Scummy skin on jelly?

frivolous_fay

Help... have just dissolved 1kg of jam sugar in 600ml of vinegar for a jelly recipe. A white scummy skin has formed.

Is this vital to the recipe or should I fish it out?

frivolous_fay

O well... the scum vanished so I carried on.
Shame it didn't set Now I have 4 jars of sweet and sour sauce with chilli bits in

Soubrette

frivolous_fay wrote: »

O well... the scum vanished so I carried on.
Shame it didn't set Now I have 4 jars of sweet and sour sauce with chilli bits in

Hi Fay

You can always reboil it and add some pectin.

My fragrant grape jelly turned out more like toffee golden syrup though so I might not be the best to advise

Sou

frivolous_fay

My understanding was that the jam sugar already had pectin in it... the only thing I can think of that I did wrong was perhaps didn't boil it hard enough 'for 10 minutes.'

It's a recipe from Nigella's Christmas if anyone has any experience of it! I have been looking for a recipe like it since I tried some chilli jelly by (I think) English Provender Co.

daska

Did you use Jam sugar or Preserving sugar. The former is more likely to have pectin in it. Check the label if you still have it - it should say.

frivolous_fay

It was 'Jam sugar' as suggested by NL. Silver Spoon (I think)

floyd

Did you test for a set on a cold saucer or with a thermometer?

Is this the recipe?

150g long red chillies
150g red pepper
1kg jam sugar
600ml cider vinegar

570ml liquid to 454g sugar is the usual proportion if making herb jellies using an apple juice base (or other fruit juice) which is high in pectin and sweet so I can't imagine that using that much jam sugar in a vinegar base would affect the setting quality or sweetness too much so the proportions look OK.

I would suspect it is not boiled for long enough so bring to a rolling boil and test for set every 2 mins. Make sure you wash and re-sterilize your jars again.

The first herb jelly I made took a heck of a long boil before even soft setting, at which point I just gave up and potted it anyway! It set slightly more with age but recipes for jellies using fruit juice really depend on the batch of fruit as pectin content and juice varies from fruit to fruit.

If its still a bit resistant squeeze a lemon into the mix and boil again.

frivolous_fay

Yeah that's the one floyd. O/H with a scientific turn of mind said that as the result smelt quite vinegary, perhaps I hadn't boiled enough of it off?

NL doesn't suggest testing anything and I just trusted the method! Incidentally does anyone know why she says not to stir the dissolving sugar?

floyd

I am always a bit sceptical of Nigella recipes as the 4 that I have tried have been awful so I gave away the 2 books I had.
Maybe because she uses Jam sugar thats why she doesn't test for set as there is so much pectin in there it should be failsafe. Dissolving sugar can spit quite violently but is more likely to do it if you don't stir it than if you do as hot spots form .
I'm sorry I can't offer any more help, I have never used jam sugar before so I don't know of its pros and cons.
This is the recipe I use for all my herb/chilli jellies, it is slightly sweeter http://www.cottagesmallholder.com/?p=43 but there is an alternative one here that uses a bit of vinegar to sharpen it up a bit http://www.cottagesmallholder.com/?p=63

Penny posted in more detail about stirring dissolving sugar here http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=17939961&highlight=stir#post17939961

thriftlady_2

I'm always curious about chillie jellies because I thought that the chillies had an enzyme in them that prevents them setting

frivolous_fay

Well... I reboiled it all today.

Couldn't get it to wrinkle on a saucer as I was expecting... but I threw in some lemon juice and eventually it seemed to be getting gungier. Only needed 3 out of my 4 jars when I finally stopped it!

End result... reddish brown chilli toffee sauce I wouldn't call it 'set' but it's a lot gooier than a jelly... a bit like chunky golden syrup! Better luck next time