Chickens in the Road Forum

I use Sure-Jell no/low sugar pectin and love it, but I use it for cooked reduced sugar jam, not no-sugar jam. I made jam using regular pectin from 4 different recipes in the Ball recipe book, and every one failed to completely jell, despite following the directions exactly. Brands of pectin are not always interchangeable, so possibly they didn’t create/test their recipes using Sure-Jell. But when I used the no/low sugar recipes inside the pectin package, every one set up perfectly. I tried a couple of the Ball recipes again, reducing the sugar and using no/low sugar pectin, and they worked out great. Most recipes take about 3 1/2 to 4 cups sugar with the reduced sugar pectin. I haven’t had any problem with the jam not staying good as long nor with discoloration EXCEPT for strawberry. It only seems to last about 4 months before the jam starts getting brown at the top. Even after a year, the jams haven’t been runny. But again, I’m using reduced sugar recipes, not no-sugar recipes. That might very well make a difference.

I have never tried the no/low sugar jam actually using no sugar, but I would expect it wouldn’t keep as well. Sugar not only preserves against spoilage, but it also keeps the color bright.

Once opened, home-canned jams and jellies won’t last as long as commercially-canned jams.