Do you need to seal the jars somehow to make them shelf stable? Like canning? Any idea how long the jelly will last if you don't have kids who eat it all almost immediately? 🤣
You need to either seal them or keep them refrigerated to be safe.... However, I have a theory that since it was above boiling (218) degrees when I put them into the jars AND that the jar lids suctioned down after cooling.... that it's already sterilized and shelf stable so long as you use fresh lids each time. HOWEVER, the canning community would recommend a 5 minute boil before sealing. I still have a jar from last year on the shelf and cracked it open for this comment, smells fine, tastes exactly the same.
@@FollowTheCompassNorth Fantastic! I suspect that 5 minute boil might over "jelli-dify" the jelly, but I've never made jelly before... now I want to though!
Sterilize the jars: wash them in hot water, dry them in oven, the same with lids, pour the jelly while they are hot. I usually add a pinch of aspirin on the top of the jelly, it is not toxic and doesn't allow mildew to grow inside the jar. Last step, I cover the hot jars in a large pot or somewhere they retain heat for several hours covered with towels. The jelly can last for 2-3 years.
I made some red currant ginger jelly today and I actually dried my left over pulp for adding into teas (no stems, the jelly set up fine with just a squeeze of lemon juice). I just spread the pulp onto dehydrator trays and dried it at about 35°C. I did the same with my blueberry mint jelly and will do so moving forward to eliminate the waste. Highly recommend. Great tutorial!
I can cranberries every year but not currants as I never had enough to worry abount.. In the last two years my bushes have exploded in numbers so I'll be doing this in a few weeks!!... Thanks for the video!
At the point where you are ready to bottle the jam/jelly put a large knob of butter into the pan and this will get rid of most of the foamy scum that has accumulated. A tip that my late MIL gave me decades ago. It works very well and cannot be detected in the jam.
pick the currants off the stems. tie the stems together and cook them with the juice, remove the stems, you have enough pectin now. The pulp can be pressed flat and drive into a kind of fruit leather.... I have not tried that yet because we leave the currants in the jam....
I just picked almost 5 gallons of white currents today off 1 bush. I need to trim it this fall. I'll probably get about the same amount from my red current bushes. I'm doing jam so planning to put through a food mill. Thanks, I wasn't sure how long to cook them to get the juice out.
That's how much sugar the recipe calls for. You don't eat the jelly all at once, it's a treat not a main course. A teaspoon a day is not much sugar at all. This jelly lasted us a year. I've never tried other options.
I'll use granulated splenda. I used it for other jams last year very successfully. The splenda folks say it is 1 for 1, but I tend to use a bit less splenda than sugar most of the time (I'm diabetic hence the splenda before anyone comments on me using it). Given the tartness of currants, my first batch I WILL go with a 1:1 ratio of splenda to currant juice though. (ditto for gooseberries!) I use Pomona's pectin normally and I will use some with currants too since it's not just the pectin in berries, but the sugar as well that helps set jam or jelly. The info on the stems was super helpful in this video as well as time saving!
Don't you get it tasting like Black Tea (Green Tea) from cooking all the stems? Plus whatever was in the cloth before. I'm sure the sugar would cover the flavor up to a large degree. But then there is no point. The berries have a ton of Tannins, and even more in the greens. I used a blender, which opened part of the seeds. But no stems. A mix of red and white currants. I tasted and smelled the mash before wasting any sugar and decided to throw it out. It was that nasty. Like grandmas medicine steeped overnight. The wire strainer had to be scrubbed repeatedly and aired out. Cooking also mixed most of the clear stratum into the cloudy one. I kept one bottle for science. There is very little clear liquid in it. I vaguely recall that there was a recipe followed by my mother that was strict on not boiling. But I rememeber very little since it has been too many years. We also used a siphoning pipe. I have none of the objections on Black Currants. They have much more color and fruity flavor.
