help with honey/fruit preserves

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I checked the "archives" here, and couldn't quite find my answers. I tried making strawberry preserves out of "putting it up with honey" cookbook, and i now have 38 pints of strawberry "syrup". my aunt laughed and said she has done this a lot, so now she uses pectin no matter what. i did use a bit less honey because i didn't want to waste anymore, and it was too sweet for me already. i'm going to redo it all with pectin (trying to fix it) which is a bummer to lose so much time with some many other things to do, but with all the money i have in the strawberries, the honey i put into it (two gallons so far!) and now $15 more on pectin! yikes! but i really don't want to use pectin if i can avoid it, and i do like some sweet, but not as much as the recipes call for, and i do want to use honey (we have bees). i'll be doing raspberries (wild and domestic), gooseberries, and blackberries , elderberries, and maybe some currents this year, and doing want to go through all this again. Anyone have any ideas?

-- marcee king (thathope@mwt.net), June 20, 2001

Answers

Marcee,

Can you cook it down some more. Try half and maybe use the other half as syrup or sauce.

I made strawberry sauce the other day and had too much liquid from crushing the berries, I put a little clear jel (I use that in my pies) in and it thickened up beautifully.

I have done preserves with the honey and it is like the recipes all say: you need to use what they call for.

There is also another pectin, I purchased some from one of my catalogues (can't remember which but I have it at home), that is what the commercial companies use. Much cheaper. You can also buy it in bulk. I checked that out because I am considering adding jams and jellies to my bakery goods that are sold at a farmer's market. If you are interested, e-mail me and I will get you the address.

-- Cordy (ckaylegian@aol.com), June 20, 2001.


if you have apples around you,, picj some, unripe ones,, and cook them with the syrup,, unripe apples contain pectin and will release it with heat

-- stan (sopal@net-port.com), June 20, 2001.

Why in the world are you using honey for making fruit jam? I suspect you are using honey because you wish to avoid the non-nutritive qualities of refined sugar. But dont you know that when you boil honey, you are getting rid of all its redeeming qualities? Boiled honey is about as nutritious as white sugar. Why not try making a sugarless fruit preserve? And pectin isnt bad for you at all, -it is a natural substance found in all fruits, more in some less in others.

-- daffodyllady (daffodyllady@yahoo.com), June 20, 2001.

I made strawberry jam last year with out pectin[hubbys fault]wont do that again. I had to cook it forever and it never thickend up real good, did what it was supposed to on spoon test though and once I refridgerated it, on opening, it set up great in fridge so I would put what I needed in fridge before I used it.

-- kathy h (ckhart55@earthlink.net), June 20, 2001.

I have found the 'no sugar needed' pectin (pink box) works very well and compairing the cost to value, with time considered. It is the best all around way for me to make jams and jellies, I sweeten to taste with what ever I chose, mixing fruit as I like, in small batches that are easy to work through in rotation. I add green apples to many kinds of jam to add some more body and free pectin to the jam, {even up to 1/2 of the fruit} like strawberrys which cook down to almost water. For jelly it is a little cloudy, and a tad bit soft on the set but for me it doesn't matter because I make jelly out of the skins and pits anyway so the cloudyness is normal and it still holds up on the bread.{Today I made tart red plum jam, day before yesterday tart strawberry} A solar dryer can draw off the water and save cooking time,and scorching, an easy one is just a bottomless window box with a 9x13 or what ever size pan you have, set under it with vent holes around the top of the sides, You could leave the jars sealed and rework them later. I like the green apple fix alot,it gives pectin and some tartness with almost no apple flavor at a rate of less than 1/4 apple to other fruit a small dice works best on the apples. Good luck!

-- Thumper (slrldr@aol.com), June 20, 2001.


There is a powdered pectin called "Pomona's Pectin" that works with as much or as little sugar as you want to use. It's usually available at health food stores. It's fairly inexpensive to use, as well, because you use so little. A word of warning, though. Jams, etc., made with little or no sugar will mould very quickly once opened, even in the fridge. Sugar, or in your case honey, is a serious preservative if used in sufficient quantity.

-- Laura Jensen (lrjensen@nwlink.com), June 21, 2001.

hi. thanks for responding. I now have a plan to "fix" it, thanks to you guys. I didn't realize you could make it sugarless/sweetnerless, and i didn't have any recipes. I wasn't trying to NOT use pectin, but since i wanted to use honey, i had an entire book on how to do that, so i followed that recipe which didn't call for pectin at all (and i thought "good! save some money!) and, i disagree with the one woman on the honey. it is honey from my bees. it is free, it is from my land, it is hand-extracted and filtered by me. i have a passion for the bees. i don't have enough to sell to make it worthwhile for anyone but me a few special friends, but have enough that i don't have to buy sugar. i also do my bees organically with no chemicals, and it is made by the bees with plants off of my land. i would NEVER buy that much honey!!! yes, given that choice i would use sugar in a recipe if i didn't have the honey. as far as sugarless preserves, we prefer them less tart and a bit sweet....but not THAT sweet, which is why I stupidly cut down on the honey. but now I know what to do. and i am so grateful for everyone's input!

-- marcee king (thathope@mwt.net), June 21, 2001.

oh I see now why you are using honey. Never thought it would be a free item, as it is usually a rather expensive health food. Sorry for being quick to judge.

-- daffodyllady (daffodyllady@yahoo.com), June 21, 2001.

My grandmother and I are famous for our 'jelly' syrups!! Don't feel bad. I can do that even when using pectin from the store, so I just recook it when I need to.

If you really don't want to add more pectin, just cook it down more. You should get a good test by dripping a little on a chilled dish. If it jells straight away, then it will jell as it cools.

Incidentally... Did you know that you can make jellies, etc. in your home kitchen for sale at farmer's markets - they are NOT regulated... Nor is candy, cake, cookies or jams.

-- Sue Diederich (willow666@rocketmail.com), June 22, 2001.


Did you know that jellies and jams will not set up as well when it is hot and humid? I'm not sure why this is, but I've read it before and have proven it several times myself! Now, if it's hot and humid and I have fruit for preserves, I prepare the fruit and freeze it, waiting for a cooler day.

-- Sheryl in ME (radams@sacoriver.net), June 22, 2001.


Watch it, Sue, what will and won't fly at farmer's market is heavily dependent on locality. It is illegal to sell any processed food items in many states unless they came from an approved (inspected) facility. Even little kids lemonade stands are illegal most everywhere now.

It's also heavily dependent on local enforcement. A town about 45 minutes from where I live had a thriving farmer's market, with lots of baked and canned goods offered for sale. Then a feud broke out, inspectors got called in for revenge, and lo and behold EVERYBODY got inspected, fined, and shut down. Now there's very little in the way of canned goods etc. being sold at that market and several people were essentially put out of business.

It depends on what state you live in. Better check for local regulations before you assume. Even if other people seem to be doing it it may not be legal. Fines can be quite high if you get caught.

Just FYI.

-- Sojourner (sojournr@missouri.org), June 23, 2001.


I like my grandmothers 'milk fairy' system, she would make bread or put milk in the frig. etc, a friend would stop by to visit, and then money would appear under the bread cloth, or in the frig. and some times egg cartons would appear too.......

-- Thumper (slrldr@aol.com), June 29, 2001.

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