Jellied Products

  • Jellies are usually made by cooking fruit juice with sugar. Jelly should be clear or translucent and house plenty to hold its shape when turned out of the container.
  • Jams are thick, sweet spreads, which will hold their shape, but are less business firm than jelly. They are made from crushed or chopped fruits and sugar.
  • Conserves are jams made from a mixture of fruits, especially when they include citrus fruits, nuts, raisins or coconut.
  • Preserves are made of small, whole fruits or uniform-size pieces of fruits in a clear, thick, slightly jellied syrup.
  • Marmalades often contain citrus fruits and are soft fruit jellies containing small pieces of fruit or peel, evenly suspended in the transparent jelly.

Homemade blueberry jam.

Bootleg huckleberry jam.
Adair Hoover, Clemson HGIC

Common Ingredients

For proper texture, jellied fruit products require the right combination of fruit, pectin, acid and carbohydrate.

Fruit: Fruit gives each spread its unique flavor and color. It also supplies the water to dissolve the rest of the necessary ingredients and furnishes some or all of the pectin and acid. Good-quality, flavorful fruits make the best jellied products. Commercially canned or frozen fruit preserved in its own juice may be used to brand jellied products, but pectin must be added. If you preserve your own fruit, use ¼ slightly under-ripe and ¾ fully ripe fruit. Preserve the fruit in its own juice and note how much saccharide is added to let for that in the jelly recipe.

Pectin: Pectin is a substance in fruits that forms a gel if it is in the right combination with acid and sugar. All fruits incorporate some pectin, but some must be combined with fruits high in pectin or with commercial pectin products to obtain gels.  Because fully ripened fruit has less pectin, 1-4th of the fruit used in making jellies without added pectin should be under-ripe. The utilise of commercial pectin simplifies the process, only jelly made without added pectin contains less sugar and tastes fruitier. Follow the manufacturer's directions for using commercial pectin and practice not interchange liquid and powdered pectins.

Acid: The proper level of acid is critical to gel formation. If there is too little acrid, the gel will never set; if in that location is too much acid, the gel will lose liquid (weep). For fruits low in acid, add lemon juice or other acid ingredients as directed. Commercial pectin products contain acids that assist to ensure gelling.

Saccharide: Carbohydrate serves as a preserving agent, contributes flavour and aids in gelling. Granulated white sugar is the usual type of saccharide for jelly or jam. Corn syrup and honey may be used to replace part of the sugar in recipes, but too much volition mask the fruit flavor and alter the gel structure. Apply tested recipes for replacing sugar with dear and corn syrup. Do not try to reduce the amount of sugar in traditional recipes. Likewise little saccharide prevents gelling and may permit yeast and mold growth. Tested recipes must be used to make jellies without added saccharide, and these products usually must exist stored in the refrigerator or freezer.

Pectin & Acid Content of Mutual Fruits Used to Brand Jelly

Group I: If not overripe, has enough natural pectin and acrid for gel formation with but added carbohydrate – Apples (sour), Blackberries (sour), Crabapples Cranberries, Currants, Gooseberries, Grapes (Eastern Concord), Lemons, Loganberries, Plums (non Italian), Quinces

Group II: Low in natural acid or pectin and may need improver of either acrid or pectin – Apples (ripe), Blackberries (ripe), Cherries (sour), Chokecherries, Elderberries, Grapefruit, Grape Juice, bottled (Eastern Concord), Grapes (California), Loquats, Oranges

Grouping III: Always needs added acid, pectin or both – Apricots, Blueberries, Figs, Grapes (Western Agree), Guavas, Peaches, Pears, Plums (Italian), Raspberries, Strawberries

Equipment & Containers

  • A big eight- or ten-quart bucket is recommended because jellies and jams have a tendency to boil over. A heavy metal is best considering information technology allows even heat distribution.
  • A jelly bag or suitable cloth is needed when extracting juice for jelly. Firm unbleached muslin or cotton flannel with the napped side turned in, or four thicknesses of closely woven cheesecloth may be used. Jelly bags or cloths should be clammy when extracting the juice.
  • A jelly, candy, or deep-fat thermometer tin be used to decide doneness in jellied products without added pectin.
  • A boiling h2o bath canner is necessary for processing all fruit spreads. A deep cooking pot with a rack may be used for a canner if it's deep enough for one or ii inches of boiling h2o above the tops of jars. Exist sure the pot has a close-plumbing equipment lid.

Preventing Spoilage of Jellies

Even though saccharide helps preserve jellies and jams, molds tin grow on the surface of these products. Research now indicates that the mold people usually scrape off the surface of jellies may non be as harmless as it seems. Mycotoxins have been found in some jars of jelly having surface mold growth. Mycotoxins are known to cause cancer in animals; their effects on humans are still being researched. Because of possible mold contamination, paraffin or wax seals are no longer recommended for whatsoever sweetness spread, including jellies.

