I made june taylor's marmelade on saturday. They are beautiful in their little pretty jars, with pretty little bits of meyer lemon floating in the grapefruit. Except...umm...it's 2 days later, and they haven't set yet.
The homemade pectin didn't work, despite me and my mom (who has made a lot of berry jams/jellies before) following the directions exactly- lots of work dissecting those membranes!. We then decided to add a packet of store bought pectin to the pot, but still...they are more juice than jelly at this point. :(
Maybe you should rate your crafts/recipes in terms of difficulty so amateurs like myself can start small! ha ha :)
No big deal. It was still good bonding time with my mama.
Here's a question, though. Apologies if it sounds stupid. Do you think I can put all the fruit back in the pot, heat it really high, and add some more store bought pectin? I feel badly throwing it all away, but at this point I'm not sure what use it has...maybe it's worth a shot before I toss it?
you can definitely do that. i think that you should bring it to a boil and stir your little heart out to keep it from burning. try to get it thick as quickly as possible, to preserve the integrity of the fruit. you'll lose some of the bright color, and the fresh taste, but it's worth it to save all of that work and fruit.
i've never used store bought pectin before, so i'm not sure when you are supposed to add it, but i'm sure it says on the package. my gut instinct is that it'll thicken on its own w/o more pectin, but if you feel like that's what it needs, then by all means, add it.
i'm totally going to ask jt about this next time i see her.
Ahh! ADD sweet taste of genetic revenge. May be now you can understand what I have been going through in life.
ReplyDeleteSamin,
ReplyDeleteI made june taylor's marmelade on saturday. They are beautiful in their little pretty jars, with pretty little bits of meyer lemon floating in the grapefruit. Except...umm...it's 2 days later, and they haven't set yet.
The homemade pectin didn't work, despite me and my mom (who has made a lot of berry jams/jellies before) following the directions exactly- lots of work dissecting those membranes!. We then decided to add a packet of store bought pectin to the pot, but still...they are more juice than jelly at this point. :(
Maybe you should rate your crafts/recipes in terms of difficulty so amateurs like myself can start small! ha ha :)
oh jen,
ReplyDeletei'm so sorry--i know just how much work that recipe is. i'm really surprised that after you added the store bought pectin, it still didn't set.
i don't know what to say without seeing the jam, but my only guess is that you didn't cook down the juice long enough in the first step.
i'm so sad! :(
meh.
No big deal. It was still good bonding time with my mama.
ReplyDeleteHere's a question, though. Apologies if it sounds stupid. Do you think I can put all the fruit back in the pot, heat it really high, and add some more store bought pectin? I feel badly throwing it all away, but at this point I'm not sure what use it has...maybe it's worth a shot before I toss it?
yes!!!
ReplyDeleteyou can definitely do that. i think that you should bring it to a boil and stir your little heart out to keep it from burning. try to get it thick as quickly as possible, to preserve the integrity of the fruit. you'll lose some of the bright color, and the fresh taste, but it's worth it to save all of that work and fruit.
i've never used store bought pectin before, so i'm not sure when you are supposed to add it, but i'm sure it says on the package. my gut instinct is that it'll thicken on its own w/o more pectin, but if you feel like that's what it needs, then by all means, add it.
i'm totally going to ask jt about this next time i see her.