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Pectin or no pectin


delights

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OK, then I'm not cutting edge then :smile: . I think I saw this in that great big black book that he published recently.

I wonder if you can make a stuffed pasta with this agar agar media? Rhubarb or Quince flavoured (pink coloured from fruit) consomme agar agar ravioli, with a lamb and mint stuffing. Bottle of Billecart-Salmon vintage rose bubbles. Watch out world! :biggrin:

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  • 1 month later...
I bought some excellent jams (Mirabelle and queshe (sp?) in Paris last year, from a very sweet little shop that look like it hadn't changed from the 19th C. Amazing looking jars, well worth only bringing back 10 bottles of wine and a madoline in my hand luggage to get them!

Adam, do you remember the name/address of this shop? Would love to check it out....Thanks.

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The reappearance of this thread has reminded me of my promise to feed back re coriander & honey jelly: an unmitigated disaster that went straight down the sink and nearly blocked it. I couldn't be bothered to try again. Basically, the pectin I purchased was of a far higher concentration than that used in Helen Witty's recipe (I'm trying to give her the benefit of the doubt here :wink: ). Probably a teaspoon of my stuff would have been enough to set the jelly, whereas she stipulated 1 3/4 oz (I halved the recipe, so about 25g was what I used). Point taken for the future.

v

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As stated by soemone earlier, pectin is naturally present in all fruits, some have more pectin than others.

I have made blackberry jam (from my own backyard berries) both with and without added pectin (sure gel powder is the pectin I usually use, and I always check to see that the pectin is fresh, never old). I have also made red raspberry jam without pectin. Both ways come out fine, not too thin or runny but there is a big difference in ingredients and preparation.

For the jams with pectin you need to follow the recipes exactly as printed on the pectin box. Whatever amount of fruit to sugar it says to use you need to be exact or it may not gel, and trust me it's more sugar than you wish you had to use.

For the jam without added pectin, you can get away with less sugar than with the pectin, but you have to cook the jam longer so that it thickens to the proper consistency. This takes more cooking time and means constant stirring to make sure the jam doesn't burn. And yes, you can overcook it in which case it comes out too hard, kinda like blackberry candy. Cooking without pectin works fine for blackberry/raspberry jam, but I never tried it for clear jelly, and am not sure how it would work for that.

From what I can tell, the jam without pectin has more fruit flavor than with the pectin. But both are very good, and since I did wreck a batch once by overcooking, I generally use the pectin to ensure good results. :smile:

-Trish

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