Mom2, according to the science Carol has posted, the sugar does help reduce the available water which can change the acidity requirements. That doesn't look like much lemon juice for the amount of bananas, so if I were you I would try to find the sugar. Can you borrow some from a neighbor or something? Do you have a sugar bowl you can raid to top off what's in the canister? Or maybe you can can with brown sugar, I don't think I ever have but a search would answer that question.

I don't see why you couldn't use Pomona with bananas, but I'd be concerned about reducing the sugar.

Melissa

I was wondering if I could safely reduce the sugar and use Pomona's.

The Pomona is no problem but you could only reduce the sugar in this one if you refrigerate for limited storage. No shelf storage.

I would leave out the butter in this one and skim foam instead and I would increase the strawberries (pH 3.5) to 4 c and reduce the bananas (pH 6.5) to 1 cup to increase the acidity of the the end product. JMO

Dave

Pomona can even gel water! To reduce spoilage due to low sugar in a recipe, you can add some acid blend- malic, citric, and tarteric. These are fruit acids and help to reduce spoilage once a jar is opened. Taste before you add any, its only needed in small amounts, to help give a jam and jelly 'character'. Honey is an alternative as are Splenda and other non sugar products.

I had the fruit measured out last night and wanted to make the jam; didn't see these responses until now. I went ahead and I followed the recipe (with regular pectin) except that I used only only 4 cups of sugar. It was still sickly sweet to my taste. I had about 1 1/2 c. crushed berries (3 c. before crushing) and 2 cups mashed bananas. It seems to have set. I figured if it didn't make a firm jel, it would be a great ice cream topping!

So, what do you think? Into the fridge/freezer with these? If so, I am guessing I should pop the lids to make it a less botulism-friendly environment?

Recipe calls for 3 cups mashed and you only had 1 1/2 c mashed. That was the primary source of acid -the strawberries - and you cut it in half. So that reduced acid plus the reduced sugar means the end pH isn't acidic enough nor sugared enough to safely shelf store. Refrigerate it and use ASAP. No need to unseal the jars while storing in the fridge. They add an extra bit of protection until opened.

Dave

I think I followed the directions according to standard recipe conventions. It said "3 cups strawberries, washed and mashed", which I read as "measure 3 cups of strawberries, then mash them." If it was 3 cups mashed, I would expect it to say "3 cups mashed strawberries". Whether I read it right or misinterpreted it, the point is moot, 'cause I'm putting 'em in the fridge! :) Thanks for your input!!

Dave, Mom2's interpretation of the mashing would be standard for recipes, similar to 1 c. flour - sifted, which is more than 1 c. sifted flour.

But Mom2, the original recipe is a little ambiguous. A Ball recipe would be more likely to say "3 c. prepared fruit" OR say "3 c. strawberries" and then specify the mashing in the instructions. Hate to say it but I would want to know more about the origins of this recipe before trusting the bananas. I think you're doing the right thing refrigerating it, and I hope it tastes great.

Melissa

As long as it is in the fridge it's a moot point but it was discussed in the past and confirmed then that it means 3 cups mashed.

I'm not denying that it is open to different interpretation - that is one of the hazards of using unapproved recipes - info gets lost in the interpretation. ;) But since the strawberries are the only source of proper pH it would be expected that the acidic fruit would out weigh the non-acidic for it to be a safe recipe.

Just something to keep in mind for future reference.

Dave

Thanks for that info. I had tried to find threads discussing this recipe but was woefully unsuccessful. I'm usually pretty good at digging things up, too. I'll make a note of the correct measure on my printout for future reference. :)