Jams, Jellies, Fruit Butters, etc.

[Belle]

If ya got 'em, post 'em.

This is my grandmother's recipe and my favorite. Got some peaches today, making this tomorrow.

Tropical Jam

2 ripe bananas
1/2 cup drained maraschino cherries
1 1/2 lbs soft, ripe peaches (about 5 large)
1 box Sure-Jel
4 cups sugar

Mash bananas, chop cherries (finely), chop peaches (very fine). Measure sugar and set aside. Measure fruit (you should have 3 1/2 cups). Stir pectin into fruit and place over high heat. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Add sugar all at once. Bring to a rolling boil. Boil hard 1 minute.

Set off heat and skim. Put into hot, sterilized jelly glasses and put on lids.

[SheWoff]

Blackberry jelly

2 quarts blackberries
3 C. water
sugar

Wash berries and put in pan. Add water and bring to boiling point. Cook until berries are soft. Remove from heat and let strain through a cloth bag. Do not squeeze thee bag if you want a clear sparkling jelly. I use an old pillow case to strain berries when making it this way and that works well.
Measure the liquid and bring to a boil. Gradually add the same amount of sugar as you had of juice. Example: If you ended up with 4 cups of juice you will add 4 cups of sugar. If you had 5 cups of juice you will add 5 cups of sugar. Easy! Now cook rapidly on a full boil until the mixture starts to thicken. This may take up to an hour or so. Test for thickness by using a metal spoon dipped into the juice. Pour out the juice to the side of the spoon and you should notice some sheeting. Right...well good if you do. I put some on a tablespoon, set it on a plate and let it cool off a bit. If it jels up when it cools off its ready lol. Okay, now that it is ready, ladle into hot jars and put on lids. Water bath for 5 minutes. Let cool and label jars. Enjoy!

One note...if when your strained juice starts to boil you notice a lot of foaming going on...drop in a tablespoon of butter to cut it down.

Second note....you can start with any amount of blackberries you want in this recipe and will work up to around 12 cups to jel right. If you use 12 cups of juice, you use 12 cups of sugar. The juice to sugar is always 1 to 1 ratio. And yep, you can use half cups too. you spent all that time picking those things so lets not throw good food away lol!

[SheWoff]

Elderberry Jelly

2 C. elderberry juice
2 C. apple juice
3 C. sugar

cook your elderberries until soft and strain. Don't squeeze the bag if you want a clear, sparkling jelly. Otherwise give it a little squeeze to get the remaining juice out.

Combine the juices and bring to a boil. Add sugar gradually and cook on a rolling boil, stirring frequently. Cook until jelly stage has been reached. Pour or spoon into jars and water bath 5 minutes.


Note: If using a themometer...jelly stage is usually reached at the boiling point of water + 8 degrees for sea level to 2000ft above sea level. 2000 to 4000ft is boiling point of water +6 degrees. 4000 to 6000 is boiling point +4 degrees. Now me...I take a spoon, put some stuff on it and when it cools, if it jells up, it's done. And it takes a lot longer to make jelly the old fashioned way....like an hour instead of boiling a few minutes with the sure jel.

[SheWoff]

#1 07-07-2008, 08:19 AM
SheWoff
Esquire Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: NW TN
Posts: 1,874

Making Peach Preserves

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We had one of our peach trees kindly give us some fruit this year (second year) and it was just enough to make some preserves with so I tried it. I have always made jelly or jam before so this was something new to me. I did have a few problems that were easily solved though. So here is the basic recipe:

OLD-FASHIONED PEACH PRESERVES

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2 qts. peeled, sliced peaches
7 c. sugar
2 TBS lemon juice

Combine peaches, lemon juice, and sugar in a large, shallow glass or plastic container. Cover and let stand in a cool place for 12 to 18 hours. This will draw out the natural juices in the peaches so you wont have to add extra water.

Pour peach mixture into a large Dutch oven; slowly bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Boil gently until peaches become transparent and syrup thickens (1 1/2 to 2 hours), stirring frequently to prevent sticking. Skim off the foam with a plastic spoon.

Quickly ladle preserves into hot sterilized jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace; cover at once with metal lids and screw bands tight. Process in boiling water bath 15 minutes. Yields about 7 half pints.
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I used this one because of the Dutch oven thinking this recipe could be used in the future over an open fire/pit outside. I did it inside on the stove though. Just remember this is cast iron and doesn't cool as fast when you turn down your heat if you are getting a boil over.