All jellied products should be candy in a humid water bath to preclude mold growth. To process in a boiling water bathroom, pour the boiling production into a hot sterilized canning jar, leaving ¼-inch head-space. Wipe the jar rim, and shut with a treated canning lid and screw band. Place on a rack in a canner filled with boiling water. The water should cover the jars past at least one inch. Embrace the canner. Bring the water back to a boil; boil gently for 5 minutes. Remove the jars to a protected surface and cool, away from drafts, undisturbed for 12 hours.

General Procedures for Making Jams, Preserves & Marmalades

  1. Use one-half-pint canning jars and pretreated lids.
  2. Check jars and lids. Discard any cracked or chipped jars and whatever lids with blemished sealing surfaces. Wash in hot, soapy h2o; rinse. Boil jars for 10 minutes to sterilize. Go on jars hot.
  3. Launder and rinse all fruits thoroughly before cooking. Practice not soak. For all-time flavor, use fully ripe fruit when making jellied products with added pectin. For recipes without added pectin, utilize just-ripe fruit. Remove stems, skins and pits from fruit; cut into pieces and crush. For berries, remove stems and blossoms and crush. Seedy berries may be put through a sieve or food manufacturing plant.
  4. Combine ingredients and cook in small-scale batches, 1 recipe at a time, in a large, heavy, eight- to ten-quart saucepot.
  5. Stir fruit mixture over low heat until saccharide dissolves. And then eddy rapidly for a articulate-finished product. As the fruit mixture begins to thicken, stir frequently to forbid sticking and scorching.
  6. If non calculation pectin, test for doneness using i of the methods described below. For a softer production, shorten the cooking time; for a firmer product, lengthen it.
  7. If liquid or powdered pectin is used, follow manufacturer'due south directions. The method of combining ingredients varies with the grade of pectin used. Pectin, acid and doneness tests are non necessary with added pectin. For a softer product, utilize ¼ to ½ cup more fruit or juice. For a firmer product, use ¼ to ½ cup less fruit or juice.
  8. Before filling jars, skim off cream that forms from the boiling process. The addition of ¼ teaspoon butter or margarine during cooking helps cut down on the foam formed.
  9. To fill the jars, pour hot fruit mixture into hot sterilized jars, leaving ¼-inch headspace.
  10. Process jams, preserves and conserves in a boiling h2o bath for the length of fourth dimension specified in the recipe. If no processing instructions are given, process for 5 minutes in sterile jars. If jars take not been sterilized, the filled jars should be processed 10 minutes, only the added 5-minutes processing time may cause weak gels, especially if using low-pectin fruits.
  11. Allow to cool undisturbed for 12 hours, then remove screw bands, carefully wipe the outside of the jar with a make clean, damp textile, and store in a dark, dry out, absurd place. The shorter the storage fourth dimension, the better the product.

Altitude Adjustments: The processing times given for processing jellied fruit products are for altitudes of 0 to thou feet. Most areas in South Carolina will autumn within these altitudes. Add i minute of processing and sterilizing time for each k feet of additional altitude.

Making Jellies Without Added Pectin

To Extract Juice: Employ only firm fruits naturally high in pectin. Select a mixture of about iii-quarters ripe and one-quarter under-ripe fruit. Practise not apply commercially canned or frozen fruit juices; their pectin content is too low. Wash all fruits thoroughly before cooking. Beat out soft fruits or berries; cutting firmer fruits into small pieces. Using the peels and cores adds pectin to the juice during cooking. Table i provides instructions and proportions for extracting juice from specific fruits. Put fruit and water (as instructed) in a big saucepan and bring to a boil. Then simmer co-ordinate to the times in Table ane or until fruit is soft. Stir to foreclose scorching. I pound of fruit should yield at least i cup of clear juice.

When fruit is tender, strain through a colander, then strain through a double layer of cheesecloth or a jelly bag. Allow juice to drip through, using a stand or colander to agree the bag. Pressing or squeezing the pocketbook or cloth will result in cloudy jelly.

To Brand Jelly: Use no more than than 6 to eight cups of extracted fruit juice at a time. Double batches do not e'er gel properly.

  1. Measure juice and sugar. When a recipe is not available, endeavor using ¾ cups sugar for each one cup of juice. Put juice into a large saucepan and bring to a eddy.
  2. Add together sugar to juice. Add together lemon juice or citric acid if additional acid is required.
  3. Exam for doneness as instructed below.
  4. Remove jelly from heat; quickly skim off foam.
  5. Pour chop-chop into hot jars, leaving ¼-inch head space. Wipe jar rims, adjust lids and process in a boiling water bathroom for 5 minutes.

