It's great that you are starting to do some canning. I have been canning for years and love it.

My first advice is, don't just find a recipe on the web and think that it must be safe. I'm sorry to say that many are not.

You will get great help in learning the proper methods on the GW Harvest Forum. I'll post the link for you. They are very helpful and can direct you to approved and safe recipes. And why certain practices are not.

Nancy

Here is a link that might be useful: Harvest Forum

I would suggest going to the National Center for Home Food Preservation and taking their free self-study coarse (link below).

When I teach canning classes we start with common canning mistakes and #1 is making up your own canning recipe. Without scientific testing, you will not know how long the product needs to be processed to be safe.

Therefore, I suggest you check the information and recipes at the National Center for Home Food Preservation, or those found in the Ball Blue Book (which is the only commercial canning book that uses the USDA standards).

Because we are contending with more kinds of bacteria, and stronger varieties of bacteria, than even existed 15-20 years ago, it's more important than ever to follow tested recipes to help assure our preserved foods are safe.

I'd also agree with Nancy, just because you find something on the internet or YouTube, doesn't make it safe. To mention a few that are considered unsafe but you'll easily find information for:
-canning butter
-canning bread or cake using an oven
-canning anything other than very acidic fruit juices (apple and grape juice) in 1/2-gallon jars
-canning pumpkin butter
-canning using a microwave, the sun, dishwasher, oven, open kettle method, adding Epsom Salts to jams/jellies to make it gel... People do all kinds of "interesting" things and call it "canning".

-Grainlady

Here is a link that might be useful: National Center for Home Food Preservation

Jams and Jellies generally do not present safety issues, so in most cases any problems will have to do with freshness, set, shelf life (low-sugar preserves do not have the same mouth feel or longevity) but not health.

There are exceptions, however. Low-acid fruits like bananas, figs, mangoes and melons, for example, require specific amounts of citrus juice for safety. Pepper or other savory jellies also require additional acid.

It would be more accurate to think of home food preservation as a science rather than an art, though there are opportunities for creativity within limits. It's knowing those limits that's the trick.

Both the Harvest Forum and the NCHFP recommended in previous posts are wonderful resources. There are numerous discussions of sweet preserves and all the "issues" in the Harvest Forum archives.

Carol

Carol is right, jams and jellies very seldom present safety issues, and so problems have to do with whether they set and how long they last or how long they still look and taste appetizing.

You should not reuse lids, although if I did, I'd do it with jam/jelly, about the safest thing you can make. Your jars might become unsealed later, be sure to check them periodically, you know the companies are not going add enough sealing compound to seal well more than once!

Yes, you certainly can try to melt and recook jams or jellies, although I'm seldom successful. I end up with taffy or with syrup, usually.

As has been mentioned, just because a recipe is on the internet, doesn't make it safe. Canning low acid vegetables without a pressure canner, canning with eggs/cheese/butter/milk/oil, canning in the oven, I've seen them all and none of them are anything I'd try.

Happy canning.

Annie

Sorry for not posting in the right place, I didn't know there was another location for canning. I'll make sure I go there next time. I would move this one over, but I don't know how.

I think I used enough citrus in the recipes. I used almost 1/2 cup lime juice with the Mango and 1/3 cup lemon juice with the Lavender (both yielding approximately 2 quarts). I also used zest in both, but I don't know if that affects the PH at all.

Is there a reason why the sweetness would decrease as it sets? (I did a search but I don't think that I used the proper search terms to find similar questions.) I wonder if this is something that happens with all recipes or just those that have citrus in them? I was only using 1 to 1 3/4 cups of sugar. Would it possibly be better to cook everything (except the pectin) then put it in the fridge overnight and re-cook the next day to adjust the seasoning once everything melds?

I appreciate you letting me pick your brains! I have some great resources to research now.

Laurie

Flavors do change with resting time, not just in sweet preserves but generally in canned goods. Some flavors become much stronger and more pronounced (fresh basil comes to mind) while others weaken.

Citrus can become quite pronounced, particularly larger shreds of peel. I'd guess it isn't that the preserve became "less sweet" as that the citrus notes were stronger once cooled and rested.

Yes, you can cook everything, cool and rest, then re-heat and add the pectin. However, that lengthens the cooking time, so some freshness of flavor will likely be lost.

You probably do have enough lime juice for the mango but if you want to be sure compare your amounts with a Mango-Rum jam recipe:

6 cups firm-ripe mango to 6 tablespoons strained lime juice.

pH increases with ripeness. The less ripe the mango the less the risk. Also, the riper the fruit the lower the pectin level. This particularly becomes an issue with some fruits in the traditional no-commercial-pectin preserves.

Carol

I agree, taste changes in some products with storage. I taste my salsa and make sure it's mild because it does get hotter as it sets. Sometimes marmalades take up to a couple of weeks to set up too, so even texture changes sometimes.

