worked.

I guess you could add more sugar, more regular pectin and try again.
 

lesa

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Great minds think alike, Collector- I was tempted to say I was in a "jam"- more accurately I'm in juicy stuff, that isn't jam!!!!
 

damummis

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So you used 8 cups for a 5 cup recipe. If it were me I would throw it all back in the pot and add 2 1/2 cups of sugar and a package of pectin. Did you put lemon juice in? If not, I would add a squeeze. The acid helps the pectin to set. The only bummer is you can't reuse the lids. I am not an expert but it should work.
 

lesa

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Thanks, Damummis- trust me, I don't mind wasting the lids as much as I mind wasting the fruit! I was thinking that might work, but I wanted to hear someone else say it!!
 

lesa

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I am off on Friday- so I will give it a shot then.....I'll keep you posted. Thanks!
 

Veggie PAK

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Good luck with it! Been there, done that! Make sure you don't mix liquid pectin with powdered pectin product or vice versa. I read they don't mix.
 

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