North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Erdman, James" <ErdmanJ@uwstout.edu>]

Most recently, I have tried strawberries, peaches, and raspberries.  I have 
tried Pomona's Pectin diluted at first, and later, when it didn't work like I 
thought it should, I used it full strength.  I have followed the instructions 
exactly every time I tried it, leaving nothing to memory.  We have bought new 
packages of Pomona's at different stores over the years.  One year, one batch 
of strawberry jam did jell adequatelly, but still not the way I want jam to 
be.
 
Wish I knew what the problem was.
 
Jim

________________________________

From: nafex-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org on behalf of K Q
Sent: Thu 8/16/2007 10:54 AM
To: nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Low Sugar Jams/Jellies



James,

Not sure what type of fruit you are trying to gel, but it could be that 
whatever you are using is turning free calcium into bound calcium. I think 
Pomona pectin is the one with the calcium packet included right?

Some (maybe all) types of pectin depend on free calcium ions to gel properly.

Perhaps review the directions, maybe it is procedure sensitive? Or find 
another source of calcium and add a little more at the right time?

I learned all about pectin in my college days. Finding myself wanting to get 
a little more food value out of my oranges, I saved up a bunch of 
orange-whites, the pithy stuff that nobody eats. I then blended them fine 
with some bottled grape juice and let it sit in the frig. Wow, it jelled up 
very nicely! Made a quite natural dessert product. Also tried the same 
process of orange-whites with watermelon. Same reaction but waaay more funky 
to eat!

Kenneth



Date: Wed, 15 Aug 2007 07:33:58 -0500
From: "Erdman, James" <ErdmanJ@uwstout.edu>
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Low Sugar Jams/Jellies
To: "North American Fruit Explorers" <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
Message-ID: <413BF80F8BF1254094223A8811DBCE3524B371@FMS.uwstout.edu>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

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

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