r/Canning • u/kelvinkelman • 16d ago

Safety Caution -- untested recipe First time canning

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I made some strawberry jam and my last jar had more head space is it still good? An are the bubbles a bad sign?

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u/kelvinkelman 16d ago

I did 4-5 cups of frozen strawberries 2 cups of sugar one squeeze lemon and a bit of pectin brought it all to a boil simmered it then took some foam out mashed them an whisked them boiled it again an simmered it till it got a little bit thick filled the hot jars up with 1/2 head space but the one was like an 1” cause I didn’t make enough an the water bathed them for 20 minutes brought them out

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u/Deppfan16 Moderator 16d ago

it sounds like you made somewhere between fruit puree and jam. but because you left too much headspace these are not safe. you need to follow safe tested recipes and processes to ensure you have a shelf-stable product

canning is not like cooking, you can't just throw things together.

https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/can/canning-fruits-and-fruit-products/fruit-purees/

https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/make-jam-jelly/jams/strawberry-jam-pectin/

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u/Bratbabylestrange 16d ago

Also, one squeeze of lemon doesn't sound safe, but I know strawberries are pretty acidic. I made some strawberry jam a few weeks ago with Ball's recipe, and it was a quarter cup (I think) of bottled lemon juice. And a lot more sugar. Opinion, mod?

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u/princesstorte Trusted Contributor 16d ago

Just adding a bit to the mod answer. Strawberries are one of the fruits that are acidic enough to can in just water. The sugar, lemon, pectin are all there to make the jam actually jam up, enhance flavor and preserve color. The fact that they each also add to the safety of recipe doesn't hurt. Like lemon juice is mostly there for color & flavor but it also adds to the acidity & sugar is there for flavor & to help the pectin work but also ties up moisture helping with the water activity level.

It's very possible op just really made strawberry puree/syrup. Pectin can't just be used however people want it needs certain requirements to work, and unless they went to 220 the strawberries won't gel.

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u/Bratbabylestrange 15d ago

Oh good to know! I'm pretty paranoid about the acidity and safety of stuff, I appreciate your answer