Making Jams and Jellies With Added Pectin




United States Department of Agriculture, Extension Service2

Fresh fruits and juices as well as commercially canned or frozen fruit juice can be used with commercially prepared powdered or liquid pectins. The order of combining ingredients depends on the type of pectin used. Complete directions for a variety of fruits are provided with packaged pectin. Jelly or jam made with added pectin requires less cooking and generally gives a larger yield. These products have more natural fruit flavors, too. In addition, using added pectin eliminates the need to test hot jellies and jams for proper gelling. Adding 1/2 teaspoon of butter or margarine with the juice and pectin will reduce foaming. However, these may cause off-flavor in a long-term storage of jellies and jams. Recipes available using packaged pectin include:

Jellies --Apple, crab apple, blackberry, boysenberry, dewberry, currant, elderberry, grape, mayhaw, mint, peach, plum, black or red raspberry, loganberry, rhubarb, and strawberry.

Jams --Apricot, blackberry, boysenberry, dewberry, loganberry, red raspberry, youngberry, blueberry, cherry, currant, fig, gooseberry, grape, orange marmalade, peach, pear, plum, rhubarb, strawberry, and spiced tomato.

Be sure to use Mason canning jars, self-sealing two-piece lids, and a 5-minute process (corrected for altitude, as necessary) in boiling water. For more information about jams and jellies see "Preparing Butters, Jams, Jellies, and Marmalades," (FCS 8264).

Purchase fresh fruit pectin each year. Old pectin may result in poor gels. Follow the instructions with each package and the process times recommended in Table 1 .

Tables

Table 1.

Table 1. Recommended process time for Jellies and Jam with Added Pectin in a boiling-water canner.

Process Time at Altitudes of
Styleof Pack


 JarSize


 0-1,000 ft


 1,001-6,000 ft


 Above6,000 ft
Hot
Half-pints
5 min
10
15

Footnotes

1. This document is FCS 8325, one of a series of the Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. Publication date: June 1998. First published: February 1993. Reviewed: June 1998. This document was extracted from the Complete Guide to Home Canning, Agriculture Information Bulletin No. 539, USDA. It was originally published on CD-ROM as part of HE 8153, Guide 7: Preparing and Canning Jams and Jellies. Please visit the EDIS Web site at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu

2. Reviewed for use in Florida by Mark L. Tamplin, associate professor, Food Safety, Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences, Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, 32611.

The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer authorized to provide research, educational information and other services only to individuals and institutions that function without regard to race color, sex, age, handicap, or national origin. For information on obtaining other extension publications, contact your county Cooperative Extension Service office.

Florida Cooperative Extension Service / Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences / University of Florida / Christine Taylor Waddill, Dean

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