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Jelly hasn’t set

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Jelly hasn’t set

Postby Wic » Sun Sep 26, 2021 4:21 pm

Hello, I need a bit of advice here! I made some sloe jelly this morning, it got up to 105° and a spoonful seemed to be wrinkling on a cold plate, so I assumed all was well, but now it has cooled down I can see it hasn’t set, it’s thickened a bit but still sloshing about in the jars.

I’ve looked up rescues on the internet but most seem to need more sugar added. I put almost equal quantities of sugar to juice when i cooked it and it tastes quite sweet. I wouldn’t want to make it any sweeter.

Any suggestions gratefully accepted!

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Re: Jelly hasn’t set

Postby Stokey Sue » Sun Sep 26, 2021 4:34 pm

Based on a hazy recollection, wait until tomorrow before you panic, some jellies take a while to set, cooling isn't the whole story

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Re: Jelly hasn’t set

Postby Earthmaiden » Sun Sep 26, 2021 4:38 pm

We've more experienced jam makers than me here but some of us agreed recently that some jams and jellies take ages to set and need to be quite cold before being sure they're too runny.

If all else fails, reboil with some lemon juice which should help the pectin. I always cheat and use jam sugar with pectin added. I did have one which set rather hard but usually it does the trick!

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Re: Jelly hasn’t set

Postby Wic » Sun Sep 26, 2021 5:51 pm

Thank you both. Not setting is a new problem for me, I seem to err on the rather more solid side of the spectrum with jams and marmalades. Certainly this batch, at the moment, would run down your arm rather than stay on your toast.

I’ll wait until tomorrow and see how things are.

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Re: Jelly hasn’t set

Postby ZeroCook » Sun Sep 26, 2021 9:24 pm

.
Sounds like low pectin, as mentioned. You're not at high altitude, am guessing?

Old pectin tip when making jam, jelly or marmalade etc is to boil up for twenty minutes then leave overnight and finish the cooking and bottling the following day. I always do it for marmalade and often for other preserves. Seems to allow the pectin to do its thing.

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Re: Jelly hasn’t set

Postby scullion » Sun Sep 26, 2021 10:11 pm

if it doesn't set you could try reboiling with a bottle of certo pectin or like a friend in germany does, use agar agar instead.
using the latter you can make lower sugar jams which give you a more fruity, less sugar flavour - although you may have to keep the opened jar in the fridge.

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Re: Jelly hasn’t set

Postby Wic » Mon Sep 27, 2021 8:44 am

Morning! All this is very helpful, thank you. I think I’ll print it out and save it for future reference.

It’s thickened up a bit, but is still liquid. I have lemons, so I’ll try that. I’d have to drive to town for pectin and we haven’t got much fuel at the moment, so I’ll make do with what’s in the fridge.

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Re: Jelly hasn’t set

Postby Wic » Mon Sep 27, 2021 5:36 pm

I went down the lemon juice route. I used 1 tbsp per pint of the runny jelly and reboiled it. The site I looked at suggested it would take five minutes. Not. It was still flowing about on the cold plate and wouldn’t wrinkle. Eventually, after 15 minutes of testing ever couple of minutes, it set.

It tastes nice and now looks OK, so I’m hoping I haven’t made sloe glue. I’ll let you know!

I’m fascinated by the overnight marmalade trick. We only have two jars of ours left, so a new batch is in the offing, I’ll try it. I’ve made all our marmalade for years and you’d think I’d be used to it by now, but I always get a bit fraught about it and have to read the recipe again and again to be sure I’m doing it properly.

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