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  • From: Ginda Fisher <list@ginda.us>
  • To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [NAFEX] (no subject)
  • Date: Sat, 30 Aug 2008 08:28:15 -0400


On Aug 30, 2008, at 4:44 AM, Stephen Sadler wrote:

I still can't recommend doubling a recipe. Master food preservers (I'm not
one anymore) are instructed to just say no to that...

Why's that?

Unless there's a health risk, I'd say just double or triple your recipe, and then fiddle around with the larger-batch recipe until you get it to work right. If you're using chunks of fruit you'll have to make the chunks about the same size each time, or weigh them, to be able to reproduce your proportions properly, of course. I have a kitchen scale, but find volume measures easier in most cases, so I'd probably go with "same size chunks". YMMV.

I'm far from a master food preserver, and I'd use the freezer to preserve anything except super-safe stuff. I consider full-sugar jellies and pickles to be pretty safe, however. I'm not enough of a pickle fan to make my own, but I don't worry about eating my dad's pickles from a recipe he's multiplied by some huge factor (whatever fits his cucumber harvest this year.)

The only jelly I've made myself is red currant. Red currants have a lot of pectin, so my recipe is:

Make red currant juice: mash the fruit in a pot, adding a little water if needed to keep the bottom wet. Cook gently until all the berries are wrinkled and the skins look whitish. Run the mess through a foley mill and a fine sieve (possibly with cheesecloth. If you use cheesecloth, but sure to wet it before use, or it will suck up lots of juice) to get a clear juice.

Turn juice into jelly: Follow the proportions of juice to sugar in "The Joy of Cooking" (I think it recommends equal volumes of juice and sugar, but I'd check that) and cook gently until it looks like it's reached the right stage. Then pour into sterile glass bottles and seal. Leave the bottle on the countertop until they are cool enough to handle, and then store in the fridge.

The stuff lasts a few years in my fridge without molding, and tastes terrific. It's both very sweet and very sour, so I'm pretty sure it doesn't grow botulism or anything like that.

BUT, each batch of currants has a different amount of pectin. The pectin quantity is very dependent on the ripeness of the fruit. (under-ripe fruit has more, and over-ripe fruit has less). I think the pectin also breaks down after making juice, if I let the juice sit in the fridge too long before I get around to jellying it. So it's critical to know what it's supposed to look like when it's cooked enough, because each batch behaves a little differently. I'd expect the same sort of variation in any fruit product. The sweetness, juiciness, and pectin content of each batch of fruit is likely to vary, and you'll have to futz a little with the cooking time or proportions to adapt.

Ginda Fisher
Eastern MA, zone 6








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