Hi All! Not sure if anyone is still out there connected to this thread, but thought I would try. =) My family loves the good old Strawberry Rhubarb freezer jam that uses jello, I love it, too. My problem is, I try to make enough of it to last us all year (they love it that much!), but I dont' want to use that much freezer space. I have tried a couple of recipes this year, water bath recipes, that have not set up. One I was afraid may not have had the right ingredients to be a jar jam, since it didn't set up, so after a few hours, I threw it in the fridge to use as syrup. Low and behold it set. =) So, I found another and tried it. It didn't set either. (What is the longest it should take to set up?) 12 c rhubarb 3 Tbs pectin (powdered) 3 c sugar lime juice cubes (2 or 3?) dash red food color Put sugar on diced rhubarb and let it sit overnight to suck water out. Cooked and reduced it for about 15 miutes with lime juice, and added pectin near end. My recipe is homemade so your mileage may vary. Rhubarb is high acid, though, so it should be safe enough. >>> I like the look of the above recipe very much (it is from further up in this thread), it has very little sugar, doesn't require much in the way of other fruit (I'm trying to be as frugal as possible) and is said to set up. My question is this. Can I use one of my recipes that has not set up, just add commercial pectin to it? (I do like the flavor, just want it to set.) If so, how do I figure out how much pectin to add? I'm new to the jam canning process, and don't have much for local resouces, so I appreciate all the help I can get. Thanks! Gabi

How small are you looking for? Joy of Jams has one for 3 pints (6 jelly jars) but that can be halved. 1 large lemon 2 pounds of strawberries, hulled 3/4 pound of rhubarb, cut into app. 3/8-inch cubes 4 1/4C sugar 1. Squeeze the juice from the lemon. Put the seeds into a spice bag, and put the bag and juice into a preserving pan. Add the strawberries and slice or mash them if they are large and firm. Add the rhubarb. Over low heat, simmer the contents until the rhubarb is tender, about 30 minutes. (Thawed and drained may take less - frozen and not drained may take more) 2. Remove the pan from the heat and add the sugar. Stir over medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Raise the heat to medium-high and boil the jam, stirring and skimming off the foam, until a drop mounds in a chilled dish. 3. Ladle the jam into pint or half-pint mason jars. Add lids and rings, and process the jars for 10 minutes in a boiling-water bath. Small Batch (by Ellie Topp) has a rhubarb variation of Favorite Strawberry Jam, strawberry version yields 2.5 C, rhubarb version yields 3C: 4C halved or quartered firm strawberries (for rhubarb version *add* 1C finely chopped rhubarb) 2C sugar 1/4C lemon juice 1. Mix berries (and rhubarb) with sugar and let stand for 8 hours, stirring occasionally. 2. Place mixture in medium stainless saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Add lemon juice, return to boil, and boil rapidly for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, cover and let stand 24 hours. 3. Bring mixture to a full boil over high heat and boil rapidly for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. 4. Ladle into hot jars and process for 10 minutes. HTH

cooksnsews, although Canada has guidelines for canning and they are different in some instances than ours here in the states, they just don't seem to have the "oh my G*d, you're going to die if you do that" reaction to some old canning methods that we do here in the United States. For instance, I didn't water bath Chase's dill pickles when I made them for Dad Pickles get soft and mushy if they are BWB. I told Dad it wasn't recommended by the government agencies and he told me he was over 70 and would eat the blasted pickles the way he liked them, LOL. The reaction I got from my Canadian family members when Dad brought out homecanned dill pickles was something like "eh, you know they say you shouldn't do that any more". Here, even if I tell people how I canned them and what the ramifications could be, I will be chastised about poisoning my family and ebe told how those pickles should only be disposed of while wearing a haz-mat suit for fear of contamination. I think everyone should know the risks they are taking and then decide whether they want to take them. Being poisoned by jam is pretty low on the risk factor scale. As for water bathing jam, I've done it for years, Grandma even did it because she hated paraffin and found that lids were just so much more consistent. LindaC is the only person I know that still uses the stuff but I would eat her jam without a second thought, it's just not that big a danger. As I mentioned, I wouldn't conjecture about the chili sauce, because I don't know what's in it. Annie

I think this recipe was developed as a way to use up the tons of zucchini the farmers get at harvest. :) You can't taste anything really but the strawberry and pineapple. The golden jam, my mom likes rhubarb.... GOTTA PLEASE MAMA! lol!