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Can You Can-Can?
It's happened to everyone who's done any home canning. Your strawberry jam comes out of the kettle, you hear the lovely little "ping" as the lids seal. You wait patiently for your jam to cool and gel. It cools alright, but never gels. You now have 16 jars of strawberry syrup. What happened? Usually, it is too little pectin. Or it could be that you need to add more acid, like lemon juice, in order for very low acid fruits like strawberries to gel. Maybe you didn't let it boil long enough. Whatever the case may be, don't be dismayed. Although it's going to take a little more work on your part, you can salvage your efforts to put up jam. Just redo the process.
You'll need to dump all your fruit back into a heavy pot. Add more pectin and some lemon juice. Taste test to see if you might need a little more sweetener. Now bring your jam back to a boil, letting it cook for a good ten minutes, stirring constantly. Have new lids ready. Do not use the lids from the first batch again. You can reuse the bands, as long as they are not bent or rusty, but never reuse lids. Now, fill your hot jars, seal and process again. The canning process does take a toll on the vitamin and mineral content of fresh foods, and re-canning even more so. But, you will still have a good, homemade product and you will not have wasted your efforts to preserve your harvest.
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