wax on top of jellies

[ozark hen]

Thanks Karan, I didn't use surejell. I just went by the recipe in the Ball book on grape jam. I cooked it forever trying to get it to thicken up. Now I added sugar to taste as opposed to putting in the amount of sugar the recipe called for. that is why it probably didn't thicken up? I just didn't want to use that much sugar. Hate to waste that amount of grapes so I may just use the surejell after I strain it. I will wait for a few more days though, ha. thanks so much. I will post it when I try again. thanks again.

 

[CHICKEN little 1]

Hey guys, If your gonna make jelly,and jams,or candy. Get a candy themometer. It takes out the guess work for the thickness.

Hope this helps.

 

[JennsPeeps]

Here's a good website for people who can, it's the "National Center for Home Food Preservation". http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/

Another good resource is http://www.pickyourown.org. It has lots of how-to with pictures for each step.

Ball has lots of great publications for home canning. My favorite is "Ball Complete Book of Home Preservation". I even bought it... I don't typically buy books because I'm an avid library user (read: "cheap")! You can get it on amazon.com or in most retail bookstores for around $20.

There are lots of techniques that our ancestors used that are no longer considered safe. Heck, there are methods that we may have used 3 years ago that have been tested more recently and are considered "questionable". An example is the recent finding that canned pumpkin puree & butter is not safe. Cubed pumpkin is fine.

I'm adamant about following scientifically-proven safe methods in my home. If people want to do what their grandmothers did, that's up to them to do what they please in their own home.