North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Ginda Fisher <list@ginda.us>]

In past years I've used 3 cups of sugar to a quart of juice.  That made 
delicious jelly, but the texture was never right.  This year I tried using 4 
cups of sugar for a quart of juice, and it jelled beautifully, but it's a 
little sweet for my tastes.  It's hard to tell when to stop cooking, and the 
texture problems might be from over or under cooking, not from the amount of 
sugar.  I have a completely useless jelly thermometer.  Maybe if I had an 
accurate jelly thermometer I'd have better results.

Anyhow, next year I will go back to using 3 cups of sugar.  

This jelly isn't bad, by the way, it's just not as wonderful in flavor as 
what I've made in the past.

Ginda

On Jul 2, 2010, at 5:26 PM, Stephen Sadler wrote:

> Read ahead and saw that you don't add pectin.
> 
> I don't think adding water is a problem - it's when you add it.  You
> wouldn't add it to dilute - as you said, it boils off - but you would add it
> to extract.  Add about ¾ cup of water per quart of currants when you cook
> them, then let that mass strain, without pressing, through your cheesecloth.
> A jelly strainer comes in handy here.  I've stopped making jellies - I don't
> like leaving the fiber behind, and I have a Vitamix and Blendtec blender I
> can use to make an ultrasmooth jam if I want.  I say this to disclose I've
> not dome much jellymaking for a while, but still:
> Once you extract the juice try 3½ cups sugar per quart of juice, then cook
> to the jelly stage.  Overcooking can either reduce the gelling power of the
> pectin in the fruit, or cause it to set up too hard; I don't think you can
> manipulate timing much to change your result.
> 
> As far as chemistry - you need sugar to jel natural pection, but once you
> exceed what you need, you're just diluting and sweetening.
> 
> ~ 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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