Homemade pectin

[Kate]

Hi,

I did some research on this and only found recipes using green apples.
I seem to recall someone posting that s/he used 1/4 underripe fruit
instead of pectin. Does pectin only come from green apples? Or can I
use other underripe fruit? I ask because I can't find organic green
apples nearby and have a pear and plum tree out back that is full of
green fruit.

Thanks,

Kate

[zxcvbob]

All fruits and vegetables contain some pectin.

Citrus fruits contain tons of pectin. I make blueberry-lemon and
tomato-lemon (or was it tomato-orange?) jams without any added pectin by
adding thinly sliced or finely chopped lemons (unpeeled). I haven't
made it in a few years so my memory is a little rusty regarding the
details.

Green plums should also be a good source of pectin.

Best regards,
Bob

[Kate]

zxcvbob <b...@a51web.net> wrote in message news:<3B4A6075...@a51web.net>...

I'm going to give the plums a try. I called our County Extension
Agency and all they had was a recipe for apples. They did, however,
have a way to test for pectin content using rubbing alcohol. I'll
post the results tomorrow.

Kate

[Marigold]

Homemade pectin made from apples alters the flavor of the jelly less
noticeably than any other homemade pectin. I have seen recipes for making
pectin from citrus and other fruits, but cannot find them now. I know at
least 2 were at the Food Safety website that has closed down.

Many fruits contain both sufficient pectin and sufficient acid to make
jelly. If the fruit you want to use lacks pectin combine it with a high
pectin fruit. If it lacks acid combine it with a high acid fruit. I found
the following information in "The American Woman's Cookbook" edited by Ruth
Berolzheimer. Similar information is available on various websites and in
many books.

Fruits which contain both acid and pectin in sufficient amounts:
Apples (tart) Grapes
Blackberries Loganberries
Crab apples Plums
Currants Qunices
Gooseberries Raspberries

Fruits lacking sufficient pectin:
Cherries Pineapple
Peaches Rhubarb

Fruits lacking sufficient acid:
Apples (sweet) Huckleberries
Blueberries Pears

To test for pectin:
1. Combine 1 tablespoon juice, 1 teaspoon sugar, 1 and a half teaspoon
Epsom salts
2. Stir until salts dissolve and let stand for 20 minutes
3. If a solid mass or large flocculent particles are formed, the juice
contains enough pectin to make a satisfactory jelly.
From this you can see that your pears have sufficient pectin, and can be
used as a pectin source for a high acid fruit. Your plums have both enough
pectin and enough acid.

Recipe for homemade crab apple pectin with use instructions at this site:
http://recipes.wenzel.net/h/homemade_crab_apple_pectin.html

A lot of good general information at his site:
http://www.homefamily.net/foodnutrition/jamjelly.html

Hope this helps a little,
Marigold

"Kate" <ka...@vegemail.com> wrote in message
news:b5edf8f0.01070...@posting.google.com...

[L.McInnes]

Orange pectin:

Remove the peel from several oranges with as much of the white as
possible.
Cut off the thick white skin from the peel and chop the white.
To 1 cup of white skin add the juice of 1 lemon and let stand 1 hour.
Add two cups of water and boil 5 minutes.
Let stand over night.
Bring to a boil and boil 10 minutes.
Drain through a jelly bag and pour into hot, sterile jars and seal.

For jelly, for each cup of fruit juice, use 1/2 cup of the orange
pectin and 1 cup of sugar. Dissolve the sugar over low heat, then
boil rapidly to setting point.

The recipe also suggests using apple juice instead of the orange pectin,
but that will affect the flavour. Depends on whether your
fruit combines well with apple flavour.

Louette

[Dianna Visek]

How do you keep this from being bitter? The white part of citrus is
supposed to be the bitter part.

Regards, Dianna

[L.McInnes]

Dianna Visek wrote:
>
> How do you keep this from being bitter? The white part of citrus is
> supposed to be the bitter part.
>
> Regards, Dianna

I always assumed it was the soaking and boiling - sweet orange
marmalade isn't really bitter, and that uses the whole fruit,
including the white part. So I'd use cheap sweet oranges, not the
bitter Seville, or the common marmalade ingredient here, "Poorman's
oranges", a bitter variety.

Louette

[Kate]

ka...@vegemail.com (Kate) wrote in message

> I'm going to give the plums a try. I called our County Extension
> Agency and all they had was a recipe for apples. They did, however,
> have a way to test for pectin content using rubbing alcohol. I'll
> post the results tomorrow.
>
> Kate

So I tried the green plums and also made batch of apple. (Since I've
never made it before, I needed a control group.) I used 1 pound of
each fruit cut into eighths and two cups of water and boiled for 20
minutes. I strained the pulp overnight and tested the liquid for
pectin content with rubbing alcohol. They both jelled pretty well.

I would estimate the plum pectin to be about 80% as effective as the
apple. The apple pectin (before the addition of the rubbing alcohol!)
tasted fairly sweet compared to the plum so I would probably adjust
the sugar in the jelly recipe to compensate for this.

Have a good day,

Kate

[Marigold]

Thanks for the follow-up, always nice to hear how something turned out.
Marigold

"Kate" <ka...@vegemail.com> wrote in message

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