[RiverRock]

Lisa, you might want to try a long boil method for your berry jam. The long boil recipes usually call for less sugar than recipes that call for pectin. Pectin is naturally found in fruit, especially underripe fruit. The jam might take 30 or so minutes on a gentle boil before it sets. Any underripe berries will completely cook down before the jam is ready to put in jars. I keep bread plates in the freezer to test the gel stage of the jam. A drop of jam on the "frozen" plate should quickly set to the thickness you like. Maybe you know all this already. I rarely use packaged pectin because of the extra sugar needed and the firm gel consistency that often happens.