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nafex - [NAFEX] jam making/white grape juice concentrates in place of the sugar

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  • From: Rondi <nafex@mokalive.com>
  • To: nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [NAFEX] jam making/white grape juice concentrates in place of the sugar
  • Date: Wed, 20 Dec 2006 13:53:37 -0600

Hey,

This brought up a question I've had for some time, but keep forgetting to ask.

I've noticed the at the grocery store that they are now selling jams, jellies and spreads that do not contain sugar, but are using white grape juice concentrates instead. So how is this done? I would love to know since it's costing me an arm and a leg to buy the stuff and I'd like to make my own flavors.

Thanks!

Rondi
On Dec 11, 2006, at 11:00 AM, nafex-request@lists.ibiblio.org wrote:

Traditional Sure-Jell and Certo pectin required large amounts of sugar to ensure jelling, usually more in volume than the fruit juice itself. But now, low sugar pectins are widely sold, and we favor the Pomona's brand which gives us a consistently good jell with very low amounts of sugar -- less than half what would be used with ordinary pectin. Pomona's pectin works by utilizing calcium as a catalyst to citrus peel pectin. However, the use of at least a moderate amount of sugar is recommended because of sugar's natural preservative properties. A long boil of the juice is not necessary, other than to ensure that the product is well sterilized before packing.

It is possible to make jelly by boiling pure juice and large amounts of sugar until the juice "sheets" on a spoon, but this technique is very time consuming and energy wasting, and has not been used by most jellymakers for about 50 years. Use of pectin makes the process a lot easier and faster, and produces a better product.
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