Pectin
Pectin is a naturally occurring substance found in found in fruits such as apples, berries, plums, citrus and other fruits. When heated together with sugar, it causes a thickening that is characteristic of jams and jellies.
Effectively, pectin's structure binds with water in an acid environment. Sugar increases pectin's ability to gel, and affects the texture and consistency of marmalades and jams as they cool and set. Note: sugar is not the key to the preservation of the jam - the sterile environmental and acidity are more important.
Commercial pectin, available at supermarkets, is extracted from fruits using chemicals such as acid and ethanol. You can make your own pectin at home.
Pectin and Acid Content of Common Fruits Used to Make Jams and Jellies
Group I: If not overripe, has enough natural pectin and acid for gel formation with only added sugar.
Group II: Low in natural acid or pectin, and may need addition of either acid or pectin.
Group III: Always needs added acid, pectin or both.
Group I: Apples, sour/tart.
Blackberries, sour.
Crabapples, Cranberries, Currants,
Gooseberries,
Grapes (tart varieties),
Lemons, Loganberries, Plums,
Quinces,
Citrus skins (oranges, tangerines, grapefruit, lemons, limes, etc. - the pectin is high in the skin but low in the fruit)
Group II: Apples, ripe.
Blackberries, ripe.
Sour Cherries,
Chokecherries, Elderberries,
Grapefruit,
Bottled Grape Juice
(sweet varieties),
Grapes (sweet varieties)
Loquats,
Oranges.
Group III: Apricots, Blueberries, Sweet Cherries, Figs,
some Grapes,
Guavas,
Nectarines,
Peaches,
Pears,
Pomegranates, Raspberries,
Strawberries.
How to Extract Pectin from Green Apples
Ingredients:
* About seven sliced, washed tart, green apples (like Granny Smith) with peels and cores. Crabapples are the best. Small, green, immature apples of most varieties work, too.
* 4 cups water
* 2 tablespoons of lemon juice
Directions:
1. Wash, but don't peel, seven large tart green apples. Cut them into pieces.
2. Put them in a pot.
3. Add four cups of water and two tablespoons of lemon juice.
4. Boil the mixture until it reduces almost in half (about 30 to 45 minutes).
5. Strain it through a piece of cheesecloth gathered into the shape of a bag.
6. Boil the juice for another 20 minutes
7. Pour it into sanitized jars, and seal them to store in the refrigerator or freezer, or bottle them using a hot water bath such as Fowlers' Vacola..
How to Extract Pectin from Oranges or Lemons
In citrus fruits, most pectin sits in the white membrane just under the peel. By cooking the peel with seeds and fruit membranes you can make your own pectin at home to use in recipes for jam or marmalade.
Ingredients:
* Seven or eight oranges or lemons (or a mixture of both)
* 4 cups water
Directions:
1. Wash the fruits thoroughly and cut out any spoiled regions.
2. Slice the fruits in half and squeeze out the juice and seeds. Discard the seeds.
3. Slice the peel very thinly.
4. Pour the juice into a large saucepan, then add the sliced peel and four cups of water.
5. Boil the mixture until it reduces almost in half (about 30 to 45 minutes) and the peel is soft.
6. Strain it through a piece of cheesecloth gathered into the shape of a bag.
7. Boil the juice for another 20 minutes.
8. Pour the mixture into sterilised glass jars. Seal them and store in the refrigerator or, if you want it to last more than a week, use plastic containers and freeze the mixture.
How much to use?
That is the big question... and difficult to answer. The pectin content of fruit varies so much, even within a season, that almost anything we could tell you about how much of your homemade pectin to use with the fruit you picked or bought would be meaningless. Both would vary considerably.
So, instead, we'll tell you how to figure out the right formula for your own pectin. Here are the questions to answer:
- How much pectin is in the fruit that you are using to make jam, jelly or preserves?
As we learned on this page about pectin, some fruits naturally have more or less pectin than others. For example, if you are making strawberry jam, you will need to use more pectin (of any kind) than if you are making blackberry jam, since blackberries naturally contain more pectin than strawberries. See this page for the pectin content of fruits.
- How ripe is the fruit?
generally speaking, the more ripe the fruit is, the lower the pectin levels are.
- How concentrated is your homemade pectin?
No one, but you, knows or determines this. When you make your own pectin, you're the manufacturer, you control the production line, the quality control, etc., so only you will know, largely from practice, how much of your pectin to use.
- Test!
That's the bottom line! As you make the first batch, and are ready to fill the jars; first remove a spoonful of the jam, and hold an ice cube against the bottom of the spoon to cool the jam. If the spoonful sets to your liking, you can fill the jars, seal them and process them in the water bath canner. If the spoonful does not set, add another cup of sugar, 1/4 cup of lemon juice and more of your pectin, bring to a full boil for 1 minute, and test again!
Gelling problems
Too stiff or lumpy jam
- If gel formation is too strong, due to way too much pectin, the jam becomes stiff, lumpy or granular in texture. Cooking too long, but not at a high temperature, can boil off water, without breaking the pectin down. This results in jam that is too stiff.
This also occurs if the temperature is too high, for too long, or the jam is not stirred frequently. Using underripe fruit, which has more pectin than ripe fruit, with the same amount of pecton as the recipe requires for ripe fruit, also makes stiff jellies and jams. FYI, commercial pectin is intended for use with fully ripe (but not overripe) fruit.
Runny Jam - Undercooking (it must hit a full rolling boil for ONE minute) or too little pectin or sugar leads to runny jam.
Overheating - that is too high temperatures or uneven heat distribution builds excess heat which causes the pectin to break down. This is why you shouldn't double batches - due to inherently uneven heating of home cookware - commercial canning equipment is design to heat more uniformly.
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