Basic Recipe For Delicious Homemade Jelly

BASIC JELLY

Steps:

• Combine fruit and water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook, partially covered, mashing occasionally with a potato masher, until fruit is very soft, 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer mixture to a fine sieve set over a heatproof bowl; let drain without pressing on fruit, 4 hours. Strain again through sieve lined with damp cheesecloth. Measure juice; you will have 3 to 4 cups.
• In a large heavy-bottomed pot, bring juice to a boil. Add 3/4 cup sugar for each cup of juice. Add lemon juice and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Return to a boil and cook, stirring frequently, 8 to 12 minutes. To test if jelly is done, dip a large metal spoon in, lift it horizontally above pot, and let mixture drip back in. Jelly is done when mixture has thickened slightly and drops of it slide together off spoon in a sheet. (Temperature should register 221 degrees on a candy thermometer.) Skim foam from top.
• Ladle jelly into clean containers, leaving 3/4 inch of headroom. Let cool completely. Cover, label, and refrigerate up to 1 month, or freeze up to 1 year.

BASIC RECIPE FOR DELICIOUS HOMEMADE JELLY

Steps:

• Sort and wash ripe fruit for your jelly. You can use any fruit to make your own jelly. Pick fruits that are fully ripe for the most intense flavors, and toss out any damaged or diseased pieces you find. Rinse all the fruit you're using under cool running water to clean off any dirt on the surface. You'll need enough fruit for about 4-5 cups (950-1,180 ml) of fruit juice, so use: 3 pounds (1.4 kg) of apples for 4 cups (950 ml) of juice. 3 pounds (1.4 kg) of strawberries for 4 cups (950 ml) of juice. 2 1⁄4-3 3⁄4 pounds (1.0-1.7 kg) of blackberries or blueberries for 4 cups (950 ml) of juice. 3 1⁄2-4 pounds (1.6-1.8 kg) of fresh grapes for 5 cups (1,200 ml) of juice. You can use pre-packaged fruit juice instead of fresh fruit.
• Cut the fruit into 1 in (2.5 cm) pieces. It's a lot easier to extract juices when your fruit pieces are bite-sized. Use a chef's knife to chop all of your fruit into cubes. Leave the peel and core with the pieces since they contain pectin, which will help give your jelly its texture. Small fruits like berries and grapes are tiny enough that you don't need to cut them beforehand.
• Crush the fruit with a potato masher in a large pot with cold water. Pour all of the cubed fruit pieces into a large pot. Press the fruit with a potato masher to extract the juices. If you don't see a lot of juice in the pot, you may need to add some cool water to help break the pieces down. For every 1 pound (0.45 kg) of apples, add 1 cup (240 ml) of water. For 1 pound (0.45 kg) of blackberries or blueberries, use 1⁄4 cup (59 ml) of water. Use 1⁄4 cup (59 ml) of water for 1 pound (0.45 kg) of grapes. Add 1⁄4 cup (59 ml) of water for 1 pound (0.45 kg) of strawberries.
• Bring the fruit to a boil and simmer it over medium-low heat until it's soft. Set the pot on your stove and turn it on high heat until the fruit mixture starts boiling. After it bubbles, turn the heat down and let the fruit soften. Stir the fruit frequently so the fruit doesn't burn or stick to the bottom of the pot. Give yourself about 20-25 minutes if you're extracting apple juice. It usually takes about 5-10 minutes to extract juice from blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, and grapes. As the fruit cooks, try using your potato masher on the pieces to crush them and extract even more juice.
• Strain the fruit juice into a bowl through a jelly bag. A jelly bag has a fine mesh that hangs over a bowl so the juice can drain out. Set a bowl underneath the jelly bag and slowly pour the fruit into it. Just let all of the juice drip out of the bag before you get rid of the fruit pieces. You can squeeze the fruit while it's inside the bag to get more juice, but your jelly may look cloudy. If you end up squeezing the bag, strain the juice one more time to get rid of any small pieces that snuck through.

STRAWBERRY JAM

Steps:

• In a wide bowl, crush strawberries in batches until you have 4 cups of mashed berry. In a heavy bottomed saucepan, mix together the strawberries, sugar, and lemon juice. Stir over low heat until the sugar is dissolved. Increase heat to high, and bring the mixture to a full rolling boil. Boil, stirring often, until the mixture reaches 220 degrees F (105 degrees C). Transfer to hot sterile jars, leaving 1/4 to 1/2 inch headspace, and seal. Process in a water bath. If the jam is going to be eaten right away, don't bother with processing, and just refrigerate.