Looking for Fruit Floating in Jams: Why Fruit Pieces Float and What to Do, in Strawberry and Other Jams! in 2024?  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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Fruit Floating in Jams: Why Fruit Pieces Float and What to Do, in Strawberry and Other Jams!

Fruit, Floating in Jams and Jellies

Floating fruit Homemade jam and jelly is one of the easiest foods you can "can" at home, but even so, fruiting float, especially in strawberry jam, is a common problem;

Floating: Why does fruit float in jam?

Floating fruit is actually fairly normal, and just indicates the difference in density between the liquid phase (the syrup) and the pieces of fruit, which contain tiny entrained air bubbles and liquid which may also differ in density. So, before the jars cool and the gel forms, the pieces of fruit float to the top of the jar. This happens more commonly in strawberry jam, than other jams.

If your jam cools and has jelled with the fruit  separated, when you open the jars, just stir the pulp and juice back together.  The jars are stir absolutely safe to store and eat!

There are other, but less common reasons for fruit float: The fruit

• was not fully ripe,
• was not thoroughly crushed or ground,
• was not cooked long enough, or
• was not properly packed in glasses or jar.

Use appropriate procedures to prevent floating fruit.

Reference: How To Make Jellies, Jams, and Preserves At Home. United States Department of Agriculture. Extension Service. Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D.C. Home and Garden Bulletin Number 56.

Floating: How can floating fruit in jams and jellies be prevented?

1. After jam or jelly is boiled hard, remove from the heat and skim and gently stir every minute for 5 minutes,  to help prevent the fruit floating. Then fill the jars while the jam is still hot!
2. Gently inverting the jars periodically while they cool - Also when you remove the jars from the water bath, leave them for about an hour to start cooling and seal. Then, after you check to make sure the jars sealed, if you notice any that have floating fruit, just turn the jars upside down; very gently. Come back in about an hour later and turn the jars right side up to once again. just keep doing this once an hour until the jars have cooled to room temperature, and the fruit will end up pretty well evenly distributed and the gel forms and sets the fruit in place!
3. Use a lower sugar version of the recipe - More sugar in the syrup means higher density, which increases the likelihood of floating fruit.  So, using one of our lower sugar recipes helps

Other Problems and troubleshooting jams and jellies

Other pages with related information:

• Other common jam and jelly problems
• General Canning Process
• Why do I need a canner?
• Water bath canners
• Using honey in place of sugar
• 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.

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Illustrated Canning, Freezing, Jam Instructions and Recipes

[ Easy Home Canning Directions] [FAQs - Answers to common questions and problems] [Recommended books about home canning, jam making, drying and preserving!] [Free canning publications to download and print]

Canning Books, Supplies and Accessories

These are my favorite essential canning tools, books and supplies. I've been using many of these for over 50 years of canning! The ones below on this page are just the sampling of. my preferred tools. but you can find much more detailed and extensive selections on the pages that are linked below.

• Vacuum Foodsealers for freezing, dried foods, and refrigerated foods - the FoodSaver line
• Selecting a KitchenAid mixer and attachments for home canning
• Steam Juicers
• Strainers, pit removers, seed-skin-stem removers, jelly strainers, etc. All types, makes and prices (from $19 to $350)
• Cherry pitters reviews, prices and ordering
• Food dehydrators - easy and fast to dry your own fruits, veggies, sun-dried tomatoes, etc.

The All New Ball Book Of Canning And Preserving: Over 350 of the Best Canned, Jammed, Pickled, and Preserved Recipes Paperback

This is THE book on canning! My grandmother used this book when I was a child.; It tells you in simple instructions how to can almost anything; complete with recipes for jam, jellies, pickles, sauces, canning vegetables, meats, etc.

If it can be canned, this book likely tells you how! Click on the link below for more information and / or to buy (no obligation to buy)The New Ball Blue Book of Canning and Preserving

Canning and Preserving for Dummies by Karen Ward

This is another popular canning book. Click here for more information, reviews, prices for Canning and Preserving For Dummies

Of course, you do not need to buy ANY canning book as I have about 500 canning, freezing, dehydrating and more recipes all online for free, just see Easy Home Canning Directions.

Home Canning Kits

I have several canners, and my favorite is the stainless steel one at right. It is easy to clean and seems like it will last forever. Mine is 10 years old and looks like new.

The black ones are the same type of standard canner that my grandmother used to make everything from applesauce to jams and jellies to tomato and spaghetti sauce.

This complete kit includes everything you need and lasts for years: the canner, jar rack, Jar grabber tongs, lid lifting wand, a plastic funnel, labels, bubble freer,  It's much cheaper than buying the items separately. It's only missing the bible of canning, the Ball Blue Book.

You will never need anything else except jars & lids (and the jars are reusable)! 

The complete list of canners is on these pages:

• Water bath canners - Good for acidic foods, like applesauce, pickles, salsa, jams, jellies, most fruits
• Pressure canners - needed for low and non-acidic foods, like canned vegetables (corn, green beans, etc), and meats
• Canners for glass top stoves if you have a glass or ceramic stove
• Canners for induction stovetops

 

Pressure Canners

If you plan on canning non-acidic foods and low acid foods that are not pickled - this means: meats, seafood, soups, green beans corn, most vegetables, etc., then you ABSOLUTELY must use a Pressure Canner.

Of course, you can use a pressure canner as a water bath canner as well - just don't seal it up, so it does not pressurize. This means a Pressure Canner is a 2-in-1 device. With it, you can can almost ANYTHING.

There are also other supplies, accessories, tools and more canners, of different styles, makes and prices, click here!

Basic Canning Accessories

From left to right:

1. Jar lifting tongs to pick up hot jars
2. Lid lifter - to remove lids from the pot of boiling water (sterilizing )
3. Lids- disposable - you may only use them once
4. Ring - holds the lids on the jar until after the jars cool - then you remove them, save them and reuse them
5. Canning Jar funnel - to fill the jars

FREE Illustrated Canning, Freezing, Jam Instructions and Recipes

Don't spend money on books. that you don't need to. Almost everything you can find in some book sold online or in a store is on my website here for free. Start with theEasy Home Canning Directions below. That is a master list of canning directions which are all based upon the Ball Bblue book, the National Center for Home Food Preservation and other reputable lab tested recipes. Almost every recipe I present in addition to being lab tested com. is in a step by step format with photos for each step and complete. explanations. that tell you how to do it, where to get the supplies and pretty much everything you need to know. In addition, there almost always in a PDF format so you can print them out and use them while you cook.

[ Easy Home Canning Directions]

[FAQs - Answers to common questions and problems]

[Recommended books about home canning, jam making, drying and preserving!]

[Free canning publications to download and print]