On Sat, 04 Jun 2011 13:44:38 +0100, Janet wrote:

In article ,
says...


I did try jam sugar last year but as you say it might not be enough. If
no one comes up with any other ideas I will try adding more pectin.
Thanks for the reply Sacha.

in any jam making you also have to cook the sugar content hot enough
to
reach "setting point". Most setting failures are from not testing or
recognising setting point correctly. (People tend to confuse the boiling
point of water with the (higher) boiling point of sugar)


http://www.tipking.co.uk/jam_setting.shtml

I use the cold-saucer method not a thermometer.

I favour the cold saucer method too. Throughout the late summer you'll
usually find a big pile of cheap saucers bought from charity shops in my
freezer.

Sometimes getting to the setting point takes a painfully long time.

Rhubarb is pretty low on pectin so it'll be a more difficult one to set.
I'd boil off and strain a few pounds of apples to get a good pectin
extract instead of using water.

At this time of year, the apple trees could do with a bit of thinning so
those 1" baby apples cut in half and boiled down would serve as
candidates.

Warwick