Applejack Jelly

An old time Apple Cinnamon jelly.  Many uses; on bread, toast, crackers, cream cheese or your special pork dish! 

Simple to make, not many ingredients and not too much time to make, perfect for a Saturday or Sunday!

Step 1: Ingredients

This recipe makes about 9 1/2 Pint Jars worth. 

- 1 Lemon
- 2 Tablespoons of Cinnamon
- 1 Package of liquid Pectin (Certo)
- 3 Cups of Apple Juice
- 5 Cups of Sugar

Step 2: Preperation

Before getting started, you're going to want to get everything ready to go:

- Juice your lemon (Not Shown)
- Wash and Sterilize lids and Jars (Not Shown)
- Put your Jars in a pot of boiling water for ~ 10 minutes or so.
- Put your lids in the boiling water for ~ a minute, and take them out and leave covered with boiled water.

Step 3: Cooking - the "main Event"

Ok - Time to get this started!

- Take your cinnamon, then sugar and put into a large pot.
- Add your lemon juice
- Add your apple juice

- Stir to combine, and turn on the heat to medium high.

Step 4: Adding Pectin

- Continue to stir (more frequently as it heats up, then constantly)
- Allow to come to a boil (while stirring) and continue cooking for 1 minute.
- Add Pectin (squeeze the pouch out for every last drop)

- Continue stirring, and it's important that you do not stop stirring at this moment
- Allow to come to a boil (while stirring) and continue cooking for 1 minute.

- Take off heat, and if you're not a fan of the foam, then quickly skim it off.

Step 5: Time to Get Messy

Time is of essence in this step.  As the Jelly cools, it will become really unevenly chunky.  Don't panic; it's not like you only have 23.2 seconds to get this done, just quickly and efficiently.

- Take your jars out of the water (dumping it's contents), and wipe then off.  You don't have to be too careful, as the dribble of moisture will evaporate very quickly.
- Take a funnel and attach to jar (I don't have one) or pour your jelly into a measuring cup.
- Pour into the jar stopping when you hit the bottom of the threads.

- After you've finished filling all of your jars, wipe off the mouths to ensure the lids fit snugly.
- Put the lids on and screw on the bands (tight, but not forced).

Put your water that had the jars in back on to boil.

Step 6: Almost There

If you wish to put them in the fridge or freezer and use within 3 months, you can skip this step.  If you wish to preserve them (for up to 2 years in a cool dark cupboard) you will need to boil.  This will force the air out of the jars from the inside, and create a vacuum. I have read everything from 5 - 25 minutes, but most sources say that for jelly, 5 - 10 minutes is sufficient. 

The key is to take the water to just below boiling, and put your jars in, and not directly on the heat source, so if you do not have a jar rack, or rack from a pressure cooker, you will need to McGuiver one.  Some people take an extra dish rag, and put that in the bottom. 

Allow the watter to come to a slow boil, and start your timer.  If you look carefully, you will notice tiny little bubbles coming out of the jars (from the top) along the bands.  This is expected and desired. You can take them off when the bubbles stop coming out, which should coincide with 10 minutes or so.

Step 7: Finished!!

That's all she wrote!!

Take the jars out of the water, and place them on a towel on your counter. You should be careful not to tip the mixture and to keep them upright.  Allow 24 hours for them to cool down, then crack one open and enjoy!!

I hope you enjoyed this Instructable, as much as you'll enjoy eating the end product!