Crab apple jelly ...well it was

[Skippy]

Christmas day and not being a fan of cranberry sauce i went to the pantry to get out a jar of rowan berry jelly. That part of the story goes well and i have some if dinner. Getting to it i moved a few other jars on the shelf , all homemade jams and jellies and in the process discovered that some jars of crab apple jelly were no longer that. To be exact they have turned to liquid , not just runny jam sort of liquid but proper almost like water liquid. Perhaps we weren't eating it quickly enough as it's dated 2014 but anyway i opened a jar and there was no mould , no foul smell and trying a bit it tasted fine it's just that i couldn't spread it on my toast i had to drink it from a spoon.
I've never come across this before and has only affected the crab apple , which was definately a jelly when it went in the pantry , all the other jams and jellies are fine and have been stored in exactly the same conditions. I'm at something of a loss to explain it and wondered if anyone else has had a similar experience. I'm also wondering what to do with it as appart from not being jelly it seems ok.

[Flo]

Well if you are still here, posting fit and well through the next week then it might be worth coming up with an answer.

But what's this with toast on Christmas Day? Scrooge doing the catering?

[Green Aura]

I've had a quick scout round t'internet but couldn't find anything definitive.

I did find that if you don't get the acid/sugar/water/pectin balance just right that affects the runniness (makes you wonder how anyone ever managed to make jam with scientists!) but as it gelled initially that doesn't seem to be the problem. Also the pectin in overripe fruit is less stable, so that might be the problem.

Another possible suggestion is that certain bacteria can break down pectin but as they appear to be gut flora (Bacteroides strains) that seems unlikely.

I'm tempted to say dump it - general advice around the 'net is that 5 years might be beyond the preserving properties of jams.

[Skippy]

Er i did have a bit of toast on christmas day for breakfast although i did try to be a bit posher by having a bit of pate on it. Perhaps the fruit was slightly over ripe although it seemed ok. I'm loath to dump it although i suppose if we haven't eaten it by now it we could . Easy enough to make some more , i mean after all they do grow on trees. I may try some of it as an accompaniment to porridge ( sorry to those who think that may be herese ) .