How great to hear that someone else loves Small Batch Preserving as much as I do! I’m not so sure about the Favorite Strawberry Jam, though. I’ve seen similar recipes in other places (that leave the berries overnight a couple times), so it’s not just that our beloved book is crazy. I think I’ll stick with the oven-baked version (or just use some pectin).

To answer your questions:
1) I think too much fuss is made about strictly following the recipes in jam books. So long as you use at least 1 part sugar to 2 parts fruit (or 1:1), add a little lemon juice, and use some kind of pectin, it’s pretty rare that the jam doesn’t work out well. Of course, you have to remember that dry and liquid pectin are used differently, but if you use them correctly, I’m pretty sure they are interchangeable. Also, Pomona’s Pectin comes with a “how to create your own jam recipes” section, which I’ve found helpful.

2) I also LOVE figs, and have been asking everyone I know in my region (DC Metro area) if they know where I can buy fresh figs. So far, I’ve got a couple leads on “a guy with a fig tree” near so-and-so. I may go knocking on doors later in the summer if I get bold enough. I haven’t yet found any local farms with figs or any regional companies. California companies sell them in bulk, but I’d prefer to buy locally if I can.

I’m Venita from Atlanta with a healthy obsession with the book Small-Batch Preserving. I was so excited to run across you website.

I made Favorite Strawberry Jam this past weekend. My Jam is also runny and I followed the directions very carefully. Your comments on the recipes you’ve tired make me feel better. I thought I was doing something wrong. Why don’t they use pectin with the Strawberry recipes if strawberrys are already low in pectin? I’ve wanted to do the oven strawberry recipe but I like my jam to gel a little bit so I think I would be disappointed. I have a few questions. What is the formula for making your own recipes; like where do you get this kind of info. Second, I really really dream about making the Fresh Fig and Strawberry Jam. Have you tried it? Where and when do you get fresh figs? In Georgia, I just saw our first batch of local peaches hit the stores and I love to make Peach Jam. I’m looing forward to this summer and experimenting with the book. Like I said, I’m a little obsessed with this form of cooking becasue a) I don’t know if my jams are any thing special and b) I don’t need this much preserves in my life but I guess using it all myself is not the point. I need to be giving my bounty away.

Thanks for reading my response and any advice you have would be great.

Venita

Thanks for the note! I’m interested that you saw the same phenomenon with your berries and syrup. I notice that most of the strawberry jam recipes are long and complicated and don’t use pectin, so maybe there is something unique about strawberries that makes it especially difficult to get a good set. I’ll ask around and see if I can come up with any answers!

–Amy

There was a little extra which I didn’t process. I stuck that straight in the fridge and the gel was fine (soft, the way I like it). The jarred stuff seems somewhat liquidy after 1 week. In fact, if anything they seem more liquid than right after I jarred it. The temperature has been going up around here so perhaps that’s why. Anyway, I thought it was interesting that I seemed to lose the gel when I added the fruit to the syrup. I wonder if it’s related to the lack of gelling around the strawberries that you’ve seen.