Dissapointment
I managed NOT to touch the jars (significantly) all day, and even kept my 7 year old away from them. When we finally tested them, none had really jelled to my satisfaction, including the batch we tried re-jelling.
So I resorted to the one thing I knew well. The web. A few searches later, I found this incredibly helpful website. It says, among other things:
- Jam can ONLY be made in rather small batches – about 6 cups at a time… (we were doing batches of up to 16.5 cups).
- The web site author uses about 20% more pectin than the box/recipe calls for. I.e. open a box and use a little bit more.
- Jelly can take up to 2 weeks to set.
- A way to test for “jell” by putting a spoon in ice water, then taking a spoonful of the jelly and letting it come to room temperature. If it’s not setting quite right, then add more pectin and let it hard boil for 1 more minute
Tonight I kept it simple. The first test was to take the small 1 cup 50/50 batch and re-heat it adding 1 tablespoon more pectin at the end. I figured there would be a little bit of boil-off, so I added about 1/2 cup more of the runny 50/50 mixture from the fridge. I used the spoon test to figure out when to stop the boiling process and can the jelly.
I decided to work next with the no-sugar added jelly. I took 4 jars and measured their contents (approx 7 cups). I put that into a saucepan and started it boiling. I had 4 spoons in ice water, waiting for testing times.
Test 1: 5 additional minutes boiling, no additional pectin: still runny
Test 2: 5 additional minutes boiling (10 total), no additional pectin: a little less runny, but not enough
Test 3: 4 additional minutes of the pectin mixture, 1 minute additional boiling (11 minutes total): Getting much better, but still I wanted it just a touch thicker.
Test 4: 1 more additional minute boiling (post pectin): Ready to jar.
I had sterilized 4 jars, but only had enough to fill 2 full, and had enough for 1/2 a jar left over. Instead of wasting another jar on that, I just put it in a plastic container int he fridge. We’ll use it soon enough.
I had one problem boiling the full jars: one slipped as I was pulling it out of the hot water bath and it slightly opened and some spilled into the water. After a quick call to my sister to make sure it was ok, I put a new lid on the jar and re-boiled it. I heard that tell tale “popping” sound, so I think this new seal is good.
Tomorrow I will try to fix the 2/3-1/3 low sugar mixture and the other 2 jars of the no-sugar mixture, but first I have to go buy more lids for the jars and probably more pectin. I hate wasting those things, but they are cheap. I wonder if I can throw them in the recycling…