It took almost the full 2 hours to get this to jel for me. I did that by using a spoon and getting a little of the preserves on it, cool just a minute and then tip sideways watching to see how long it took to run off, if at all and if it jelled up when running off the spoon. You want it to jel when it reaches the bottom of the spoon when it's tipped. So after 2 hours, it finally got there and I skimmed off as much foam as I could. And there was a lot of it too.

The rest of it went just fine. I ended up with 6 jelly jars full and 4 1/2 pints also. They all sealed up just fine for me. Well except the half one in the fridge we dove into with fresh biscuits as part of dinner last night lol.

I did run across another recipe for this using parafin wax as the sealer so i will post it. Please remember the USDA does not recommend doing this. But I have copied it off and put it away for when tshtf and lids run out, along with a supply of wax. Jams, jellies and preserves are the ONLY thing I know of that it can be used for too. Someone correct me if I'm wrong on that one please.
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OLD FASHIONED PEACH OR PEAR PRESERVES

4 lbs. thinly sliced fresh peaches or pears (about 1/4 of the fruit should
be slightly underripe)
4 lbs. sugar
1 lemon (juiced)

Place all ingredients in a large heavy stainless steel or enamel kettle; stir to mix. Then let stand at room temperature for 1 hour. Set kettle over moderately high heat and boil, stirring constantly, for 20 minutes.
Skim froth from preserves. Then pour into hot sterilized half pint jars, filling to within 1/8-inch of the tops. Seal with a thin layer of melted paraffin. Label jars and store on a cool, dark, dry shelf.

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There you go. Peach/Pear preserves are some good eating!!

She

[Belle]

She, you can make watermelon rind preserves the same way. Remove all of the pink and the green rind (In other words, just use the white part), cut into strips or squares, then proceed with your recipe for Peach or Pear Preserves. Grandma sometimes added a dusting of ginger and cinnamon to them, too.

[momof23goats]

3 cups of bottled ]bought ] grape juice
1 package of powdered pectin
4 cups of sugar
combine the grape juice and pectin in a large pot. Bring mixture to a boil. a rolling boil. stir in sugar and return to a rolling boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly. remove from heat. skim off foam, and pour into your jars. process for 5 minutes.
makes about 5 half pint jars. tip, I usually add some lemon juice to mine,and also if you add a dab of butter, it cuts down on the foam.

[Belle]

I made this yesterday, just to see what it was like. It's pretty good, slightly lemony, with a weak peach or apple-y flavor. I added the food color, but it isn't absolutely necessary. Without it, the jelly is clear, with no color.

Corn Cob Jelly

12 large corn cobs
6 cups water
1 box powdered fruit pectin
1 T. lemon juice
4 cups sugar
Yellow food color

Cut corn kernels from cobs and reserve for another recipe.

In a large pot, place corn cobs and water; bring to a boil. Boil for 15 minutes. Remove and discard cobs; strain liquid through cheesecloth. Liquid should measure 3 cups.

Add additional water if necessary. Return to the pot, stir in lemon juice and pectin. Bring to full rolling boil.

Add sugar and bring back to a boil.

Skim foam and add a few drops of food coloring. Pour into hot, sterilized jelly jars. Adjust lids and HWB for 5 minutes.

Yield: about 5 glasses.

[momof23goats]

range Or Lemon Jelly Ingredients:



Grate orange or lemon rind.
Add juice and let stand 10 minutes.
Press juice through a thin cloth.
Add sugar.
Mix thoroughly.
Heat rapidly to boiling.
Add fruit pectin at once.
Stir constantly before and while boiling.
Heat to a full rolling boil.
Boil hard 1/2 minutes.
Remove from fire.
Skim. fill jars, hot water bath 5 minutes.
I have made orange juice jelly before. I used the organic juice from the dairy case at the store, and used some orange zest in it. it was soooooooooo good.
now the recipe in my southern living book, says to use reg. pectin, an I did, but this says bottled pectin.
I am going to make the lemon too. I knew a lady that made lemon lime jelly, it was so good.

[Disastercat]

Mom is that the same amount of sugar as lemon/orange juice?

Thanks in advance, this sounds very good.

[Southwind]

Not really a recipe, BUT, all those gassed peaches I was complaining about? I crock potted them over night, threw them in a food processor, reheated with some sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves and canned. Got some delicious tasting fruit butter out of them. So they didn't go to waste.