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nafex - Re: [NAFEX] Low Sugar Jams/Jellies

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  • From: Don Yellman <don.yellman@webformation.com>
  • To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Low Sugar Jams/Jellies
  • Date: Wed, 15 Aug 2007 13:30:01 -0400

Erdman, James wrote:
I haven't had much luck using Pomona's Pectin. I try it every year, and follow the instructions very carefully, and it always comes out runny. Not at all what I want in a jam or jelly. Anyone have any secrets to share??
Jim, in western Wisconsin
________________________________

Don wrote:
It's not so much a question of the recipe as the type of pectin you use. The Sure-Jell and Certo types require a great > deal of sugar to jell. Try Pomona's Pectin, a low-methoxyl pectin derived from citrus peels, that will jell with very low > sugar, with artificial sweeteners, or no sugar at all.
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Jim:

I have been racking my brain trying to account for you lack of success with
Pomona's pectin, not least because it is such a contrast with our experience
over 15 years using this product. We have made many, many jars of
blackberry, red raspberry, Concord grape, apricot, blueberry, strawberry and
cherry jellies and jams and have never had a single jelling failure except
when we experimented with lowering the pectin below 2/3 of the recommended
amounts. That's why we have settled on the two-thirds. When we use the full
recommended amount, we find the jelly actually sets up too hard. Setup
begins to occur even before the jars are fully cooled.

I misspoke when I mentioned water-bath canning of jellies; we actually
hot-pack, having sterilized the jars and lids. Water bath is an option, but
cooks the living hell out of the jelly, which seems to be unnecessary to
preserve it.

I can only assume you are dry blending the pectin with sugar before adding it
to the hot fruit juice, and that you are mixing and using the enclosed
calcium solution as indicated on the insert. Pomona's absolutely requires
the calcium solution to act as a catalyst or it won't jell anything.

Jim Fruth's point about using large amounts of sugar in jellies for
commercial sale is well taken. When there are potential liability issues,
you have to do exactly what the Feds say. But at home you can use your
judgment, and mine tells me that jellies made at home in a sanitary
environment are very, very unlikely to carry any of the more serious risks,
such as botulism. We have never even seen any kind of fungal contamination
in a freshly-opened jar of low-sugar jam, although, as I mentioned, there has
been some color loss after a year in some products like strawberry preserves.
For many years, we made blueberry preserves for a diabetic relative using
the artificial sweetener Equal and no sugar at all, and as long as the
product was used within one year it was fine.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA



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