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  • Serves: 1 Text file

About Jams Jellies and Preserves

  • Recipe Submitted by on

Category: Fruit

 Ingredients List

  • The less sugar you use the greater the flavor impact of the fruit. If
  • honey is used there will be a flavor change and the jellies/jams must
  • be cooked longer. If you use artificial sweeteners use only the
  • Cyclamate type to avoid bitterness and follow the manufacturer's
  • instructions. Cooked down jellies in which the juice is extracted by
  • the open kettle method contain 60% fruit versus commercial products
  • [pressure cooked to extract more juice but pectin destroying] with
  • only 45%
  • Jelly: has great clarity from dripping the cooked fruit through a
  • cloth before adding sugar and finishing.
  • Jams, Butter and Pastes: are whole fruit purees of increasing density.
  • Marmalades, Preserves and Conserves: are bits of fruit in a heavy
  • syrup.
  • High Pectin Fruits: Apples, Crabapples, Quinces, Red Currants,
  • Gooseberries, Plums and Cranberries. These need no additional pectin.
  • If you get syrupy jelly you used too much sugar or did not cook the
  • juice long enough after adding the sugar.
  • Low Pectin Fruits: Strawberries, Blueberries, Peaches, Apricots,
  • Cherries, Pears, Blackberries, Raspberries, Grapes, Pineapple and
  • Rhubarb. These require combining with high pectin fruits or adding a
  • commercial pectin.
  • To Test Pectin Content: Put 1 tbl cooled fruit juice in a glass. Add
  • an equal amount of grain alcohol and shake gently. The alcohol will
  • bring the pectin together in a gel. If a large amount of pectin is
  • present it will appear in a single mass or clot when poured from the
  • glass. Use equal amounts of juice and sugar. If the pectin collects
  • in several small particles use have as much sugar as juice.
  • To sterilize jelly glasses: fill jars 3/4 full of water and place
  • them in a shallow pan partly filled with water. Simmer 15 min and
  • then keep hot until filled. If the lids are placed on the steaming
  • jars they will be sterilized simultaneously.
  • Tips: -Use enamel or stainless steel pots not aluminum or copper.
  • -On average, use 3/4 c sugar to 1 c fruit or juice depending on
  • pectin content[see above].
  • -Very acid fruits can tolerate a whole c of sugar.
  • -Sterilize jars and seal tightly.
  • -For fruit that tends to discolor add lemon juice or Ascorbic
  • acid.
  • -Keep in a cool dark place but do not refrigerate.
  • Making Jam: is easiest and most economical as it needs only one
  • cooking step and uses the pulp. Measure the fruit. In putting it in
  • the pan, crush the lower layers to provide moisture until more is
  • drawn out by cooking or add a little water. Simmer the fruit until it
  • is soft. Add sugar and stir until dissolved. Bring to a boil,
  • stirring to avoid sticking. Reduce heat and cook until thickened- up
  • to 1/2 hr.
  • Making Preserves and Conserves: Place fruit in a pot with an equal
  • amount of sugar in layers ending with sugar on top and allow to rest
  • overnight. Bring slowly to a boil and simmer until fruit is
  • translucent. Drain fruit and put in sterile jars. Simmer syrup longer
  • if necessary to thicken it and pour over fruit. Seal and store.
  • Making juice for jelly: Wash and drain fruit. Prick or crush the
  • fruit. Add water if fruit is not juicy enough eg. apples. Add enough
  • to the kettle that you can see it through the fruit but the fruit is
  • not floating. Cook uncovered until the fruit is soft and loosing its
  • color. Have ready a jelly bag [several layers of cheese cloth] . Wet
  • it, wring it out and line a strainer with it. Let the juice drip
  • through without squeezing it as this muddies and flavors the jelly.
  • This juice can be kept up to 6 months before proceeding by freezing
  • or canning it.
  • Making jelly: Measure the strained juice and put it in an enamel or
  • stainless steel pan. Simmer 5 min. Skim off froth. Measure and warm
  • sugar in a pan in the oven and add it. Stir until dissolved. Cook at
  • a gentle simmer until the point of jelling. To test, place a small
  • amount of jelly on a spoon, cool it slightly and let it drop back
  • into the pot from the side of the spoon. As the syrup thickens, 2
  • large drops will form along the edge of the spoon. when these two
  • drops run together and fall as a single drop the "sheeting" stage has
  • been reached- 220 to 222 deg F and the jelly will be firm when
  • cooled. It can take anywhere from 10 to 30 min for jelly to reach
  • this stage depending on the fruit and the amount of sugar. Take the
  • jars from the sterilizing bath and invert on a cake cooler. They
  • should be hot but dry when filled. Fill to 1/4" from the top. Cover
  • with melted paraffin 1/8" deep.
  • Posted to MM-Recipes Digest V3 #210
  • Date: Sun, 4 Aug 1996 09:08:21 -0500
  • From: pickell@cyberspc.mb.ca (S.Pickell)

 Directions



Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.05

Title: About Milkweed Blossoms
Categories: Info, Side dish
Yield: 1 Batch

Milkweed buds
;Boiling water
Butter; to taste

Unopened buds are delicious when cooked but must be treated first to remove
bitterness. Put them in a pot, pour on boiling water, boil one minute,
drain, and pour on more boiling water. Repeat this process three times or
until no bitterness remains when you taste them. Cook them a little longer
until just tender and serve with butter.

Reader Jean McLain of Peoria, IL wrote "The Herb Companion" and asked: "Any
ideas what can be done to use milkweed blossoms? The fragrance is musky but
not unpleasant. Could they be used in moth-repellant bags?" HC responded
with the above recipe and said they could find no mention of any use of the
blossoms as a moth repellent.



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