Pectin ratios

[TheSwede]

I'm going to try to make a pates de fruit more or less according to Kerry Beal's recipe found here:

http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=118329&st=30#

However, I don't have easy access to pure apple pectin. But I can buy a product in my local supermarket called Melatin which basically contains fructose and apple pectin in an unknown ratio. I'm trying to determine what percentage of pectin it contains.

For marmelade, the recipe is 1600 g fruit and 40 g Melatin. For jelly, the recipe is 1 l unsweetened liquid, 40 g Melatin and 750 g sugar.

Can any experienced marmelade-/jellymaker tell me the likely pectin content of Melatin?

(This almost sounds like an old school math test question. )

[Kerry Beal]

When you look at the ingredients on the bottle - what order are they listed in?

[TheSwede]

Sugar first, then pectin, so it is maximum 50% pectin. It is a powder, not a liquid.

[Kerry Beal]

Sugar first, then pectin, so it is maximum 50% pectin. It is a powder, not a liquid.

←

Right - so for a first experiment try doubling the weight of the pectin component. You can scale down the recipe considerably while experimenting. You might want want to do a no booze version for your experiments to keep the cost down. Replace the booze with juice.

[aprilmei]

I've been making a lot of fruit preserves in the past few months. A few of the jams (notably passionfruit-mango and guava-raspberry) didn't set up well - they're more of a sauce than a jam. I bought some "jam sugar" for soft fruits: it contains sugar and apple pectin, but the instructions on the bag give a higher proportion of sugar:fruit than I usually use (they call for about 10 per cent more sugar than fruit; I usually use about 60% sugar to the quantity of fruit) so it will be sweeter than I like. I have sugar and I have powdered apple pectin so it would be cheaper to make my own jam sugar, but I have no idea how much apple pectin to use. Can anyone here help out? TIA

Edited March 6, 2011 by aprilmei (log)

[Mjx]

I promised to make a strawberry pie, and the recipe I'm using is from Cook's Illustrated (because their recipes have reliably delivered what they promise, every time I've used them) and calls for thickening 1.25 cups of pureed strawberries with 'a tablespoon of powdered pectin for lower sugar recipes (such as Sure Jell)'.

 

I'm in Denmark, and neither Sure Jell nor a reasonable equivalent is available (I\ve spen tthe day looking); I do have pure apple pectin, but am having difficulty figuring out how much of this pectin, sugar, and acid to use, to get something with equivalent setting power to Sure Jell.

 

Anyone have experience of this?

 

This is the recipe, and the pectin, I'm working with:

 

 

 

Thanks!

 

[heidih]

Perhaps a simplistic response but maybe do a test with a super small amount and just see if jell happens. Strawberries are not exactly pectin heavy but losing a few to trial better than losing a whole batcha. With berries you can always cook them down longer but them you lose brightness.

[Kerry Beal]

1 hour ago, Mjx said:

I promised to make a strawberry pie, and the recipe I'm using is from Cook's Illustrated (because their recipes have reliably delivered what they promise, every time I've used them) and calls for thickening 1.25 cups of pureed strawberries with 'a tablespoon of powdered pectin for lower sugar recipes (such as Sure Jell)'.

 

I'm in Denmark, and neither Sure Jell nor a reasonable equivalent is available (I\ve spen tthe day looking); I do have pure apple pectin, but am having difficulty figuring out how much of this pectin, sugar, and acid to use, to get something with equivalent setting power to Sure Jell.

 

Anyone have experience of this?

 

This is the recipe, and the pectin, I'm working with:

 

 

 

Thanks!

 

This gets complicated - you are looking to replace a low methoxyl pectin (uses Calcium to set) - with a high methoxyl pectin (requires sugar and acid to set). So I'm not really sure what amounts you would use - but you will have to use different techniques to activate the pectin.  

 

Here's some information which might help

 

I like tapioca starch for pies! 

[heidih]

2nd on tapioca

[Mjx]

8 hours ago, heidih said:

Perhaps a simplistic response but maybe do a test with a super small amount and just see if jell happens. Strawberries are not exactly pectin heavy but losing a few to trial better than losing a whole batcha. With berries you can always cook them down longer but them you lose brightness.

 

6 hours ago, Kerry Beal said:

This gets complicated - you are looking to replace a low methoxyl pectin (uses Calcium to set) - with a high methoxyl pectin (requires sugar and acid to set). So I'm not really sure what amounts you would use - but you will have to use different techniques to activate the pectin.  

 

Here's some information which might help

 

I like tapioca starch for pies! 

 

Thank you!

 

I'm sort of wavering on the tapioca, now: I can easily get tapioca starch, but it can go slimy/stringy, and and I haven't worked with it much.

 

Oh, and kickoff is at 16.00 today.

[pastrygirl]

If the pectin packet is meant to thicken 1 kg fruit with 500 g sugar, I'd say use about half or a little less.  The one cup of sugar in the pie is 200 g, the strawberry juice will be about 300 g, but since you are not using the pulp/fiber of the fruit juice alone will need more thickener by weight than whole fruit. 

Edited August 10, 2023 by pastrygirl (log)

[heidih]

And just to confuse you more - have you seen @David Lebovitz's strawberry jam - no pectin? I trust the man.  https://www.davidlebovitz.com/strawberry-jam-recipe/