Tangerine Marmalade = FAIL! Canners - help!

satreece

My tangerine marmalade I made last week never really "set."  I've never made jelly or jam or even canned anything before.  I read several recipes and thought I had a decent grasp on what we were doing... 

Could it be as simple as not adding enough sugar?  Or would that only affect taste?  Some recipes called for pectin, but some did not (I did not use any).

I now have fruit peeled for another batch and would like it to turn out better.  Should I just try a recipe with pectin?  Is there a way to tell BEFORE I seal the cans that it's not going to jell/set?

Thanks for your help ladies!

Poonico

I've never canned jelly/jam/etc, but my grandmother does and I recall her making some tea jelly this summer and it was a bit runny.  She said something about not knowing how much pectin to use the first time around.  I'm guessing pectin would help.

I know other ladies have actual experience with this, so hopefully they'll pop on and see this soon  

nsees

As a less experienced canner, I would definitely use the pectin and/or sugar as the recipe dictates until you become better at it and know when you can cut back on either.  Both definitely aid in the jelly firming.

You may even be able to salvage what you already made by heating it through and adding pectin.  I've already done the natural fruit pectin that doesn't contain any sugar and when it didn't jell up for me as much because I was using a no-cook recipe, I just put it back on the stove and the boiling helped activate the pectin better and it firmed up more.  I've also heard what might be a myth that turning your jars upside down for a couple of weeks can help it firm as well...not sure if thats true though!  Worse comes to worse, you can use it on icecream!

GL!

tommigirle

i just started preserving food this year but i did take a class and in that class was taught to put a plate in the fridge/freezer, get it super cold and then put a dollop of the jam on the plate. stick it back in the fridge for 5 minutes or so and then do a run test--tip the plate and see if the jam runs in streaks or as one blob. if it's staying together, then you're reaching the consistency of jam. i have done all no-pectin recipes and it requires a lot of cooking down to get the jam to thicken.

i also learned that when all else fails, tell people it's a rustic syrup and they will be very impressed.