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  • From: Chrys Ostrander <chrys AT thefutureisorganic.net>
  • To: market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Market-farming] Some Answers About Pectin
  • Date: Wed, 05 Aug 2009 17:52:43 -0700

Folks,

Thanks to all who sent me a treasure trove of information in answer to my question about pectin. I thought it would be informative to compile the answers I got since they came in to me from multiple email lists and contacts.

I'll start by restating my original question:

Every year I make a lot of jam. I have apricots, plums and cherries. I just canned 40 pints of apricot jam and I'm not finished yet. Pomona brand low methoxyl (LM) pectin is what I use because it has no preservatives. Most pectins have preservatives, including sodium or potassium benzoate. Preservatives are what are known as biocides. As an organic farmer and consumer, I don't want biocides in my food. According to Wikipedia ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_benzoate) "in combination with ascorbic acid (vitamin C, E300), sodium benzoate and potassium benzoate may form benzene, a known carcinogen. Heat, light and shelf life can affect the rate at which benzene is formed." Seems like pectin is the last place you'd want to put any benzoates. No thanks!

But Pomona pectin seems way, way overpriced. It costs between $4.50 and $5.00 per ounce. I use three to four ounces per 2 1/2 gallon batch of jam. The cheapest price on-line for 1 lb. bulk Pomona is $47.95 ( http://www.canningpantry.com/pounpe1lbbup.html) [A cheaper source was identified, see below]. It's breaking my bank. I could buy "Gel-EZ Lite" LM pectin for $13.95 a pound ( http://www.kitchenkrafts.com/product.asp?pn=IN1521), but I won't, since it's laced with preservatives. Gel-EZ Lite also has maltodextrin, a sugar, added so you must use twice as much to get the same jelling action, but it's still cheaper than Pomona at that rate. And with pectins like Gel-EZ Lite you add some non-organic highly processed sugar to your food which I'd also like to avoid. Also, Pomona pectin is made, just like its preservative-laden cousins, from the by-products of processing non-organic fruit. After a cursory search I found no source of organic pectin. Even if I did, I'm not sure I could afford it.

So, my question is: Where can I get pure LM pectin (no sugar, no preservatives) by the pound for less than Pomona brand? There's got to be a source.

Compiled answers:

The first answers I received referred to making one's own pectin at home from unripe apples. This is great knowledge and if I can manage my time right I'll give it a try, but it is another entire process and I find it hard enough just to find the time to make the preserves much less the pectin too.

Also, please note: Homemade pectin is old-fashioned "high methoxyl" pectin, requiring lots of sugar to set properly. Pomona is a "low methoxyl" pectin that uses calcium to set and can set properly with little or no added sugar (the calcium comes in a little packet along with the pectin and you mix it with water to add to the fruit).

You can "can" or freeze your homemade pectin for later use.

==========================

Brian of Newman Bluffs Farms sent the following link to a very good and detailed article on making homemade pectin from unripe apples:

http://www.wildflowers-and-weeds.com/The_Forager/pectin.htm

==========================

A woman named Maria sent me a concise homemade pectin recipe that comes from Christine Ferber's book "Mes Confitures: The Jams and Jellies of Christine Ferber". Maria says she has used this recipe many times. Books by Christine Ferber are available via Google Books:

http://books.google.com/books?as_auth=Christine+Ferber&source=an&ei=VIV5SuCvCIfGsQO0no33BA&sa=X&oi=book_group&ct=title&cad=author-navigational&resnum=8

Here's the recipe:

1.5 kg green apples
1kg sugar
1.5kg water
juice of a small lemon

rinse apple, remove stem and quarter, do not peel
Place in pan and cover with water, bring to a boil and simmer for half an hour on low heat.

Collect the juice by pouring the preparation through a chinois, and filter a second time through cheese cloth

Pour 1kg of the juice into a preserving pan with the lemon juice and the sugar.  Bring to a boil, skim, and continue cooking on high heat for 5-10 minutes.  Skim again if necessary.  Return to a boil, check the set.  Pour jelly into jars and seal.

==========================

Ernest J.P. Muhly of Walkersville, Maryland mentioned using quince in making preserves so I Googled quince. I guess you can just mix quince with the fruit you are preserving to get some jelling action, but you'd have to experiment to get the right proportions.  Or you could make pectin from quince using the recipes calling for unripe apples.

http://everything2.com/title/Quince
Excerpt: "...Quinces are laden with the carbohydrate pectin. Anyone that has messed in the kitchen with jams or fruit based jellies will know that pectin is the main requirement for achieving a good setting point for jams, jellies and marmalades. Marmalade brings up an interesting point - quinces are so famous for their preserve making abilities that the Portuguese word for quince, marmelo provides us with the English name for the breakfast spread, marmalade."

