I make my jam in sterile jars and use a freezer jam recipe. I then seal using a hot water bath for 15 minutes. I know you don't need to seal it but I always do. Something about it makes me feel safer especially if you gift it and they don't freeze it immediately. My question is can I leave it in the pantry on the shelf since I did seal it. The jam was only "cooked" during the hot water bath.
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Do you use a jam recipe made for canning? (I.e. without non-fruit additives like chia seeds.)– user141592Jul 13, 2020 at 16:15
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1 Answer
Only recipes from trusted sources should be used for shelf stable canning, as they are proven to produce a product with a sufficiently low pH to be safe when stored at room temperature.
The boiling water bath process is a way to create a vacuum seal, it is also a way to get the contents of the jar to near boiling for a certain amount of time, this will kill most microorganisms (any remaining will not be able to thrive in the low pH high sugar environment).
As you are not using a recipe specifically designed for a shelf stable product and you are not putting very hot jam/jelly into the jars prior to processing (you have no way of knowing how hot the center of the jam gets), your jam will not be shelf stable.
answered Jul 13, 2020 at 21:21