How to Fix Runny (Too Soft) Homemade Jams and Jellies

Looking for How to Fix Runny (Too Soft) Homemade Jams and Jellies in 2026?  Scroll down this page and  follow the links. And if you bring home some fruit or vegetables and want to can, freeze, make jam, salsa or pickles, see this page for simple, reliable, illustrated canning, freezing or preserving directions. There are plenty of other related resources, click on the resources dropdown above.  If you are having a hard time finding canning lids, I've used these, and they're a great price & ship in 2 days.

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Jams, jellies and preserves:
Common Problems in Making Jams and Jellies

Some of the most common problems with jams and jellies are softness, weeping, fermentation, darkening, clouding, mold and crystal formation.

By far, the most common problem is runny jam or jely - see this page for simple directions how to remake the runny jam so it firms up! You do NOT need top throw it away!

 

• If jam or jelly is too soft,
  there may be incorrect proportions of sugar, acid and juice. Making too large a batch or undercooking may also be a cause. see this page for simple directions how to remake the runny jam
• Floating fruit -
  When fruit rises to the top. See this page.
• Jelly that weeps.
  If this happens there may be too much acid in the fruit or too much acid added in the form of lemon juice. Also, the storage location may have been too warm or the temperature changed too much during storage.
• Fermentation -
  This may occur because of too little sugar or improper sealing. The boiling water bath process helps to get an adequate seal and prevent fermentation.
• Darkened at the top of the container -
  There are two main reasons: Either the storage place was too warm--or a faulty seal has allowed air to leak in. Red fruits such as strawberries and raspberries are especially prone to fading.
• Cloudy jam or jelly -
  If your jelly is cloudy, it may be for one of the following reasons: first, you may have poured the jelly mixture into the jars too slowly allowing bubbles to form. Or, you may have allowed the jelly mixture to stand before it was poured. Other reasons are that your juice may have had too much pulp because of improper straining, or your jelly set too fast, probably because the fruit was not ripe enough.
• Mold growth -
  Typically occurs on jam and jelliess when there is an poor seal, you used "inversion canning" rather than a 5-minute boiling water bath, or have too much air space between the jar lid and jellied product.
  Although it used to be thought that molds on jams and jellies were harmless and should be scraped off before using the rest, newer research says molds may be harmful and shouldn't be eaten. If mold does develop, throw away the entire contents of the jar.
  Avoiding mold problems - pour the hot jam into hot, pre-sanitized half pint or pint size canning jars. Pour to within a fourth of an inch of the top of the jar. Seal with pre-treated two-piece lids and process in water bath for the recommended time.

 

A final common problem is crystals in jelly.

 Problems that cause sugar crystals and how to prevent them

1. Excess sugar. Solution:
    Cut back on added sugar next time  or cook the mixture longer to allow the sugar to dissolve.

2. Undissolved sugar sticking to sides of saucepot.
    Solution: Dissolve all sugar as jelly cooks. If necessary, wipe side of pan free of crystals with damp cloth before filling jars.  

3.Grapes only:  Tartrate crystals in grape juice.
Solution: Extract grape juice and allow tartrate crystals to settle out by refrigerating the juice overnight. Strain juice before making jelly.  

4. Mixture cooked too slowly or too long,
Often because you tried to make too large a batch. Stick to 6 to 8 cups - 8 cups being the absolute max.
Solution: Cook 6 to 8 cup batchs at a rapid boil. Remove from heat immediately when jellying point is reached. Make small batches at a time; do not double tested recipes.

 

Typically, issues 1 and 4 are the most common causes!

 

FAQs - Frequentkly Asked Questions About Making Jams and Jellies

 

Can I make a small amount of jam and just put it in a jar, let it cool and put it in the refrigerator and start eating out of it without canning it?

Absolutely!  Canning is only needed if you intend to store it outside of the fridge!

Why can't I just fill the jars with hot jam, seal them and turn them upside down?

Word for word, from the USDA's labs:

"Some other methods of sealing jars call for inverting a closed, filled jar of hot product for anywhere from thirty seconds to one hour. (Inverting is turning the filled jar upside down on its lid.)

While this inversion process can be successful in producing a sealed jar, it works best with very hot product. Individual variation in practicing this process or unexpected interruptions can result in delays between filling jars, getting lids screwed on, and inverting the jars. If the product cools down too much, the temperature of the product can become low enough to no longer be effective in sealing jars or preventing spoilage.

When the inversion process does work, the vacuum seals of filled jars still tend to be weaker than those produced by a short boiling water canning process. A weak seal is more likely to fail during storage.

In addition, the headspace of the jar may retain enough oxygen to allow some mold growth if airborne molds contaminated the surface of the product as the jar was filled and closed. More complete removal of oxygen from the headspace also offers some longer protection from undesirable color and flavor changes with some types of fruit products. The canning process is therefore a more foolproof method of making jams and jellies that will not spoil.

Also, although no cases of burning have been reported in the news media, experience has shown that some people will experience leaking of the hot product from the jar when it is turned over if the lid wasn't put on just right. If hot enough, someone could get burned. Even if it doesn't cause burns, leaking means product is lost."
Elizabeth L. Andress, Ph.D., Professor and Extension Food Safety Specialist. The University of Georgia and Ft. Valley State University, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and counties of the state cooperating.

I see some mold growing on my jam.  Can I just scoop it out and eat the rest of the jar?

