# Canned Jam or frozen? Looking for opinions **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 3, 2025, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-jam-or-frozen-looking-for-opinions/1020462 "2025-07-03T23:56:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2025, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-jam-or-frozen-looking-for-opinions/1020462/21 "2025-07-04T20:14:54Z")
Please cover the song “Sugar, sugar” from The Archies. A classic 😃 ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2025, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-jam-or-frozen-looking-for-opinions/1020462/22 "2025-07-04T20:32:35Z")
I think there are really two things at play here. One, there’s the cooked/uncooked jam split- uncooked “freezer” jam is typically just fruit and sugar combined with pectin and kept cold, while cooked jam is the more traditional cooked jam made of fruit and sugar and sometimes but not always pectin. Cooked jam can be put in a jar and “canned” for preservation purposes. But it doesn’t have to be- it’s perfectly fine to keep it in the fridge or freezer as well, without going through all the trouble of canning it. It doesn’t last as long, of course. In our house, if we’re going to bother at all, we’re making enough to make it worthwhile, which pretty much means canned and cooked jam. As far as strawberry jam goes, the best I ever had was back when we had some strawberry plants and they fruited in late February/early March (hey, it’s Texas!). The fruit were far too sour for eating out of hand, but mixed with sugar in a jam, they were _fantastic_. Most strawberry jams don’t have that level of acidity that gave it a much more fresh strawberry taste. I’ve wondered about buying frozen ones and experimenting with adding food grade acids to duplicate it, but haven’t got around to doing that yet. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2025, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-jam-or-frozen-looking-for-opinions/1020462/23 "2025-07-04T20:37:47Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > I’m not sure that I’ve ever seen freezer jam in a grocery store, though it’s true I haven’t been looking for it. I think it’s mostly a way for people to make jam at home without having to go through the canning process That’s probably the biggest part of making it at home, but it’s also a different and to my tastes, a tastier product. It tastes very much like fresh fruit, not boiled jam. > **[SunFresh Foods, Inc.](https://www.sunfreshjams.com/)** ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2025, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-jam-or-frozen-looking-for-opinions/1020462/24 "2025-07-04T20:41:43Z")
I’m having deja vu all over again. Post #14. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2025, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-jam-or-frozen-looking-for-opinions/1020462/25 "2025-07-04T21:47:11Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > I’m having deja vu all over again. Yeah, I know, I wasn’t sure thorny\_locust had noticed, based on her post. ---
**Author:** ![anny\_m](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@anny\_m](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anny_m)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2025, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-jam-or-frozen-looking-for-opinions/1020462/26 "2025-07-04T22:18:37Z")
> [@bump](#): > > I’ve wondered about buying frozen ones and experimenting with adding food grade acids to duplicate it, but haven’t got around to doing that yet. A lot of recipes for strawberry jam these days call for adding an acidic ingredient, usually lemon juice. I believe this is for flavor and not food safety (while the addition of lemon juice or citric acid to canned tomatoes is definitely for food safety). One of the Ball cookbooks has a recipe for strawberry jam that includes balsamic vinegar. I always make it that way now – you don’t taste vinegar, just delicious strawberry jam. On another note, a friend of mine (may she RIP) always referred to my canned foods as “bottled” rather than “jarred.” I think that’s an old-timey name, but I do like it. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2025, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-jam-or-frozen-looking-for-opinions/1020462/27 "2025-07-05T00:17:44Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > I wasn’t sure thorny\_locust had noticed, based on her post. I did miss that; but I’ve also never noticed it in a grocery around here. And I have looked in frozen fruit and frozen dessert sections for other things. Where do they put it, usually? ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2025, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-jam-or-frozen-looking-for-opinions/1020462/28 "2025-07-05T01:52:13Z")
My granny called all jams and jellies “bottled”. I agree I like it as well. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canned-jam-or-frozen-looking-for-opinions/1020462.md?page=1)