==========================

Jessica Zdeb sent the following:

"I've had good success also with boiling a muslin bag of lemon seeds and membranes along with the fruit.  It doesn't add lemon flavor, just a whole lot of natural pectin.  Again, it's an inexact solution, but it's dirt cheap (though not seasonal) and you'll likely be using lemon juice in your preserves anyway."

==========================

I found this info:

http://www.pickyourown.org/pectin.htm#pectinconc
Pectin concentrations vary in fruit.

High pectin content fruits:
Citrus skins (oranges, tangerines, grapefruit, lemons, limes, etc. - the pectin is high in the skin but low in the fruit), tart cooking apples, crab apples, lemons, wild grapes (Eastern Concord variety), cranberries, gooseberries, boysenberries, sour Apples, Blackberries, Currants, Gooseberries,  Loganberries, most Plums (not the Italian kind), and Quinces  are high in pectin.

Medium pectin fruits:
ripe Apples, very ripe Blackberries, sour Cherries, Chokecherries, Elderberries, Grapefruit, bottled Grape Juice, (Eastern Concord), Grapes (California), Loquats, Oranges, rhubarb

Low pectin fruits:
Apricots, Blueberries, Sweet cherries, sour cherries, Figs, grapefruit, grape juice, grapes (other than wild and Concord types), melons, and oranges, Pears, Plums (Italian), Raspberries, Strawberries

Very Low pectin fruits:
Nectarines, peaches, elderberries, grapes (Western Concord variety), guava, and pomegranates.

==========================

My friend Lora Lea Misterly of Quillisascut Farm in Rice, Washington sent the following:

"...some produce such as apricots, rhubarb and Italian prunes have a natural pectin. At our farm school and in our Chefs on the Farm Cookbook we share a recipe for apricot jam. cut up 6 pounds of apricots (add a few that are a little under ripe they contain more pectin) and add 6 cups of sugar or to your taste, less sugar will make a softer set in the jam (you could use 4 cups of honey) stir it together and let it set in the refrigerator over night. The next day bring it to a boil and let it simmer until it starts to jell (test by putting  spoonful on a cold plate and seeing how it sets up.)  proceed with canning as recommended to preserve for later use.
 
This year we are going to try making a natural pectin from wild Hawthorne berries.  We will let you know how it turns out. It should be heart healthy as well as delicious!"

==========================

Sarah Elizabeth Wiederkehr shared this:

"I myself have abandoned pectin a few years back for similar reasons that you mention, and I instead cook the fruit down for a long time with lemon and little to no sugar (I am disgusted by the normal amount of sugar that is called for in usual recipes and find that fresh fruit has such good sweet flavor anyway that the excess sugar just ruins the taste). It never gets to the consistancy of jam or jelly, but makes delicious organic spreadable preserves. It definitely requires more time on your part. For a number of years now during the spring I end up canning until very late at night if I can't start the project until the end of the work day."

And Stephanie shared this;

This isn't a huge savings over what you are paying, but Azure Standard has Pamona's for $42.90 [I believe this lower price is because Azure Standard, a GREAT source for natural foods as well as farm supplies, buys bulk Pomona pectin and packages it in one pound bags themselves. http://www.azurestandard.com/product.php?id=BP053].  Another way I go about making jam is actually making preserves, just cooked down fruit with sugar to taste, the way my grandma made it.  I just cook it down longer to evaporate more water out and it gets firm enough for us.  I like this canning website http://canningusa.com/ and I don't believe their cherry jam calls for pectin.

While blogger and author Jill Richardson made this comment:

"I know this isn't very sophisticated but I just skip on the pectin and deal with having kind of goopy liquidy jam. It's cheaper and easier "

==========================

Anessa Novasio sent this:

"instead of pectin, you could consider the following:

you can use any combination of arrowroot (gives a shiny, smooth, gel/slightly slimy texture by itself- the sliminess is not present if used with other thickeners), agar (derived from seaweed, can create a solid gelatin like texture. if used in lesser qualities, creates a jam or pudding like texture. a little goes a long way), and kuzu (gives a wonderful creamy texture, will help balance the stiffness of the agar. it's a little pricey but when used in combination with the others it will go a long way. also helps with digestion/ has soothing properties).

Use directions on the package as a guide to experiment with the different thickeners.
Good Luck, have fun:)

you could also use brown rice syrup as the sweetener which will add a little thickness."

==========================

Marci Miller sent this:

"A local woman here in Moscow, ID had the same issues and didn't want to use animals based gelatin's. She developed a product called ChillOver. It is agar agar, which needs no sugar to set. I have used it to make jams and love it. You only need 1 tsp. per batch. the website is here:

http://shopping.maryjanesfarm.org/s.nl;jsessionid=0a0107431f43affe62a8b8884114beb0aec432b37868.e3eTaxiPc3mTe34Nbi0?it=A&id=1442

the cost is $17.95 for a 1/4 lb. but when you use so little each time, it goes a long way."

