Yes, foam. It's only "harmful" in the sense that there's more air in the headspace at the top of the jam, possibly resulting in discoloration and oxidation over time. Not a health issue per se but an aesthetic one, so move those jars to the front and consume contents first. Carol

Hahaha! Thanks for the ideas, and the laugh! Bruce, I make a cranberry mandarin conserve during the holidays, and last year I started adding peppers (Thai, arbol) for my fire-eating friends. It's actually very mild. I also made plum jelly with arbol and thai added...great for a peanut butter sandwich. My sister makes a nice platter of "Twice Deviled Eggs" using Bill's superhot powders. And the sweet potatoes..... well, we added Chipotle and adobo sauce for a kick, and they turned out pretty picante. Bloody Bhut Mary's....now there's an idea ;-) Josh

I started to try the Helen Witty method, which has very little cooking, but lots of sitting time. This is how someone on Chow explained it: Rinse, dry, and hull 2 quarts of berries. In a big (non-aluminum) bowl, cut larger berries in halves or quarters (small berries can stay whole) and layer berries with 3 cups sugar. Stir up the whole thing with a wooden spoon, cover and let sit for at least 6 hours at room temp or overnight in the fridge. Soon you will have a whole lot of bright-red syrup with a bunch of shrunken berries bobbing around. Dump the whole mess into a big wide non-aluminum pot with juice of 1 lemon and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Let simmer for 2 minutes only, then pour back into your big bowl. Again, let sit for a few hours. Now, put a colander into your big pot and pour in the berry mixture. Let all the syrup drain into the pan. Remove the colander and bring syrup to a simmer. Let simmer, stirring often, until reduced by about half; syrup should darken somewhat and start to look thicker and a little sticky. When that happens, dump in your berries. Stirring frequently, simmer the berries until they begin to break down and look translucent--anywhere from 3 to 10 minutes, usually. Take off heat, and scoop into sterilized canning jars (the Ball-jar kind with the two-part lid--you can find these at most hardware stores, sold by the case for about $8-$10). Wipe the edges of the jars with a paper towel dipped in boiling water, put on the tops and rings, screw lid on. If you want, you can put filled jars into a pot of boiling water and simmer for 10 minutes to ensure a good seal. As it is, I'm pleased with the results of the epicurious recipe.

Oh yes, soft jam gets labelled syrup and gets eaten on pancakes, waffles or french toast, used as a topping for ice cream or pound cake, and if I liked cheesecake I'd probably use it as a topping for that, as Lou mentioned. My latest adventure in jam was a wonderful Black Forest preserve that was posted by Mellyofthesouth. It has a great flavor, Michigan sweet cherries and dark cocoa but it didn't set. At all, not even as thick as molasses. (Have I mentioned that I hate commercial pectin?) I used it as a topping for Jojoco's summer torte, which I made with sweet cherries and it was a huge hit. How about a dark chocolate brownie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of that raspberry "syrup". That might be so good that you hope the next batch doesn't set up either! Happy canning. Annie