How to Make Your Own Pectin Powder | eHow.co.uk For those who enjoy making their own preserves, like jam and jellies, pectin powder is often the most expensive ingredient to purchase. Making your own powder allows you to use a more diverse set of recipes. For those who are concerned about the presence of additives in manufactured pectin, making your own pectin powder lets you know exactly what ingredients are present in your food. Difficulty: Moderately Challenging Instructions Things You'll Need: [*] Underripe citrus fruits [*] Underripe apples [*] Knife [*] Food processor [*] Food dehydrator (optional) [*] Cheesecloth [*] Bowl [*] Lemon juice [*] Water [*]Citrus Pectin [*] pomelo yellow citrus fruit image by Maria Brzostowska from Fotolia.com Remove the peel. Cut your citrus fruit into quarters and remove the peel from the fruit, retaining as much of the pith (the white part of the peel) as possible. [*] Take a sharp knife and cut the colored section of the peel from the pith. Allow the pith to dry completely in a sunny, well-ventilated area. It is best to leave it for at least 12 hours. [*] Use a food processor or a mortar and pestle to grind the dried pith into a fine powder. Apple Pectin [*]1 Peel and core the apple, separating the peel closely from the fruit. [*]Thinly slice the apple. cutting apple image by Vladislav Gajic from Fotolia.com Cut the flesh of the apple into thin sections and use a food dehydrator to dry both the fruit and the peel. If you do not have a food dehydrator, dry only the peel in a sunny, well-ventilated area, leaving it for at least one day to ensure complete dehydration. You should be left with thin, crumbly flakes. [*] Use a food processor or a mortar and pestle to grind the apple flakes or peel into a fine powder. To Use 1 Take a half a pound of pectin powder and add 4 tablespoons of lemon juice. Mix and let it stand for one hour, then add two cups of water and let it stand for another hour. 2 Boil the mixture gently for 10 minutes, let it cool, then place it in cheesecloth over a bowl to drain. Press the cheesecloth to remove all of the juice. 3 Test the strength of your pectin by placing a spoonful in a glass of rubbing alcohol. If the pectin forms a globular mass that can be removed with a fork, then your pectin is ready to use. If not, repeat Step 2. 4 Use 1 cup of the resulting mixture with 1 cup of sugar and about 1 1/2 cups of cooked fruit for jams or 1 cup of fruit juice for jellies. Read more: How to Make Your Own Pectin Powder | eHow.co.uk How to Make Your Own Pectin Powder | eHow.co.uk
+1 for the recipe thanks! Added to my prepper bible. I'll give this a whirl on my next batch of jelly.
Another recipe for homemade pectin: http://www.offthegridnews.com/2012/08/20/making-pectin-from-scratch/ Here are the steps for making homemade pectin: Pick several pounds of apples. Thinly slice them, but don’t peel or core them. You can use any type of apple, including slightly green ones and those that are less-than-perfect. Young crab apples or Granny Smith apples work well. This is a great way to use up apples that have wormholes or other defects. Simply trim out the damaged areas. Combine the apples in a large stockpot with water at a rate of one pint water for each one pound of apple slices. Boil the apple slices and water for forty-five minutes, stirring occasionally. Line a colander with cheesecloth. Pour the apple slices and juice through the colander into a large pot or bowl. Return the apple slices to the stockpot and add more water, using the same measurements as before. Simmer over medium heat for fifteen to twenty minutes. Remove the stockpot from the heat and let set for ten minutes. Strain the apples and juice through cheesecloth as you did before into the bowl or pot. Gather the cheesecloth up tightly around the cooked apple slices to make a bag. Squeeze your bag, collecting any remaining juice into the bowl or pot. The combined juice is the homemade pectin. You should have one quart of pectin for every one pound of apples you cooked. Cover and refrigerate the pectin if you’re making jams right away. For long-term storage, ladle the pectin into four-cup freezer containers, leaving 1 inch of headspace. Cover and freeze for up to three months. To use, thaw in the refrigerator overnight. You can also can homemade pectin. Pour it into quart jars, add two-piece lids, and process in a water bath canner for fifteen minutes.