I added the pectin crystals after the sugar by accident, and it didn’t tend up setting. Not sure if it’s my fault but I assume it is. Is it still shelf stable despite not being firm, or is it safer to put them in the fridge and eat quickly?
Recipe: https://www.kraftheinz.com/en-CA/certo/recipes/557323-cooked-rhubarb-jam-certo-crystals
by marlee_dood
11 Comments
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This is not a safe recipe. It’s open kettle canning which is not safe. There’s no water bath processing instructions or telling you that this is a fridge recipe. This has to be refrigerated
If it didn’t set…. why??? Recipe? Didn’t cook down enough??? You can make pretty unsafe jam on accident
Oh I see the recipe Is terrible and not made for canning. I believe you have fridge jam at best.
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Here are a couple of links to safe recipes for rhubarb jam…note that you need to use the size jars (usually 1/2 pints) that is listed in the recipe and you cannot double the batches when using conventional pectin.
With liquid pectin: [https://www.bernardin.ca/recipes/en/rhubarb-jam.htm?Lang=EN-US](https://www.bernardin.ca/recipes/en/rhubarb-jam.htm?Lang=EN-US)
With powdered pectin: [https://www.kraftheinz.com/sure-jell/recipes/500891-sure-jell-rhubarb-jam](https://www.kraftheinz.com/sure-jell/recipes/500891-sure-jell-rhubarb-jam)
Hi OP!
You may see that I switched the flair on your post, this is just because the recipe you used is recommending open kettle canning like others have called attention to. It’s not a rule violation or anything, it just lets others know that the recipe isn’t safe.
This is a great explanation of our concerns with CERTO’s recipes written by one of our other mods.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Canning/s/t3kdXQWmot
I’ve used certo box recipes for almost 20 years but never noticed the directions saying not to actually process it. I’ve always followed standard jam/jelly processing with minimal issues. Cherry jam has never set properly for me and jelly has almost always been a headache.
I would totally use that as an excuse to just eat it all, by myself, with a spoon. 😍
Time to work on your waffle, pancake, and crepe game.
If you followed that Kraft/Heinz “cook it, pour into sterilized jars, put lids on, let sit 24 hours” method, I wouldn’t treat it as shelf-stable. That’s basically **open-kettle canning** (a “hot fill and hope it seals” approach), and it’s **specifically not recommended** by USDA/NCHFP/Extension because it doesn’t reliably prevent spoilage. A sealed lid just means it vacuumed down, not that the jar got a proper in-jar kill step. So… fridge it or freeze it.
Also, “Kraft Heinz” being a familiar name (and yes, they market Certo) isn’t the same thing as a tested, publicly validated home-canning process like you’ll see from NCHFP/USDA/Extension. The red flag in the recipe you pasted is simply: no boiling-water canner processing step. NCHFP’s guidance for jams/jellies assumes you *do* process jars in a boiling-water canner (with altitude adjustment) to prevent spoilage like yeasts/molds.
About the “it didn’t set” part: that’s usually quality, not safety. And rhubarb makes this harder because rhubarb is low in pectin, so you often need (1) added pectin, (2) a high-pectin partner fruit like apples/citrus, and/or (3) longer cooking to drive off water to get a firm set.
Why adding Certo crystals after sugar can mess up the set (beyond just clumps): with many powdered pectins, the method is designed so the pectin hydrates/dissolves properly and hits the right gel chemistry during that short “hard boil” window. If you dump powdered pectin into a very sugary mix, you can get uneven hydration (sometimes clumps, sometimes just weak gel). Sugar is hygroscopic. It ties up the available water in the mix, making less available to hydrate the pectin. For pectin products, the order matters because it’s part of how the recipe was formulated.
One more big troubleshooting question: how old was the pectin? If it’s past the date (or it’s been open forever), it may not gel well. That’s a quality problem, not a “danger” problem, but it’s a super common reason jams stay runny.