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Homemade Jellies

post #1 of 4
9/18/06 at 2:49pm
Thread Starter 
Looking for some help with homemade jellies..no use of commercial pectins of course...Last attempt was using Mars grapes but I seem to be boiling off to much juice before I hit 222 degrees...Pectin test shows I should be using 1/2 as much sugar to juice..I am wondering if I simply do not have enough pectin to firm up the jelly...any ideas..Primo
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post #2 of 4
9/18/06 at 6:42pm

Define "commercial pectin"

and why no pectin "of course". Are you going for the 'just fruit' effect?

Various fruits and berries have different degrees of natural fruit pectin. Like raspberry seeds. They have tons. You'll have to do some research there.

Simmering fruit for a long time to reduce it is one approach. But if you want the 'fruit in the jell' effect I'm not sure what method to use other than adding fruit pectin.

I'll have to nose around and see what I can come up with, but a more specific end product would be helpful.

April
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post #3 of 4
9/18/06 at 7:06pm
One thing that I learned is to use more fruit if you want to avoid using pectin. If you want to have the "fruit in jell" effect that April just spoke of you'll need to process some fruit (as in chop it up) the day before and allow most of the juice to drain off over night like I mention in another post for tomatoes. Also add the fruit at the halfway cooking point. It's not always fool proof but I have had good results with this method.
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post #4 of 4
9/18/06 at 10:57pm
One thing for sure is your fruit shouldn't be ripe. Unripe fruit has more pectin. I don't have a big experience with jellies, except with high-pectin fruit jellies, like crabapples or quince. But i think with grapes you have a challenge to get enough pectin. I wouldn't want to use packaged stuff either, but you can boost the pectin adding some from other fruit, like some apple peels and cores, or a quince, or also apparently lemon also helps (apparently the acid is important). I think i rmember reading that with berries and grapes something like half of them should be really unripe, and the rest ripe but not soft. the softer the fruit, the less pectin, on the whole.
Or maybe i'm telling you stuff you already know.
I found that the temperature is practically useless for determining when something has jelled. That's my personal experience. I use the method of putting a saucer in the freezer and then putting a drop of jelly on it - if it stays watery when it picks up the cold of the saucer, it's not done, no matter what the temperature.
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