3/4 cup boiling water 1 package pectin (this comes from Certo, don't know if it will work with SureJell) 1/4 teaspoon baking soda Mix and let set until gas has been completely expelled - stand for 10 minutes Put 8 cups of soft jam or jelly, 1 1/2 cups sugar and 1/4 cup lemon juice in large pot, bring to boil stirring constantly. Add Pectic mix, the lemon juice and boil for 4 min while stirring. Skim and jar the same as usual.
I know this is an older thread but thought I'd answer this the best I could from my experience. Not sure what your making here, with baking soda as an ingredient but if its jelly/jam then try adding the pectin before the sugar, let it come to a rolling boil for 2 min. before adding the sugar. Everytime I've added the sugar b4 the pectin my jelly would never set right. It use to be the other way around but I think they've changed something along the way with the pectin.
Hi Trudy, This recipe is for the jam or jelly that has been made but never set. Using this will 9 times out of 10 make the jam/jelly set up like it should have the first time. The baking releases the gas from the pectin which is supposed to be a good thing for some reason. The recipe came from Ball many years ago. I very seldom follow the standard recipe anymore, been making jam and jelly for almost 40 years so I usually just go with what I feel is right. I do cook the fruit/juice with the sugar first until I feel it has been long enough then add the pectin, bring it back to a boil and cook for anywhere from 1-5 minutes longer.
I never follow directions either. i usually add the pectin to a little sugar just so there is no lumps, let boil, then add my sugar, then let it finish cooking. usually works everytime, but now an again you get that one batch,,,,,,,,,,,,
So did you ever get it to set right? You've been at this longer than I have, I should be asking you questions, lol.
I have only had a couple of batches that just absolutely refused to set....they became desert toppings and were great over ice cream. The Failure to Jell recipe has worked almost every time for me....except for those two batches of desert toppings. I used to follow the directions to the letter then as I get older I have noticed a lot of the things I do fall under the title of "what would my great-grandmother have done" She never had all these recipes, she would have made things "by the seat of her pants". Same theory has worked for me in my gardening too. I had a batch of pickles going a couple of years ago, on day two when the good stuff gets added to the cucumbers I realized that I didn't have enough white vinegar or white sugar to finish them, my husband was out of town for the day in my car so no way to the store and waiting until the next day would mean a ruined batch. So I combined two different kinds of vinegar and added brown sugar for the missing white sugar. My husband and his dad claimed they were the best pickles I had ever made.
I try to avoid white sugar as much as i can, but with jams an jellies you can't help it,,, i sure do like that idea of brown sugar added to the pickles,,,lol. ohh boy am i going to be experiementing with that. thanks for the idea!
