barbara-in-va
Well-known member
This is from one of those old little pamphlet type books called The Forgotten Art of Making Old Fashioned Jellies, Jams, Preserves, Conserves, Marmalades, Butters, Honeys and Leathers C.1977 by Yankee Magazine. I love the way the directions read.
First there is:
BASIC APPLE or CRAB APPLE JELLY
tart/underripe apples or crab apples
water
3/4 C sugar for every cup of juice
Porters or MacIntosh will make a sweet jelly; Gravensteins or Greenings will make a spicier jelly.
You will need enough apples to fill a large kettle. Wipe the apples and remove the stems and blossom ends, cut into quarters (do not pare, a large amount of natural pectin is lodged in and just under the skin). Cut crab apples in halves. Put prepared apples in a large stainless steel or enameled kettle. Add cold water to almost cover the fruit-there should be about an incy of apples out of the water, but you should be able to see the water level in the kettle. Cover and cook slowly over low heat until the apples are soft.
Mash the fruit slightly while it is still in the kettle. Suspend over a large bowl a damp jelly bag or colander lined with wet cheesecloth. (You can run up a flannel or muslin jelly bag on your sewing machine in minutes.) The juice will drip through the bag or colander into the bowl. Pour the Kettle contents, fuit and liquid, into the bag or colander and allow the juice to drip through into the bowl overnight. Meanwhile, do something else so that you will not be tempted to squeeze the bag to hurry things along. Squeezing (or pushing through the colander) will not hurt the flavor of the jelly, but it will cloud it as minute particles of pulp will come through into the juice.
When the juice has dripped through, measure out 4C (leave the rest for another batch). Heat the sugar in a double boiler; with 4C of juice, you'll need 3C sugar. Bring the juice to a full rolling boil, the add the heated sugar and bring the mixture back to a full rolling boil. Boil quickly, stirring, until the candy thermometer reads 8° above the boiling point or until the jelly sheets off the spoon. skim and pour into jelly glasses and seal.
Next:
SPICED CRAB APPLE JELLY
5 lb crab apples
2 C binegar
1/2 t mace or allspice
2C water
1T whole cloves
2" piece of cinnamon
Prepare apples as specified in Basic Apple Jelly. Tie the spices in a bag and cook with the apples in the water/vinegar mixture until the apples are soft. Finish as for Basic Apple Jelly.
First there is:
BASIC APPLE or CRAB APPLE JELLY
tart/underripe apples or crab apples
water
3/4 C sugar for every cup of juice
Porters or MacIntosh will make a sweet jelly; Gravensteins or Greenings will make a spicier jelly.
You will need enough apples to fill a large kettle. Wipe the apples and remove the stems and blossom ends, cut into quarters (do not pare, a large amount of natural pectin is lodged in and just under the skin). Cut crab apples in halves. Put prepared apples in a large stainless steel or enameled kettle. Add cold water to almost cover the fruit-there should be about an incy of apples out of the water, but you should be able to see the water level in the kettle. Cover and cook slowly over low heat until the apples are soft.
Mash the fruit slightly while it is still in the kettle. Suspend over a large bowl a damp jelly bag or colander lined with wet cheesecloth. (You can run up a flannel or muslin jelly bag on your sewing machine in minutes.) The juice will drip through the bag or colander into the bowl. Pour the Kettle contents, fuit and liquid, into the bag or colander and allow the juice to drip through into the bowl overnight. Meanwhile, do something else so that you will not be tempted to squeeze the bag to hurry things along. Squeezing (or pushing through the colander) will not hurt the flavor of the jelly, but it will cloud it as minute particles of pulp will come through into the juice.
When the juice has dripped through, measure out 4C (leave the rest for another batch). Heat the sugar in a double boiler; with 4C of juice, you'll need 3C sugar. Bring the juice to a full rolling boil, the add the heated sugar and bring the mixture back to a full rolling boil. Boil quickly, stirring, until the candy thermometer reads 8° above the boiling point or until the jelly sheets off the spoon. skim and pour into jelly glasses and seal.
Next:
SPICED CRAB APPLE JELLY
5 lb crab apples
2 C binegar
1/2 t mace or allspice
2C water
1T whole cloves
2" piece of cinnamon
Prepare apples as specified in Basic Apple Jelly. Tie the spices in a bag and cook with the apples in the water/vinegar mixture until the apples are soft. Finish as for Basic Apple Jelly.