I don't think there is a mechanism to move a post to another forum, so you'll have to post a new thread over on harvest. Don't worry, though, we're glad to answer questions here if we can, but there's a lot more canning, dehydrating and preserving going on over there!

Annie

The mango I used was very ripe. I had 3 cups mango to 7 Tbs lime, so that shouldn't be a problem. It set up just perfect. Mango-Rum also sounds delish!

The flavor change makes more sense to me now. I'm more confident for my next attempt. I have my eye on a recipe for Pear Vanilla Bean Jam!

Thank you all SO much for your help!!!

Laurie

Hi Laurie, Welcome to the Cooking Forum. Your first name is the same as mine, same spelling too! I agree with Annie, jams and jellies are good to start with. Learn the low acid fruits and use acid adjusted/approved recipes for those. High acid fruits are more forgiving, the worst thing you'll get there is mold, which is what happens with lower sugar jams too. I hate the pectin jams, the sugar content ruins the flavor for me, so I've done quite a bit of experimenting with lower sugar jams. A good book I recommend (out of print but available thru used bookstores online) is "Summer in a Jar" by Andrea Chessman. She has a lot of great low sugar recipes in there she developed. Also, the Ball COMPLETE Book of Home Canning has a whole chapter on lower sugar jams. The reason for the sugar is it is needed to get a set with commercial pectin. Alternatives are a longer cooking jam which is thickened in the process, and also adding a chopped apple to some low pectin fruit jams, for the pectin since apples are high in pectin. Also making "old fashioned" preserves, in which you make a syrup from sugar and the juice from the fruit which macerates overnight. You then strain out the fruit, cook the syrup down and thicken that and add the fruit back in at the end. Kind of a pain to do, but tasty!

Don't get discouraged, it takes a lot of experimenting until you find the ideal recipes you like. I made pear vanilla bean jam, and frankly, to me it was "meh." As was pear cardamom jam. But I liked vanilla bean marmelade, go figure. However, all of these recipes were easy peasy so you should get something enjoyable no matter what.

Somewhere on Harvest, there's a "Best Of" recipe thread, but I'm not sure how to access it anymore. I printed it out a while back. Be forwarned, the Harvest Forum is not for the shrinking violets! But don't get discouraged by the pedantry. Folks there would much rather err on the side of safety when giving advice, and that is admirable at its heart. It just makes it a little confusing at times! Your best bet is to do what the folks here suggest, take the home course from the National Home Food Preservation Web site or just read up tons in books like the Ball Complete Book of Home Canning, or another one I like, (also out of print but available) called "Keeping the Harvest" by Nancy Chioffi and Gretchen Mead.

Here's one of my favorite low sugar recipes that is perfect for this time of year. It's not a firm set jam, it's one you have to cook down to thicken. Also, can in small jars, as these low sugar jams mold faster than you might expect after opening, even in the fridge. This one has delicate flavor, so only make enough for this year, it doesn't keep well for two years like some high sugar jams.
This is a recipe I found online. It was very, very good. I might add that I also added 1 TBLSP frangelico to the jam. It is not a firm set jam.
Raspberry Peach Jam Recipe - Confettura di Lamponi e Pesche

By Kyle Phillips, About.com
When peaches are at their best and the raspberries are ripening up in the mountains, they're a perfect pair to set aside for the winter! What better way to do so than make raspberry peach jam?
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:
2 1/4 pounds (1 k) peaches (ideally, white)
3/4 pound (300 g) raspberries
1 4/5 cup (800 g) sugar
The juice of a lemon
Preparation:
Blanch the peaches for a second or two in boiling water, then chill them in cool water, peel them, quarter them, and discard the pits. Rinse the raspberries, discarding any that are blemished, and gently pat them dry.

Interlayer the fruit and sugar in a bowl and let it all sit for 12 hours.

Transfer everything to a heavy-bottomed pot, and bring it to a boil over a moderate flame, stirring it occasionally. Skim the froth off the surface and cook with a slotted spoon over a lively flame, skimming and stirring, for about 15 minutes, or until it begins to thicken. A drop placed on a cool slanted plate will flow some, but not much, when it's ready.

The yield will be about 1 1/2 pints (1.5 l). Transfer the jam to jars, cover them, and boil them for 20 minutes to sterilize them.

Yield: several jars raspberry peach jam.

This assumes you know how to prepare jars for canning.
Can add 1 TBLSP of Amaretto or Frangelico at the end. That's elegant and yum.

Thank you SO MUCH, Laurie! (That IS a pretty great name, isn't it?) You have given me some great info and resources; I'll be checking them all out. I am excited about this recipe, too. It sounds amazing! I am so happy I found this website. This seems like a pretty great community. Thank you!!!

There are also some great jammin' blogs out there. Try TigressJamPickle for starters, she has links to others.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tigress in a Jam