Pectin

[blissful]

For the past 4 years I just don't use pectin in my jams. I cook the fruit down like a puree, but reduced in volume so it thickens up, then just sweeten it if it needs it.
I'm amazed how much the stores charge for pectin and that it costs more to make sugar free or low sugar than it does for high sugar jam making.

Anyways, it looks like we might have a bumper crop of apples, so I made some pectin today. I'm planning on a big batch of raspberry puree/jam and will want it a little thicker than my usual. This will be our first raspberry puree/jam from our own raspberry trellises.

Pectin: I cooked quartered green apples (core and peel), 3-4 lbs, in a thick bottomed kettle with a few quarts of water for 2.5 hours. Then strained it with cheese cloth in a sieve into a bowl. Then cooked the liquid down 1/3. I ended it up with 1 qt and 1/2 cup of amber colored pectin.

There are recipes for making it all over the net from green apples or citrus pith. There is a test of 1 t cooled pectin plus 1 T rubbing alcohol, to test it for thickening. After it sits a few minutes it should form a thickened blob you can lift out with a fork. Then discard. (I tested mine and it worked.)

The recipes out there say 1/4 cup pectin for each 1 cup of liquid/chunk fruit. The liquid pectin can be kept in the fridge for 5 days or it can be frozen. I'm planning on making about 3 qts of puree/jam (once it cooks down) and I plan to add 3 cups liquid pectin to it. I have no idea how it will work but I'll let you know.

Even if it doesn't work perfectly, I'll keep trying it, since my apples aren't costing me anything.

It is a good way to save money, if you are making apple sauce or squeezing out apple cider, the pulp seeds and peels could be used for making pectin. (or make vinegar)

 

[GotGarlic]

I'd bet that a lot of canners, especially new ones, have no idea how to make pectin at home, or even that it's possible. I've seen simple syrup for sale!

 

[blissful]

@GotGarlic, I was surprised that pectin became a topic in a conversation yesterday. I had asked mr bliss to stop in at the farmer's market 6 miles from here to touch base with the bee keeper lady we've talked with. Next to her, a man in his 70's had a beautiful spread of jams and jellies and hot sweet pepper things. He had tried selling some to us last year but due to the no sugar thing or low sugar, we don't buy jams, and due to mr bliss not being able to eat hot peppers, no hot pepper things. So he says to mr bliss then how does your wife make jams (the man is a master chef, he said). Mr bliss started telling him how I was making pectin from apples for the jam. His jaw dropped. I'm sure if he thinks back to when he was a kid, he probably had some relative making apple pectin for jams. Or maybe not, who knows.
I don't know when packaged dry pectin came on the market or how common it was back in the 50's.

 

[taxlady]

Back when I was making jam, I used pectin once. It was store bought. It was advertised as making your jam less expensive. It was a flop on all counts, well it did set the jam. The pectin only makes it cheaper if you buy your fruit. I was making jam from berries that I picked for free. So, the extra sugar in the recipe with pectin was an extra expense for me. So was the cost of the pectin. Plus, it was the worst jam I ever made. It was far too sweet and didn't taste as much of fruit. I just used to cook the fruit and sugar until it passed a jam test. Lower pectin fruit just takes longer to cook to the jam stage. I did buy some fruit for jam making, when there was a good enough special.

 

[dragnlaw]

As one article I read wrote,

"if your fruit is free then purchased pectin is expensive. OTOH if you've paid full market price for fruit, pectin is cheap to ensure your efforts come out as wished."

 

[taxlady]

As one article I read wrote,

"if your fruit is free then purchased pectin is expensive. OTOH if you've paid full market price for fruit, pectin is cheap to ensure your efforts come out as wished."

Well, my efforts really did not come out as wished with the pectin. But, there are good reasons to add some pectin when making jam. It cuts down on the cooking time. It cuts down on the amount of heat put into the kitchen from making jam, which is usually made in summer. I think my mistake when using that pectin was to follow their recipe. I have since been told by people who sometimes use pectin, that you can just add some to your regular recipe for jam.

 

[dragnlaw]

Not to sure what recipe you followed but I've never had a failure follow one with Pectin.

Jam and jelly making is pretty much the same as pressure/water canning and baking. Unless you are a qualified expert - stick to the proven recipes.

 

[taxlady]

Not to sure what recipe you followed but I've never had a failure follow one with Pectin.

Jam and jelly making is pretty much the same as pressure/water canning and baking. Unless you are a qualified expert - stick to the proven recipes.

I followed the recipe on the package of pectin. It made jam. It just wasn't anywhere as good tasting as the jam I was making without the addition of commercial pectin.

 

[blissful]

I finished making my seedless raspberry jam with a quart of apple pectin and 3 cups sugar to 6 qts of liquid/puree. The end result is 11 and 1/2 one-cup jars. The thing I learned was that with all the time the jam takes to simmer down the volume I could have made the pectin while it was bubbling away. I don't have to make it in advance. There's enough time to get both done on a big batch of jam.

 

[Rascal]

We have our own raspberry canes. And strawberry plants. I pick up to 100 raspberries a day in summer. I make jam with our own strawberries as well. I've never ever needed pectin. It does thicken naturally.
I also make raspberry couli.

Russ

Russ