Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Bought the FreshTECH jam & jelly maker yesterday at a brick and mortar store that had it on sale for $79. I was convinced by the unanimous five-star reviews on Amazon. I'm going to ruin this product's perfect record, though. I was disappointed upon opening the box and carefully looking for documentation. There was none. Zero. Zilch. Not even how to assemble the lid, which luckily wasn't that difficult. But you do need some basic instructions to know how to use the product. Half a star off for that. I found the web site freshpreserving.com listed on the box, so was able to get basic instructions and recipes there, but buyers shouldn't have to do that. The most serious issue for my use, though, is the batch size and the instructions to "process immediately" after ladling into jars. This is OK for freezer jams/jellies and for those that will only be refrigerated. But if you want to make canned jams, which IMHO are much more convenient as gifts, then processing only four cups at a time in a large hot-water bath canner is very inefficient. Another half star off for that. I'll probably only use it for freezer or refrigerator jams from now on, going back to the often painful process of cooking jam on the stovetop for canning. Other than that, no complaints. The jams produced were excellent. I used Ball's "RealFruit Low or No-Sugar Needed Pectin," even though the documentation I downloaded doesn't specify which RealFruit pectin to use (there are several choices). Using one cup sugar and one cup no-calorie sweetener (maltodextrin/sucralose) per batch, wild blackberry jam tastes pretty much like wild blackberries. UPDATE: I'm updating my review from four to five stars, same as all the other reviewers (so far). My first half-point deduction, for no documentation, was handled nicely by Ball/Jarden, including sending me a $5 coupon. Thanks, I used it. My second criticism, regarding inconvenient batch size, was easily handled by buying a smaller canner. Duh! Been using a large canner so long, it just didn't occur to me to get a smaller pot with the appropriate rack. I now have one that cans four regular or wide-mouth jars at a time, plus it heats faster than the big one and fits nicely on the range. Perfect!