And Mary Jane Butters herself chimed in with the following:

"Our ChillOver powder makes superior jams. We sell lots of bulk to jam
makers. Here's a recipe (scroll down)"
http://www.maryjanesfarm.org/Recipes-Patterns-Instructions/

And she also added in another email:
"We also use it as a gelatin replacement and to make homemade yogurt, etcetera--anything that needs to be thickened."

==========================

Sherri Trout shared this very interesting information:

"I found 100% pure apple pectin at this site.

6oz. for $9.75"

http://www.lepicerie.com/catalog/product_121902_Apple_Pectin.html

[It's true that this product has no preservatives! This is a definite plus. I called this supplier and found out the following: It is one of the many commercially available pectins that for some reason come mixed with some form of highly processed sugar, in this case dextrose, so while you might use 1 oz. of Pomona, which is truly 100% pure citrus pectin with no added sugar, you would need to use 2 oz. of this pectin. This pectin from L'epicerie is old-fashioned high methoxyl pectin requiring lots of sugar to jell.

==========================

Tilth Produceers of Washington Quarterly Journal editor Kate Halstead and another Kate, Kate Hendricks, both mentioned a preservative free pectin called All Natural Dutch Jell. Again, these are cut with dextrose.

All Natural Dutch Jell is old-fashioned high methoxyl pectin requiring lots of sugar to jell. All Natural Dutch Jell Lite is a low methoxyl pectin like Pomona.

Small quantities of All Natural Dutch Jell are available here:
http://www.kauffmansfruitfarm.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=12_37_75&products_id=305&gclid=CKabyNzvh5wCFQk_agodwiag9Q

and larger quantities here:

Dutch Jell, All Natural - 10 Lb All Natural Dutch Jell
http://www.kalyx.com/store/proddetail.cfm/ItemID/820492.0/CategoryID/12500.0/SubCatID/16180.0/file.htm

Dutch Jell All Natural - 25 Lb Natural Dutch Jell
http://www.kalyx.com/store/proddetail.cfm/ItemID/820493.0/CategoryID/12500.0/SubCatID/16180.0/file.htm

Dutch Jell All Natural - 40 Lb Natural Dutch Jell
http://www.kalyx.com/store/proddetail.cfm/ItemID/820494.0/CategoryID/12500.0/SubCatID/16180.0/file.htm

The low methoxyl version of this pectin can be found here:

Dutch Jell Lite All Natural - 10 Lb Natural Dutch Jell (Lite)
http://www.kalyx.com/store/proddetail.cfm/ItemID/820495.0/CategoryID/12500.0/SubCatID/16180.0/file.htm

I wish they packaged a version without the dextrose. Dextrose is the food industry's shorthand for dextrorotatory glucose, or dextrose monohydrate. According to Wikipedia, "glucose is produced commercially via the enzymatic hydrolysis of starch. Many crops can be used as the source of starch. Maize, rice, wheat, cassava, corn husk and sago are all used in various parts of the world. In the United States, cornstarch (from maize) is used almost exclusively".

One can surmise from the above that dextrose is likely derived from GMO corn. I try and keep any GMO food out of my diet.

==========================

Organic Pectin

So far my Googling has not come up with a supplier of organic pectin, although it shows up as an ingredient on some cosmetic labels. I did come across this:

http://www.ap-foodtechnology.com/smartlead/view/199244/4/Pectin-more-than-a-natural-gelling-agent
Obipektin [a major, global supplier of pectin] is continuously innovating in the pectin field, recently soliciting a patent for the world's first organic pectin to meet a growing consumer desire for all organic products.

http://www.obipektin.com/e/frame/set_pektin.htm

I have contacted this company to see if they are producing organic pectin, but I have yet to hear a response.

Some folks are very critical of the fact that certified organic foods are allowed to contain non-organic pectin since organic pectin is "not commercially available". One farmer I work with said that if organic pectin was required in organic foods, the market demand created by this would result in suppliers lining up to produce it. As long as non-organic pectin is allowed, there is limited incentive for suppliers to produce an organic version.

This message originated from or was forwarded by:
Chrys Ostrander
Chrysalis Farm @ Tolstoy
Organic Micro-permaculture
33495 Mill Canyon Rd.
Davenport, WA 99122
509-725-0610
chrys AT thefutureisorganic.net
http://www.thefutureisorganic.net

"From each according to their ability, to each according to their needs"
Louis Jean Joseph Charles Blanc - "The organization of work" 1839
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"The purpose of agriculture is not the production of food, but the perfection of human beings"
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