Thanks for your reply. Freezing is what I did. I just came from the kitchen, having wrapped up the Strawberry Jam 2001 Debacle. I ended up opening the jars from both the Pomona batch the Ferber batch and mixed them all together in a bowl. It improved the texture and taste of both batches. The Pomona produces jam I always think of as a little too gelatin-ey for my taste. And the Ferber was too sweet. So it was a gain to mix them. I put it up into jars and plastic containers with enough head room and it's in the freezer. Now, for some good ideas how to use it. My husband is the only one who likes strawberry jam. So I'm going to need to bake with it or make ice cream or something.....

Ken: Thank you for those instructions. That helps considerably, particularly with the advice to mix the pectin part with juice in a blender. I will be doing it in the next week or so. Dave: I originally made jam. The berries were odd, did not break down, and in the final product, were shrivelled and hard. Only a few of the 100 jars or so set up. So I strained the berries out, tossed them, and reboiled the juice with Certo. Some of them set, but some didn't. I checked the boxes of Certo I was using to make sure they weren't expired because I could not figure out why only some were jelling. I hesitate to try even more pectin at this point. I need to point out that I made this recipe with Gewurtztraminer and paid a fortune for the Blackberries (they never get cheap here). Also, it tastes really good so far. I figure I have nothing to lose at this point to reprocess the remaining 40 jars that did not set up with Pomona. I should point out that since this jam disaster saga began, three or so weeks have passed and the jelly has still not set up. If you have any other ideas, I'd be delighted to hear them. I just can't bear to toss 40 jars of jelly without one last kick at the cat. Silvercook: If you have a natural foods store in your region, and you haven't yet, call them. I was surprised to find Pomona in one after I'd looked pretty much everywhere else.

I'm another non-fan of Pomona's for the reason Robin mentioned, but it does have its advocates and only you can decide which camp you fall into. Non-commercial pectin jams use less sugar than commercial pectin jams but a certain amount of sugar is necessary to assure a jell. It's a fine balance of fruit, sugar and acid. Cutting the sugar is possible but at some point the mixture will either not jell or you'll evaporate out the water and end up with a thick viscous mixture like tar. Annie routinely reduces the sugar in something like pear preserves; with each batch she reduced more until she hit a point where it wasn't possible to further reduce and get even a soft set. But since each batch of fruit varies (especially from season to season) with traditional preserving there's always an element of "mystery" as to how the preserves will respond. You can improve the odds by adding citrus pulp and seeds, as Robin mentioned. You can also make your own natural citrus or apple pectin base. And yes, you can definitely experiment with assurance of safety as long as you avoid the low-acid peppers and such. You can do a simple (and cheap) alcohol test to determine the pectin level of the fruit in any given batch. I usually don't bother unless I'm developing a new recipe and working with fruit that has marginal pectin. A search online will bring up lots of sites that explain how to do it, but you can also ask here if you're interested. You can also get a refractometer or jelmeter, which will help you measure the sugar in the fruit. Knowing the level of natural sugar helps you determine how much additional sugar is needed. Jelmeters are no longer manufactured, though Jamlady mentions them. But they do occasionally turn up on ebay. They were in common use during WWII because women making preserves could then reduce the sugar. Lee Valley Tools sells a refractometer. But that probably goes beyond what you want to get into right now. Carol Here is a link that might be useful: Refractometer

I have used all three. The instant Clear Jel is great to thicken puddings a bit more, or to make no bake cheese cakes, thats about it. The cooking type Clear Jel is used in place of corn starch (in all home canning) and is used as a thickener for things like pie fillings, mustard, and any home canned items that need to be a light or thick syrup without using tons of sugar. You can also use it as the first flour dredge to make a breading for fried chicken. Its resistant to high acids and will not break down. Its a modified food starch and has been around at least 30 years. For jelly, Pomona is a no sugar needed pectin and is used to make james, jellies and marmalades so they are firm, but spreadable. The Pomona will not create a crystal clear jelly, so be advised it will be a little cloudy in most jellies and jams. The use of Clear Jel for jelly making will give a somewhat gummy texture, so its not advised for making jellies, unless your looking for gummy bears, or some kind of fruit slice candy thats rolled in sugar. Use less of Clear Jel in recipes that use corn starch as a thickener. Right now, I have beef meat pies to make and freeze, and already have the gravy and mushrooms to add to the leftover tenderloin roast. There is no 'grit' with Pomona, but some people are very sensitive to even slightest amounts of calcium. The amount used is very tiny in any case. I have bought Lactaid skim milk and bought a jug that seemed a bit thick and almost syrupy. It turned out to have added calcium, which in that case, was VERY noticable, but only in texture/mouth feel. Still no grit however. The instructions for Pomona are fairly easy to understand and they do give you amounts for smaller batches. In another thread, I told people that its best to premix and dissolve the granules of the Pomona in water or juice using a blender, then pour the mixture into the boiling liquid thats been sweetended already, then add the calcium water at the last moment, and will start to notice the jelly coating the spoon within a minute. This is when jars get filled. I use the whole packet of calcium (they give you extra anyway) when I use a full box of Pomona. I also add a little honey to the Splenda, to give the jelly a slight 'sticky' texture, which comes from no sugar added. Splenda is ONLY a sweetener and has no effect on the pectin as to whether it would set firm, loose or not at all. Sweeten the jelly mixture prior to adding the Pomona. I also tend to not use up a whole jar of jelly, so I add extra acid blend (Malic, Tarteric, and Citric), so the juice gets more tart flavor and MUCH more 'character". The added acid helps to prevent spoilage once the jelly is opened. Mine last longer than 6 months, and never show signs of mold. Acid blend is found at wine making supply stores. Its natural fruit acids and goes very well wioth almost any jelly, and even cold fruit juice based drinks. I like adding it to a Crystal Light mix if the flavor is too sweet or bland. I have even used Crystal Light raspberry drink when I made seedless red raspberry jam. It was fantastic! Sometimes, I can get Pomona for about $2.75 a box, when its on sale through a bulk foods web site. Also, Clear Jel can be bought from Barry Farms, as opposed to Kitchen Krafts, which sell it at a slightly higher price. A whole box of Pomona pectin can make up to 30 cups of jelly. The cost for the Pomona pectin, compared to a low/no sugar type like SureJel is quite cheap. You pay about the same price per box of no/low that only does 5-6 cups per box.