Homemade Apple Jelly Makes a Great Gift

Intro: Homemade Apple Jelly Makes a Great Gift

Making apple jelly is easy and tasty, too!

Comments

[brett5kc]

Can you use store bought apple juice?

[mleverette]

You can use store bought apple juice but you will need to add pectin - like Sure Jel. You cannot follow my method with store juice.

Good luck

[smitty44]

I am using Cortland apples and running them through my juicer to extract the juice, it a sweet / tart, juicy apple, made great apple butter.
My question is, do I add water to the straight juice? if so, how much?
Do you always add sugar? and when do I use a pectin?

Thanks

[fdr1124]

Hi, i am trying very hard to be sugar-conscious and was wondering if I could make apple jelly with splenda instead. Would this affect the jelling process? Also, if I wanted to make a raspberry or strawberry jam would i have to make a juice first?

[mleverette]

If you plan to use a sugar substitute, you will need to add commercial pectin like Sure-Gel. Follow the instructions in the package.

You do not need to make juice for jam. Jam uses the whole fruit. Jelly is made from juice.

Good luck

[me-applejelly]

Very fast and look nice too. Will try it on saturday....maybe...

[Kotka]

Your site is very helpful. I have an apple tree in the back yard. I don't know what kind of apples, but there's way too many to eat. Yesterday I tried making jelly, with the recipe from the pectin box. Except I added a cinnamon stick and red food coloring to the mix. Could this be what caused it not to gel? I mixed red currants (also from the back yard) with apples the week before and followed the recipe quite haphazardly, and that gelled very well--not too thick, the way I like it.

[mleverette]

The cinnamon stick and red food coloring should not have made a problem unless you added a whole bunch of coloring! The red currents you added gave the apples more pectin as they are tart. You can re-boil the apple jelly. Just add some lemon juice - about 2 tablespoons per quart of juice/jelly. That should make it gel. Good luck!

[jnsbrower]

Do we boil it on high the whole time? Do we let it boil the whole time? Also when making the juice from the peels and cores how much water do we put in? Thank you so much in advance!!

[mleverette]

Add just enough water to cover your peelings in your pot. Bring it to a boil and let it boil for about 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and allow it to cool enough to strain easily. Then you have apple juice! Time to make jelly.

[jnsbrower]

How do I get the juice from the apples?

[mleverette]

First, wash your apples and peel them. You are going to use the peelings to make the apple juice. Make applesauce from the fleshy part of the apple! Place your peelings in a large pot and add enough water to barely cover the peelings. Put the lid on your pot and bring to a boil. Stir to be sure that all the peelings are submerged. Allow the peelings to boil about 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Strain the juice and you're ready to make jelly. The juice can be made ahead and stored in the refrigerator or freezer. Good luck!

[Scott_]

can you use different fruits in this method? I defenintly want to try this but I also like getting creative with recipes.

[mleverette]

Scott, this method works with any fruit that has a high pectin content - it won't work with bananas!. The fruit must not be overly ripe or bruised. And, remember, if you use a fruit that doesn't create a gel you have some lovely pancake syrup! Good luck. Mary

[Scott_]

thank you.

[Steelrose]

I saw lower that you confirmed with someone that a particular brand of apple that just will not jel. I just picked up Granny Smith, McIntosh and Fuji, do you know if I will have that problem with any of these? Also, do you think these apple would work well together, mainly I'm looking at the Granny Smith as its abit more tart than the other brands. Thanks for your instructable and any help you will provide in the future :D

[mleverette]

McIntosh are my favorite! You'll do great with them and the Granny Smith. I have never made jelly from Fuji but I think if they are part of the mixture you won't have a problem. Good luck with it all!

[Steelrose]

thanks for your response, i currently have it boiled - i don't feel confident that it jelled well yet - i was wondering if I could refrigerate 1 jar first to jel it quicker - or do you think refrigerating will cause problems?

[mleverette]

Refrigeration won't hurt. If after everything has cooled completely and it still hasn't jelled, you can empty out the jars and continue boiling. You'll need new flat lids to reseal the jars.This can be done the next day ... be patient, it takes a long time to cool! Good luck!

[Steelrose]

hmm it still looks... pretty much like apple juice, not even syrupy... you think maybe i should look into getting some pectin tommorrow or do you think alot more boiling is the key? (it was boiled for about 25 minutes the first time around (than 10 to seal the jars) already).