Does anyone else think that the price of jelly-making is too high? I bought a package of surejell today for 2.29. I bought this in addition to the sugar and the canning lids. I picked the grapes for free, but many people buy their fruit for jelly-making. I read in the instructions that one package will make 8 cups of grape jelly.
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Hi, My grandma in law makes jelly and she does not pay the 2.29 at the regular stores she goes to our local Save-a-lot if you have ever heard of it. It is like an off brand store that sells groceries for cheap. She said that she can buy it there for like .59 which is a lot better but she said that they only have it during canning season in the summer so she goes and buys a lot of it at one time and puts it up.
Save-a-Lot stores have pectin for 59 cents a box. I buy it there by the case.
You can also do it the old fashioned way. You don't even have to use SureJell. In the days before SureJell they simply used sugar and boil it down to where it was thick enough and poured it in the jars. I am sure your Home Economist at your local County Agricultural Extension office can find the instructions for you.
Some fruits have more natural pectin in them than others. Apples for instance have lots of pectin. You might try a tiny batch using apple for the pectin and see how it sets up before you make a big batch.
You can make your own pectin from apples!! Wash, peel and slice the apples and boil for 15 min-1 pint of water/pound of apple slices. Strain off the juice thru cheese cloth(don't squeeze the pulp). Add 1 pint of water to each pound of remaining pulp and simmer for 15 min. Let stand for 10 min and then repeat the straining, without squeezing. Allow pulp to cool and then squeeze out remaining juice by pressing on cheese cloth. Combine all of these. This should produce about 1 quart of juice/every pound of apples used. This can be used immediately, or you can can it or freeze it-to can, heat to boiling point, and pour immediately into hot, sterilized canning jars. Seal and invert jars to cool. To Freeze: allow stock to cool, and then pour into freezer containers. Allow 1" headspace for expansion. 4 cups of this homemade pectin will replace approx. 3 oz of liquid pectin in most recipes.
I make jams using a 6oz. box of jello instead of pectin....and since I'm a diabetic I used splenda and sugarfree jello.
Is the amount of homemade pectin (4 cups) used to replace 3 oz of liquid pectin correct? If it is correct, how do you compensate for the extra 29 oz of liquid? I avoid recipes with liquid pectin because of the price. I buy my powdered pectin in bulk from an Amish market in Annapolis, MD or from Yoder's in Grantsville, MD. The latter will ship all kinds of wonderful bulk foods.
You can use 6 crushed, dissolved in water vitamin c tablets.
This works great.
Deb
Since apple juice is so cheap has anyone tried adding it to the fruit for sweetner as well as Pectin? Also we just made a batch of Jaboticaba jelly and it was jelled on the spoon and in the pan and yet when it was pouring into the jars it wasn't.
I want to open up a family business out of our house...where should i get bulk pectin from. I have made freezer jam for 18 years and normally give away half of what i make to family and friends and this year many people have been asking us to make some more for them. Please help..this would be a great opportunity for my family!
Editor's note: Here's a source. www.pacificpectin.com/
I searched on Bulk Powdered Pectin in Google and found this link. There are others.
Try Pacific Pectin. They sell pectin in bulk & a fraction of the grocery store prices. Good luck!
For the pectin from apples, does it matter if they are tart or not? My apple tree makes tart apples, which I may mix with pears for sauce, and I am planning on making plum jam from the plum tree.
UNRIPE APPLES!!! My DH "pruned" our tree, so I salvaged the little green apples. I found an article in the Oregonian, (lost the date!) by Vern Nelson (the hungry gardener) and here is a brief rundown:
Select only hard fruit with a strong sour taste. If they start to sweeten, there will not be enough pectin;
Wash and cut apples (quarter large, half for small) but do not core or peel. Add water until almost covered, place lid on pot and cook on low (I set 2 on electric) stirring every 15 minutes until it breaks down into a thin sauce. (Mine took 5 hours)
Strain sauce with cheesecloth, or teeshirt inot another large pot/container and let it set overnight dripping. DO NOT force it to strain, as this will make it cloudy and adversely affect the outcome.
Test the liquid when cooled by putting a spoonful into a small glass with one inch of rubbing alcohol. Use a fork to retrieve the clump. If it remains clumped on the fork, it is a perfect gel. If it sags or hangs, it will be a little loose. This depends on the cooking time.
You can freeze it or fill hot, sterilized jars and process at 185 degrees for 15 minutes.
To use: Use 4-6 tablespoons per cup of juice or fruit. For each 5 cups of pectin/fruit mix, add about 7 cups of sugar.
For more information: Vern Nelson: the Hungry Gardner, PO BOX 16945 Portland OR 97292 anewleaf1@aol.com
It was a blessing to find this! I used a grocery bag full of apples and made 18 oz of pectin, but I also used the pulp to make 12 cups of applesauce with 2 cups of sugar and some cinnamon...YUMMY
I still need to wait for the rest of the infamous NW blackberries to ripen, as I am making my very first batch of freezer jam with this,,,I'll keep y'all posted!
Would very green mangos work the same way little green apples do? Have a Salvadoran friend making candy for a living who asked me if I could find a more economical source of pectin.
I managed to find a clearance sale at a local store, MCP for 1.39 which I think works better than surejell..also I used one cup of pineapple juice for each 2 cups of berry juice (I made blackberry today) and it tastes awesome. Also you can add a little water to the fruit juice if you don't have enough for a full batch and it will taste just fine, if you have bought jelly at any supermarket you know that it is VERY watered down. Also scrape any leftvers from the batch into a cup, cover and refrigerate, it will taste just the same and you will have a lot of jelly that would have otherwise gone down the drain. Good Luck
The problem with using no fruit pectin and letting it cook down is that you only get about half as much jam to put up.
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