Crab apple and herb or spice jelly

Liney_2

Hello

i have just made the liquid for making crab apple jelly (used 4kg of crab apples) and it is all strained and ready to go - now I have thought about turning some of it into herb jelly but I need some advice.

Do I just chop up some herbs and add when I am boiling it with the sugar?

Do I need to add vinegar - how much do I need?

Any advice greatly appreciated.

Am going to try sage, basil and mint and maybe chili.

Thanks

Liney

billieboy_2

I made some apple and mint jelly the other week using this recipe from Silver Spoon. Although it is using apple juice it may help you with quantities of vinegar and when to add the herbs, etc. HTH.

I would imagine you wouldn't have to use the pectin or jam sugar as you've used crab apples which I believe have loads of pectin in.

Liney_2

thats excellent thank you so much will let you know how it turns out tomorrow

meanmarie

Billieboy, thanks for that, I will give it a try with some of my herbs and gallons of crab apple juice that has been in the freezer since last year...won't use either pectin or jam sugar, crabapple jelly sets very easily so wouldn't feel they will be needed.

Marie

Liney_2

Well I tried making a small batch of sage jelly last night leaving out the pectin and just using sugar but it didn't set - I chucked in some certo pectin (the bottled one) when it was in the jar and it has helped but it is still too runny for jelly - tastes lovely tho' would make a lovely glaze for hubby's pork chops or sausages.

will make some others this afternoon - may try with jam sugar without pectin to start and see what happens.

floyd

Did you boil it to setting point (220 farenheit or so it 'skins' on a cold saucer)? I am panicking a bit because I strained some apples last night to make herb jelly tonight and worried it won't sets. I made sure I left the skins on and cores in to get as much natural pectin as possible but I am a novice so trying to learn all about this stuff from books and websites is hard

billieboy_2

floyd wrote: »

Did you boil it to setting point (220 farenheit or so it 'skins' on a cold saucer)? I am panicking a bit because I strained some apples last night to make herb jelly tonight and worried it won't sets. I made sure I left the skins on and cores in to get as much natural pectin as possible but I am a novice so trying to learn all about this stuff from books and websites is hard

I made some blackberry and apple (with cooking apples and using skins and cores and pips) the other morning and found I had to boil it for a lot longer than the recipe said to reach a setting point. I thought I was going to have a disaster on my hands but it turned out fab. HTH.

billieboy_2

Liney wrote: »

Well I tried making a small batch of sage jelly last night leaving out the pectin and just using sugar but it didn't set - I chucked in some certo pectin (the bottled one) when it was in the jar and it has helped but it is still too runny for jelly - tastes lovely tho' would make a lovely glaze for hubby's pork chops or sausages.

will make some others this afternoon - may try with jam sugar without pectin to start and see what happens.

Jam sugar has pectin in;) . You may be thinking of preserving sugar which has bigger crystals. But I think maybe you didn't boil it for long enough? HTH.

floyd

Made my apple and mint jelly last night and it is at the soft set stage this morning (wobbly set core with a bit of liquid outside). Will leave it until Saturday to see if it sets up but if not I will try re-boiling it for a little longer.
I am still a little nervous about overdoing it and spoiling the lot, would rather be left with a glaze for something/base for sauces than inedible toffee

billieboy_2

floyd wrote: »

Made my apple and mint jelly last night and it is at the soft set stage this morning (wobbly set core with a bit of liquid outside). Will leave it until Saturday to see if it sets up but if not I will try re-boiling it for a little longer.
I am still a little nervous about overdoing it and spoiling the lot, would rather be left with a glaze for something/base for sauces than inedible toffee

Tonight I'm going to try blackberry and apple jelly with "eating" apples from my neighbour's garden but I think I'll use jam sugar as I'm not sure about the the amount of pectin in them .

floyd

My jelly was made using eating apples, they had a slight tang but produced alot of thick sweet syrup when hung in the bag. I added lemon juice instead of vinegar and left the pips in a muslin bag to get a bit more from them during boiling.
I think rather than it being a problem of not enough pectin with mine it was that I am a 'nervous boiler' if that makes sense

Report back and let us know how you get on as I still have 9lbs of eating apples with another 20lbs on the way :eek: so need a few more ideas