Making Jam from Scratch — How to Make Pectin
How to make jam from scratch using homemade pectin. You can make your own pectin using apples with no added sugar or other additives!
Homemade Jam from scratch
Making jam at home requires pectin to jell the jam. Pectin works in combination with acid, sugar and heat to jell the jam or jelly. I used to purchase Certo, a commercial pectin powder for home jamming. Certo’s largest ingredient is sugar, then fumaric acid. Its least ingredient is pectin.
Fumaric acid is a synthesized chemical. One process is to synthesize it from corn — GM corn. I prefer to avoid this in my family’s diet. Is there an organic alternative to Certo and other commercial pectins? Of course.
Before the industrialization of our food, brilliant housewives made jams and jellies using the naturally occurring pectin found in fruit. Apples are rich in pectins, but so are many fruits including blueberries.
One way to take advantage of the pectins of apples when making jam is to take 4 cooking apples*(different than eating apples — usually more tart) Peel, core and chop finely. Add the apples to 8 cups of fruit in the pan, when making jam.
Making Pectin Stock from Cooking Apples
Or you can easily make pectin stock and can it for future jam making when the crab apples are available in early summer. Then you’ll have pectin stock for jam making for the rest of the summer. Dolgo Crab apples are larger crab apples that are ready in July and good for pectin and apple jelly.
The flesh, skin and seeds of cooking apples and crab apples contain large amounts of pectin, which can be extracted and used to set jams and jellies made with low-pectin fruits. Make large quantities of the stock, when apples are at their peak.
1/2 cup of pectin will set 4 cups of fruit or juice — same as 1 pkg of Certo. Pectin will keep for 2 years when canned.
Recipe: Homemade Pectin
12 lbs of cooking apples* or crab apples or a mixture
Scrub apples, discard leaves, and stems. Coarsely chop, including skin and seeds. Put apples in a large preserving pan with 3 litres of water. The apples should be barely covered by the water. Bring to a boil over medium heat and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes, until apples are softened.
Strain the contents of the pan through a cheesecloth or jelly bag. Set over a large bowl and let it drain for 24 hours. Do not squeeze the bag.
Transfer the strained liquid back to a preserving pan and boil over high heat until it is reduced by half or a large clot is formed when the pectin level is tested.*
Ladle the stock into 250ml jars. Seal jars in a boiling water bath for 5 min. Makes 2 1/2 litres. — enough for 10 batches of jam.
Using homemade pectin stock:
Basic Jam Recipe
10 cups of fruit or juice
8 cups of sugar
1 cup of pectin stock
1/4 cup. lemon juice (or substitute 1/4 under-ripe fruit)
Bring mixture to a boil, and boil 15 min, or until mixture reaches the jelling point*.
*Commonly available cooking apples include Macintosh, Gravenstein, Granny Smith, Northern Spy, Winesap, Jonathon, Gala. There are many more. Underripe eating apples also work well.
*Testing the jelling point of jam or jelly:
Jams and jellies normally jell at 220F. Generally, the thickness of the mixture indicates the jelling point. To test, chill a ceramic or glass bowl. Spoon 1 tsp of mixture onto the chilled bowl. Chill for a few minutes. The jellying point has been reached if the mixture is firm enough to remain divided when a finger is pushed through the centre. If the mixture is not set, continue cooking a little longer.
Have you made jams or jellies without commercial pectin? How did you do it? Share your success with our readers.
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Some resources to help you with your jam making:
Wild Jams and Jellies: Delicious Recipes Using 75 Wild Edibles
Sensational Preserves: 250 Recipes for Jams, Jellies, Chutneys and Sauces and How
Fruits of the Earth: 100 Recipes for Jams, Jellies, Pickles, and Preserves (Green Home)
Preserving And Pickling – Two Hundred Recipes For Preserves, Jellies, Jams, Marmalades, Pickles, Relishes, And Other Good Things
Norpro 2478367600456 7-Piece Home Canning Set
Norpro Stainless Steel Wide-Mouth Funnel
Reese says
Could you use the tiny (ornamental) apples to make pectin?
Joybilee Farm says
Yes. But you’ll be working with a lot of seeds.
Reese says
Could one put the pectin stock into a dehydrator and store/use it dry, like either certo (or the more natural, and less sugar requiring) Pamona’s Pectin?
Joybilee Farm says
I haven’t tried this, but I would assume it would end up like fruit leather, quite chewy, rather than hard and brittle as you would need to turn it into a powder. If you try it, please come back and let us know if it worked.
Janine says
Thanks. Can you please tell me how to reduce the sugar
Joybilee Farm says
Cook to 217-222°F (103-106°C). The actual temperature will vary depending on the fruit used. Then check for gel set.
Elena says
Is it ok to freeze pectin instead of canning it?
Simran says
Hi just wanted to know that is it possible to extract pectin by just jucing the crab apples…or is it nessesary to boil and sieve them. Thanks.
Joybilee Farm says
There is pectin in the crab apple juice but you want to reduce it to remove some of the water if you want to use it to gel other fruit. Otherwise you’ll have too much liquid and you won’t know how much to add to your jelly recipe.
Bonnie says
Made plum jam a few weeks ago using only plums, sugar and lemon peel. This nice elderly Amish lady ( talked to her for years when we go to hay sale) told me how she learned. Never use more than 8 cups of juice/pulp. 1 cup of sugar to 2 cups of juice. Rind of 1/2 a lemon. Bring to rolling boil over med heat (not to fast or it will “get grainy”).Take off heat and let cool completely. Repeat 3 times! Put in hot jars and process or pareffine tops. I did my first cooking early afternoon, second while I was doing supper dishes, Covered with a dish towel let set all night. Did the 3rd early next morning and finished that afternoon. AMAZING!!!!!! Try it today with some grapes I bought from this same sweet lady!
Joybilee Farm says
I’ll have to try that one. Thanks for sharing. Fyi, lemon peel is rich in pectin.
Ginny says
Can I ask about the rind? Did you peel it off and discard once finished all three boils or did you grate it into the mix and it becomes part of the jam?
Joybilee Farm says
Discard it.
Adelaide says
Super infomrative writing; keep it up.
Quinn Ainsley says
What a great recipe! I had heard about ‘just using lemon’ or ‘add more apples’ instead of Certo, but this is good, specific instruction. Thanks! I will make some (and even can it!) this fall to use for next year’s jam.
Joybilee Farm says
I’m not sure how long it lasts when canned. I made some 7 years ago and used my last pint jar this season. Last season it jelled by doubling the amount called for. This season I couldn’t get it to jell. Not bad — a 6 year lifespan — sure beats Certo. Chris
Wilhelmina says
That’s way more clever than I was expcteing. Thanks!
Journey says
Four score and seven mnieuts ago, I read a sweet article. Lol thanks
arlee says
Thanks for this–even my 1941 cookbook had no help in making jams and jellies without commercial pectin!