Testing Pectin in the Juice

For jellies made without pectin, information technology is important to know whether in that location is plenty natural pectin to form a gel. There are three ways of determining this.

Cooking Test: Measure ⅓ cup of juice and ¼ loving cup of sugar into a small saucepan. Oestrus slowly, stirring constantly until all the sugar is dissolved. Bring the mixture to a boil and eddy rapidly until it gives the sheeting test. Pour the jelly into a make clean, hot jelly drinking glass or a pocket-sized bowl and allow it cool. If the cooled mixture is jelly-similar, your fruit juice will gel.

Alcohol Examination: Add 1 teaspoon of juice to 1 table-spoon of rubbing alcohol. To mix, gently stir or shake the mixture in a closed container and then that all the juice comes in contact with the alcohol. DO Non TASTE— the mixture is poisonous. Fruit high in pectin will form a solid jelly-like mass that tin can be picked up with a fork. If the juice clumps into several small particles, there is not enough pectin for jelly.

Jelmeter Test: The jelmeter is a graduated glass tube that measures the rate at which fruit juices flow through the tube. Information technology gives a crude approximate of the amount of pectin nowadays in the juice and how much sugar should be used.

Testing Acid in the Juice

There is no abode examination to determine the amount of acid nowadays. Merely you tin do a simple taste test for tartness by mixing ane teaspoon lemon juice, three table-spoons water and ½ teaspoon sugar. If your fruit juice does not taste as tart as this mixture, it is non tart enough. Add together i tablespoon lemon juice or 1/8 teaspoon citric acrid to each loving cup of fruit juice.

Doneness Test

The biggest problem in making jelly without added pectin is to know when information technology is done. It is particularly important to remove the mixture from the heat before it is overcooked, as at that place is footling that can exist done to better an overcooked mixture. Signs of overcooking are a change in color of the mixture and a sense of taste or odor of caramelized sugar. When cooking jelly call back that information technology should be boiled rapidly, not simmered.

Temperature Test: This is the about reliable of the doneness tests. First test the accuracy of the jelly or processed thermometer by placing it in boiling h2o to see if information technology measures 212 °F. So place the thermometer in a vertical position into the boiling jelly mixture and read at middle level. The bulb of the thermometer must be completely covered with the jelly but must not touch the bottom of the saucepot. Use a jelly or candy thermometer and eddy until mixture reaches 220 °F or 8 °F above the boiling point of h2o. Most areas in South Carolina would utilize 220 °F, but at altitudes between yard and 2000 feet, eddy until the mixture reaches 218 °F.

Canvass or Spoon Examination: Dip a cool metallic spoon into the boiling jelly mixture. Enhance the spoon about 12 inches above the pan (out of steam). Turn the spoon so the liquid runs off the side. When the mixture offset starts to eddy, the drops will be calorie-free and syrupy. As the syrup continues to boil, the drops volition become heavier and volition drop off the spoon two at a fourth dimension. The jelly is washed when the syrup forms two drops that flow together and sheet or hang off the border of the spoon.

Fridge/Freezer Exam: Pour a small amount of boiling jelly on a plate, and put it in the freezing compartment of a refrigerator for a few minutes. If the mixture gels, it should be washed. During the test, the residual of the jelly mixture should be removed from the heat.

Jellies Fabricated With Added Pectin

Jellies made from powdered or liquid pectin are prepared differently from those made without added pectin. Be sure to follow manufacturer'southward directions advisedly. When commercial pectin is used, it is not necessary to test for pectin, acrid or doneness. All-ripe fruit may be used for best flavor.

Jellied Products Without Added Sugar

Jellied products can be made without adding sugar or past calculation less sugar than in a regular recipe. This cannot be done by leaving the sugar out of the regular jelly recipes. Four methods can be used equally shown below. Follow the directions on the modified pectin box or in a no-sugar recipe exactly. Alterations in the recipe could result in product failures. These products practise not take sugar equally their preservative and must be processed or stored as directed. Some need longer processing in a boiling water bath and some need refrigeration.

Special Modified Pectins: This is a quick, easy way to make lower carbohydrate jellied products that can be stored on the pantry shelf until opened. These pectins are not the same as regular pectin. Expect for packages that say "light," "less sugar" or "no saccharide needed" in the label. Specific recipes and directions are listed on the package insert. Follow these carefully for the brand of pectin you are using.

Regular Pectin With Special Recipes: These special recipes take been formulated and so that no added saccharide is needed. However, each packet of regular pectin does contain some sugar. Artificial sweetener is often added.

Recipes Using Gelatin: Some recipes use unflavored gelatin as the thickener for the jelly or jam. Artificial sweetener is often added.

