Jelly Day

17 jars of sweet spreads to share

Inspired by the recent training from K-State Research and Extension on food preservation, I spend a Saturday afternoon making jellies and jams. Two new recipes and another tried and favorite one (blog of Oct. 8, 2012) yielded 17 jars to share with family.
Making jellies and jams is fairly easy, but it is important to follow recommended recipes (those from the land-grant universities or USDA). Proper amounts of fruit, pectin (and the type of pectin), acid and sugar are needed, as well as the correct time for cooking and processing, for a successful product. All types of these products are called 'sweet spreads' in the recipe books but there are differences. Jams are thick and are made with crushed or chopped fruits with sugar. Jellies are made from fruit juice and sugar, they should be firm and clear. Preserves are similar to jams but the fruit is small whole pieces in a slightly gelled syrup. Conserves are jam-like spreads with a combination of fruits, sometimes they also contain nuts, raisins or coconut. Marmalades are soft fruit jellies with small pieces of fruit or peel evenly suspended in a transparent jelly, often these are citrus fruits.
These jellies were made from commercial juice, an easy preparation without the work of cooking and straining fruit yourself. I made the grape jelly in my jam/jelly maker, but I'm including the on-the-stovetop recipe from the Extension workshop here.

Orange Jelly from Frozen Concentrated Juice
12 ounces concentrated orange juice, thawed
2 ½ cups water
4 ½ cups sugar
1 box powdered pectin
Measure sugar and set aside. Mix juice and water in a  sauce pot. Stir in powdered pectin. Bring to a full boil over high heat, stirring constantly. At once stir in sugar. Stir and bring to a full rolling boil that cannot be stirred down. Boil hard for 1 minutes, stirring constantly.
Remove from heat; skim off foam quickly. Pour hot jelly immediately into hot, sterile jars, leaving ¼-inch headspace. Wipe rims of jars with a dampened clean paper towel; adjust two-piece metal canning lids. Process in boiling water canner (10 minutes for 1001-6000 feet altitude, which is what most of Greenwood County is).
At the workshop it was suggested that cinnamon added to this would be tasty, so I tried it. I added 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon which I think is a little too much, it made the jelly a darker, cloudier color. It did have a good flavor however. Next time I will try 1 - 1 ½ teaspoon cinnamon. 
This made 7 half-pints.

Grape Jelly        

Summer morning coffee break

4 cups 100% grape juice
3 tablespoons Ball Low or No-Sugar Needed pectin
up to 1 cup granulated sugar, sugar substitute or honey
½ teaspoon butter or margarine
Combine grape juice, low or no-sugar needed pectin, and butter or margarine in a large sauce pot, stirring to dissolve pectin. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Add sweetener, if desired. Boil 1 minutes, stirring constantly. If gel starts to form before 1 minutes boil is complete, remove from heat. Ladle hot jelly into hot jars, leaving ¼-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles. Adjust two-piece lids. Process 10 minutes in a boiling water canner.
Makes 4 half pints.

Boiling water processing in necessary for sweet spreads to prevent mold and safely preserve the product (unless you intend to keep the jars in the refrigerator). It is not enough to turn the jar over or let it seal on its own with the temperature change! The filled jars are set on a rack in a large pot of boiling water. For small batches I use my spaghetti pot with the strainer rack, but for these larger batches I use a stainless steel water bath canner. Many people have the traditional blue and white flecked large water bath canner which works very well. The boiling water should cover the jars by 1 to 2 inches. Cover the canner with a lid and start counting the processing time when the water returns to a boil. After the processing time, remove the jars to a protected surface and let cool away from drafts.
Jelled products should stand undisturbed for 12 hours to avoid breaking the gel. After that time, check the seal, and label and store in a cool, dark place. Sweet spreads will thicken as they cool, so even if you think it has not jelled enough, the cooled product may be fine. If not, remember it will be thicker after it is stored in the refrigerator after opening. Or you can always use it for syrup!