Made a batch of jelly yesterday,rasberry, My first attempt at it. Followed the recipe in Carla Emerys book, her reipe didnt call for any pectin,, but it wouldnt stiffen, so I had a little, worked great,, Do any of you use pectin for rasberry jelly????

-- stan (sopal@net-port.com), July 11, 2000

Answers

I follow the recipes in the Certo package. I always use the Certo Liquid (I think it mixes easier). I've never made jam or jelly without the fruit pectin. I understand that it can be done, my grandmother did it, boiled the jam for hours, but I figure for what I put out in cash for Certo, I save in electricity for my stove and the heat in the kitchen during the summer (We don't have air conditioning -- and I see no reason to get it just so I can have a cooler kitchen. It's easier to take a glass of iced tea on on the verandah!!).

A little trick my mother used to do, too, was if a batch of jam failed, she poured it into tupperware (or margarine) containers, and made freezer jam. Still tasty, and keeps in the freezer for ages.

-- Tracy (trimmer@westzone.com), July 11, 2000.

Made strawberry jam last month with out pectin. found reciepe in blue book, husband said why dont you try it honey,little voice in head said your not going to like this.2 hours latter and endless stiring it jelled.Tasted great but lots of work.

-- kathy h (saddlebronc@msn.com), July 12, 2000.

I use pectin all the time. I've had no trouble with it at all. I normally follow the instructions on the box.. I like Sure-Jell and the Ball brand. I've never used Certo, but I've heard that it works wonders as well. You didn't mention if you canned it or made freezer jam out of it. If you were canning, it may just have needed time to set up. Just my .02 worth!

-- Misha (MishaaE@aol.com), July 12, 2000.

I've made raspberry jam both ways and prefer the added pectin way. I had to cook the no-pectin jam a long time to get it to gel and the result was a dark and overcooked(I thought) tasting product. With pectin added the results are fresher tasting, a prettier color, and takes much less time. Just my opinion.

-- Peg (NW WI) (wildwoodfarms@hushmail.com), July 12, 2000.

I use the Sure-Jell for my jams and jellies. I did try to make Loquat Jelly without pectin because I was trying a new recipe and it didn't call for it. It didn't thicken but sure had a good taste. I'll never do that again! Too much work went into it for it not to thicken.

-- Grits in Fl (rebelfarm@yahoo.com), July 15, 2000.

I swear that Sure-Jel used to have a Sure-Jel light freezer jam recipe that required NO cooking - not even mixing the pectin with sugar and water and boiling. I know that I made peach jam that way one year - while I was sitting under a shade tree waiting for peach customers in our orchard. Seems to me that you stirred the pectin and the sugar in with a certain amount of fruit, let it set for a few minutes, then stirred it in with the rest of the fruit. Haven't been able to find a box of "light" pectin that doesn't call for any cooking - Does anyone know of any?

-- Polly (tigger@moultrie.com), July 15, 2000.

I have begun buying my pectin in bulk since I use so much. It takes more than the box kind but when I figured it up it was still around 50 cents a batch which is still cheaper than the little boxes. I kept the last batch I bought for 4 years before I used it all and it still worked fine. If anyone is interested let me know and I'll dig up my info on it.

-- Kathy (DavidWH6@juno.com), July 17, 2000.

made tons of strawberry jam yesterday but it didn't thicken enough after 30 minutes of boiling. used slightly less sugar, no pectin and some lemon juice. so disappointing! is it too late to reboil it with some pectin to thicken it up a bit? mariam (mariambowen@hotmail.com)

-- mariam bowen (mariambowen@hotmail.com), July 19, 2001.