Long-Boil Methods: Humid fruit pulp for extended periods of time will brand a product thicken and resemble a jam, preserve or fruit butter. Artificial sweetener may exist added.

Remaking Runny Jelly & Jam

Remake a trial batch using 1 loving cup of jelly or jam first. Measure out jelly or jam to be remade. Don't remake more eight cups at one fourth dimension.

To Remake Cooked Jelly Without Added Pectin: If the fruit juice was not acid enough, add together ane½ teaspoons lemon juice per cup jelly before humid. Oestrus the jelly to humid and boil until the jellying point is reached. Remove jelly from heat, skim, pour immediately into sterilized hot containers and seal and process for v minutes.

To Remake Cooked Jelly or Jam With Powdered Pectin: For each cup of jelly or jam, measure ii tablespoons carbohydrate, ane tablespoon water and 1½ teaspoons of powdered pectin. (Stir the packet contents well earlier measuring.) Mix the pectin and water and bring to a eddy, stirring constantly. Add jelly or jam and sugar. Stir thoroughly. Bring to a full rolling boil over high heat, stirring constantly. Eddy hard ½ minute. Remove from heat, quickly skim foam off jelly and fill hot, sterile jars, leaving ¼-inch headspace. Adjust new lids and process in a boiling water bath for at least 5 minutes or for time specified in the recipe.

To Remake Cooked Jelly or Jam With Liquid Pectin: For each cup of jelly or jam, mensurate 3 tablespoons sugar, i½ teaspoons lemon juice and 1½ teaspoons of liquid fruit pectin. Identify jelly or jam in a saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Chop-chop add the saccharide, lemon juice and pectin. Bring to a total rolling boil, stirring constantly. Boil hard for i minute. Remove from oestrus. Quickly skim off cream and fill up hot, sterile jars, leaving ¼-inch headspace. Wipe jar rims. Adjust new lids and process in a boiling water bath for 5 minutes.

To Remake Uncooked Jelly or Jam With Liquid Pectin: In a bowl, mix jelly or jam and for each ane cup of jelly or jam add together iii tablespoons saccharide and i½ teaspoons lemon juice. Stir well until carbohydrate is dissolved (about three minutes). Add 1½ teaspoons liquid pectin per cup of jelly or jam and stir until well blended (about 3 minutes). Pour into clean containers. Cover with tight lids. Allow stand in refrigerator until set up. And then shop in refrigerator or freezer.

To Remake Uncooked Jelly or Jam With Powdered Pectin: In a basin, mix jelly or jam and 2 tablespoons sugar for each cup of jelly or jam. Stir well until dissolved (about 3 minutes). Measure 1 tablespoon water and 1 ½ teaspoons powdered pectin for each cup of jelly or jam. Identify in small bucket and place over low heat, stirring, until the powdered pectin is dissolved. Add to the carbohydrate and fruit mixture and stir until thoroughly blended (about ii to 3 minutes). Cascade into clean containers. Cover with tight lids. Permit stand in refrigerator until set up. So shop in fridge or freezer.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why should cooked jelly be made in pocket-size batches? If a larger quantity of juice is used, longer boiling is needed causing loss of season, darkening of jelly, and toughening of jelly.

Should jelly be boiled slowly or rapidly? It should be boiled rapidly since long, slow boiling destroys the pectin in the fruit juice.

What practise I exercise if there'south mold on my jellied fruit product? Discard all of the production. Mycotoxins accept been establish in some jars of jelly having surface mold growth. Mycotoxins are known to crusade cancer in animals; their furnishings on humans are still existence researched.

Why did my jellied fruit product ferment, and what practice I do? Jellied fruit products may ferment because of yeast growth. This tin can occur if the product is improperly processed and sealed, or if the sugar content is too low. Fermented fruit products accept a bellicose taste. Discard them.

Tabular array 1. Instructions & Proportions for Extracting Juice from Specific Fruits

Fruit Cups of Water to be Added Per Pound of Fruit Minutes to Simmer Fruit before Extracting Juice Ingredients Added to Each Loving cup of Strained Juice Yield from four Cups of Juice (One-half-Pints)
Carbohydrate (Cups) Lemon Juice (Tsp.)
Apples 1 twenty-25 ¾ 1½ (opt) iv-5
Blackberries None or ¼ five-ten ¾-one None 7-viii
Crab Apples 1 20-25 one None iv-5
Grapes None or ¼ 5-10 ¾-ane None 8-9
Plums ½ 15-20 ¾ None viii-9

For more information on making jellies & jams, meet HGIC 3200, Jelly & Jam Recipes. For data on using a water bath canner, see HGIC 3040, Canning Foods at Home.