I know that this might not be a big help to some, but to those that do canning it might. I canned some grape jelly and could not get it to jell, so I put in 4 boxes of Sure Jel. That was a big mistake. I didn't realize that Sure Jel had a very sour taste til the damage was already done, but I processed the jelly anyway. Needless to say the end product was very solid and sour.
So to fix it I took two half pints at a time and added 1/2 cup plus 1/8 cup of sugar and 1/4 cup of water and heated the whole thing on the stove in a pan, on low heat to boiling. When it was boiling for about 2 minutes (not any longer than 2 minutes), I took it and put it back into sterilized jars and sealed the lids back on and processed in the hot water bath. So what I have got now is a delicious "grape butter" the consistency of apple butter. I read that once something is cooked too hard it cannot be fixed. By taking a chance, I found out that it could be fixed and I didn't have to throw out my jellies.
By Cassie
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
I used home grown peppers and followed a recipe exactly. The jelly set up so hard it's barely spreadable! Is there a way to fix? I used 1/2 pint jars and did not process in a water bath.
Powdered pectin gives better results than liquid. What did you use?
This is something that I have never tried so I was curious and went to Google for answers.
Years ago we made hot pepper jam with the same issue. We softened each serving in the microwave for 10-15 seconds...added cream cheese and crackers and served it with a nice glass of white wine....yum!
My apple jelly came out more like rubber than jelly. What can I do with it? I don't want to throw it out, but can't spread it. It has good flavor.
By Joyce
It sounds like you have too much pectin in it. Try to reprocess it and add in more apple juice and if needed sugar, but no more pectin. You want it to the point that if you dip a spoon into it while cooking it coats the spoon.
Thrifty Fun has a guide about fixing hard jelly. You add more sugar and heat on the stove and end up with a product that has the consistency of apple butter. The guide is here:www.google.com/
You cab also use hard jelly as a meat glaze or ice cream topping
