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Jam and preserves
All Containers›Shop by use case›Jam and preserves›Getting started›Working with boiling sugarShop all jams and preserves →
Getting started

Working with boiling sugar

By Dwight Davis, Founder

Updated

On this page5
Boiling jam is hotter than boiling water, because the sugar raises the boiling point, and unlike water it sticks. A splash does not run off, it stays and keeps transferring heat, which is why this is the one genuine hazard in the craft.

Why it is worse than water

This is the part worth understanding rather than just being told, because the reason explains every precaution that follows and makes them feel proportionate rather than fussy.

At the set point the mixture is above the boiling point of water for your altitude, and it is viscous. Water at 212F runs off skin in an instant. Syrup at 216F does not.

What to wear and what to use

None of this is specialist equipment and none of it is expensive. The reason it gets skipped is that boiling sugar does not look dangerous: it is quiet, it is in a domestic pan, and it has none of the signals that make people careful around a fryer. The precautions are worth taking on the first batch rather than after the one that teaches you why.

  • Long sleeves and closed shoes. A splash from a rolling boil travels.
  • A long-handled spoon, so your hand is not over the pan.
  • Dry oven gloves. A wet glove conducts heat straight through.
  • A pan you can lift when full, which is an argument for smaller batches and not only a quality one.

The two moments

Almost every burn in this craft happens at one of two points, and both are moments when attention is somewhere else: one hand is busy and the pan is being moved or poured. Knowing which two they are is most of the protection, because it tells you when to slow down rather than asking you to be careful for an entire afternoon.

  1. The rolling boil, which spits. Keep the pan less than half full and stand back when you stir.
  2. Lifting jars from the canner. Full glass jars of boiling product, in water, with a jar lifter rather than tongs.

If it happens

Decide now what you would do, because the moment it happens is not when you want to be working it out. The response is simple and it is the same one the published guidance gives for any burn of this kind.

Cool running water, for longer than feels necessary, and do not try to pull set syrup off skin. It holds heat, so the first priority is getting the heat out rather than getting the sugar off.

References

United States Department of Agriculture. Complete Guide to Home Canning, Guide 7: Preparing and Canning Jams and Jellies (rev. 07/2015). National Center for Home Food Preservation. nchfp.uga.edu
Written from federal regulation and published extension guidance, not from a laboratory. A standard of identity is a federal floor and your state adds to it. Anything here is a starting point for a conversation with your state department of agriculture, not a determination that you comply.