If you saw the blog on Making Homemade Pectin then you will have seen our set-up for straining juice. If you dont want to go all the way back, I'll summarize. La strainer on la cup in la bowl. La cheese cloth in strainer. Viola! Pardon my French.
So now that you have your cheese cloth liner strainer suspended above your bowl, ladle in your boiled plums and all their liquid. Let it sit. This is good to do right before bed so it can strain all night. Now again, don't squeeze the cheese cloth! This is going yo be a clear jelly so you dont want the particles.
Before you get started, now is a good time to place a metal or ceramic (no plastic!) saucer in the freezer. Don't worry, you'll find out why later on.
Now measure out 5 cups of juice to 7 cups of sugar in your pot. This is an average ratio for jellymaking but it may depend on your fruit and its ripeness. Our plums are wild and quite tart so we added a little extra sugar.
Add in 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and 1 cup or 1/2 pint of your homemade pectin then put your pot on to boil.
"Temperature Test – Take the temperature of the jelly with a candy or jelly thermometer. When done, the temperature of the jelly should be 220°F, 8°F above the boiling point of water, if you are at sea level. NOTE: For each 1000 feet of altitude above sea level, subtract 2 degrees F. For instance, at 1,000 feet of altitude, the jelly is done at 218°F; at 2,000 feet, 216°F, etc.
For an accurate thermometer reading, place the thermometer in a vertical position and read at eye level. The bulb of the thermometer must be completely covered with the jelly but must not touch the bottom of the saucepot. (Remember to test the accuracy of the thermometer by placing it in boiling water.)
Spoon or Sheet Test – Dip a cool metal spoon into the boiling jelly mixture and lift the spoon out of the steam so the syrup runs off the side. When the mixture first starts to boil, the drops will be light and syrupy. As the syrup continues to boil, the drops will become heavier and will drop off the spoon two at a time. When the two drops form together and "sheet" off the spoon, the jellying point has been reached."
| Table 1. Temperature Test – Use a jelly or candy thermometer and boil until mixture reaches the following temperatures at altitudes of: | ||||||||
| Sea Level | 1,000 ft | 2,000 ft | 3,000 ft | 4,000 ft | 5,000 ft | 6,000 ft | 7,000 ft | 8,000 ft |
| 220°F | 218°F | 216°F | 214°F | 212°F | 211°F | 209°F | 207°F | 205°F |
There is one more test and this is where that saucer you put in the freezer comes in. Pour a little bit of your juice onto the saucer and move it around so it cools. Now run your finger through the juice. If your trace mark stays its ready to be canned. If not, it needs to cook a bit longer. I might as well quote you how the NCHFP says to do it as well because they do it a bit differently.
"Refrigerator/Freezer Test - Pour a small amount of boiling jelly on a plate, and put it in the freezing compartment of a refrigerator for a few minutes. If the mixture gels, it should be done. During this test, the rest of the jelly mixture should be removed from the heat."
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| Not the best quality (sorry!) but hopefully you can see what I mean. |
Now that your jelly is done you can remove it from the heat and start pouring it into hot sterilized jars leaving a 1/4 headspace. We process for 15 minutes in a water bath canner.
And there you have homemade plum jelly to enjoy all throughout the winter months. I hope you enjoyed learning how to make pectin and jelly, I know I did. If you found this useful, please consider sharing it with your friends. :)
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