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["Stephen Sadler" <Docshiva@Docshiva.org>]

Ginda,

Are you adding pectin, or just using what's in the fruit?  
If your only problem with your current recipe is that it's too sweet, you
might just want to add some lemon juice.

~ Stephen

-----Original Message-----
From: nafex-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:nafex-bounces@lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Ginda Fisher
Sent: Friday, July 02, 2010 4:15 AM
To: North American Fruit Explorers
Subject: Re: [NAFEX] currant preserves and plant productivity.


On Jul 2, 2010, at 6:01 AM, Alan Haigh wrote:

> First I want to say how I make preserves with black currants. . . 
> I just take the berries that I froze back when it was too hot and hectic
to stand over a stove and throw them in a pot and let them thaw.  Then I
stir while bringing them up to a boil while adding sugar to taste (lots of
sugar!).  Once they get to boiling I take them off the stove, mash them, let
the mash cool and they're done.  The jam (not preserved) will last in the
fridge for at least 2 months, bigger batches require freezing some of it.

I just made red currant jelly.  I follow the recipe in an old "Joy of
Cooking".  In the past I've had trouble with the texture, I think because
there's too much pectin.  This year I tried adding some water and more sugar
(I used 1 part sugar to 1 part juice, plus some added water.)

Oh - I start by making juice, because I like a clear jelly instead of
seedily preserves.   To do that, I put all the fruit in a pot, crush it so
that the bottom of the pot is wet, and cook slowly until all the skins turn
translucent (instead of transparent) and I have a wet mass.  Then I pass it
through a fine sieve, sometimes using cheese cloth.  (the cheese cloth,
which must be pre-wetted, gives a clearer jelly, but I generally don't
bother.)  I am always disappointed at how much less juice there is than
there was fruit, but 4 cups of juice makes a lot of jelly.

So this year I had 4 cups of juice, I added a cup of water and 4 cups of
sugar.  I cooked it until it reached the "jelly" stage and bottled it,
giving me 4 bottles of jelly.

First, adding the water was a waste of time and energy - I just boiled it
off again.  (So I guess it wasn't all that much too much pectin.)  Second,
adding more sugar did cure my "too chewy" issue, but it resulted in jelly
which is too sweet for my tastes.  So I'm thinking of either aiming for
too-soft jelly next year, or adding some other fruit juice.

My jelly, made more-or-less like this, has always stored fine for a year or
more in the fridge.  At least, it doesn't mold, and no one has dropped dead.

Ginda
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