For many years, many people, including me, just scraped off the mold and ate the rest.  But just as you have heard about the cancer-causing effects of aflatoxin molds in peanut butter, a similar mold grows in jam.  Here is the response, verbatim from the USDA and U.Ga.:

"The best answer is that there is a potential risk. However, we want to make a recommendation that minimizes all potential problems and hazards. Some molds growing on fruit products made at home have been shown to produce "mycotoxins", or mold poisons. The danger to humans from consuming mycotoxins, as well as the actual expected incidence of mycotoxins from moldy jars of jams, are issues with no easy answers.

But, animal studies indicate there is the potential for poisonous effects of some mycotoxins in humans. Patulin is one mycotoxin detected in a few tested jars of homemade apple jam and juice. Patulin has been shown to be carcinogenic in animals, but its role in causing human disease is not all that clear. It is also difficult to assess the actual health risk from consuming moldy jam or jelly because not all molds produce mycotoxins, and molds which do produce them vary in consistency of production when conditions change some. Elizabeth L. Andress, Ph.D., Professor and Extension Food Safety Specialist. The University of Georgia and Ft. Valley State University, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and counties of the state cooperating. "

Should jelly be boiled slowly or rapidly?

Jelly should be boiled rapidly since long, slow boiling destroys the pectin in the fruit juice.

Can I make a double batch of jelly?

NO. If a larger quantity of juice is used, it will be necessary to boil it longer thus causing loss of flavor, darkening of jelly, and toughening of jelly.

Why is my jam too runny?

The following can cause soft jam: overcooking, processing too long, too little pectin, incorrect proportions of sugar and juice, undercooking, insufficient acid, or making too large a batch at one time.

Could you tell me why my JAM is thicker then the store bought?

The natural pectin content of fresh fruit varies, so it is possible the the variety of fruit that you used has more natural pectin, making it thicker. But there's an easy answer - just add less pectin next time. You will have to experiment to find how much pectin makes the consistency you like. Most people seem to like their jam thick, so you may to need to only use 3/4 of a pack of pectin per batch. 

I made some raspberry jam about 3 weeks ago and I noticed about 6 of my jars did not set properly. They are very runny! With this amount of time that has gone by can I re-do the jars again?

Yes, you can remake the jam later. 3 weeks isn't so long, so the quality shouldn't be diminished by much. - just see this page for directions: https://www.pickyourown.org/how_to_fix_runny_jam.htm

Why is my jelly soft?

The following can cause soft jelly: overcooking the fruit to extract the juice, using too much water to extract the juice, incorrect proportions of sugar and juice, undercooking causing insufficient concentration, insufficient acid, or making too large a batch at one time.

Can I use frozen fruit to make jams?

Absolutely!  I usually freeze a dozen quarts of strawberries after I go picking!  I wash them, hull them and slice them in half, then freeze them in heavy-duty Ziploc freezer bags (squeezing as much of the air out as I can, or using a vacuum FoodSaver and the vacuum bags.  That way I can use those strawberries together with fruits that I pick later in the season, like blackberries, raspberries and blueberries to make mixed berry jams.  You can use the frozen (without added sugar) fruit just the same as fresh.  Just defrost them right before you use them.

I have a question about canning and Making Jellies. I am making Pear and grape jelly from the fruit we grow and I use a pressure cooker! Could this be why my jellies are not setting up? I make my jelly and Put the cans into the cooker until it hits 220 Degrees and take it off the stove. Could I be over heating the pectin so my jellies will not set correctly?

Probably, they're being exposed to too much heat for too long; I'd expect the pectin is breaking down.  Just leave the valves open and use the pressure canner as a water bath canner!

Can anyone tell me why my jelly sometimes has bubbles in it after it has cooled down?

Bubbles are trapped air or water vapor.  When the jam is boiling, the bubbles rising from the bottom of the pan and air mixing at the surface become mixed in the jam.  If the viscosity of the jam is high enough, the bubbles cannot break free.  The foam produced is the portion that has the highest viscosity - this is when we suggest to skim off the foam. Many people add 1 teaspoon of butter or margarine to the jam before they start to cook it.  This helps prevent the bubbles from forming. Exactly why, I can't tell you (it's been too many years since my fluid mechanics class in chemical engineering) - it probably has to do with disruption the surface tension or hydrophilic bonding; but the point is, it seems to work. Another method is to allow the jam to sit undisturbed for about 5 minutes after you remove it from the heat, then skim off the foam and jar the remaining jam and process it in your boiling water bath.

I just picked a boatload of wild raspberries, which are now in my freezer. Do I need to remove the seeds? If so, how do i go about doing that? The seeds are so small!

Yep, the seed-to-fruit- ratio is especially high in the wild berries.  I just made a batch of seedless raspberry jam yesterday. The easiest way to de-seed them is to use a food mill with a fine screen (they pass through the standard manual Foley food mill).  The Villaware and Roma brands have a fine screen that works, see this page: https://www.pickyourown.org/canningstrainers.htm They're more expensive than a Foley food mill, but they come with screens of different sizes, you can add a motor later to them, and they will work to make applesauce, fruit butters, spaghetti sauce and seedless jams / jellies.

Other Problems and troubleshooting jellied products

• What do I do if there's mold on my jellied fruit product? NCHFP
• Why did my jellied fruit product ferment, and what do I do? NCHFP
• What happens if my jam or jelly doesn't gel? Remaking cooked runny jam or jelly instructions can be found on this page
• Ingredient Problems in Jelly and Jam N. Dakota State Univ.
• Common Problems in Jam and Jelly Making N. Dakota State Univ.

 

 

Can I use Instant freezer pectin to make  cooked / canned jams and jellies? See this page for the answer!