Storing Homemade Jams and Preserves

To ensure the best quality, it is recommended that properly sealed home-canned jams and preserves should be used within one year. You should always store in a dry, dark and cool place. Over long spans of time the texture, colour, and flavour of homemade jams and preserves can and will change. As long as you have used the proper amount of sugar for preserving, and as long as your seal holds, you should be safe. However, as a precaution you will want to inspect your jars for any signs of spoilage, such as mould or fermenting.

When you are working with lighter coloured fruits to make your jams, you will notice that they will darken more rapidly than others. While this is not a spoil factor the product may not look as appealing for an entire year. So keep in mind that different types of fruit have different characteristics that can affect quality over time.

Should you be making reduced sugar recipes you can expect your jams or preserves to lose their quality quicker. Remember that sugar acts as a preservative helping the food not to spoil, as well as hold its flavour.

Freezer jams can be stored in the freezer for up to one year. Once they are opened and refrigerated they can be kept for up to three weeks.

Once you have broken the seal on your canned jams or preserves they should be stored in the refrigerator at 40° (4.4°C). They will be best when used within one month of breaking the seal. The life of the jam will be shortened if you leave the jar out at room temperature for too long while using it. To avoid this happening, you can consider dishing out the amount you want to use and putting it in a small bowl so that you can immediately place your jar back in the refrigerator.

Just remember to check the product for any signs of being spoiled. Visual signs will be mould, and you can also smell the jam to make sure that there are no fermenting or alcoholic odours permeating from the jar.