STEP THREE: PREPARE FOR CANNING
Prepare for canning season by getting your supplies and ingredients in order before you get stared. be prepared with our handy Canning Planner Printable below.
Get all your canning ducks and tasks in a row and you’ll be much more efficient in the kitchen during the peak of the harvest!
You’ll also need to have a basic understanding of using the hot water bath canning method for this recipe.
This Apple Jelly Recipe is an easy beginner recipe with few ingredients but a general frame of reference for canning helps tremendously.
Thats why I recommend you check out our recent post, preserving for beginners. Also, if you’re looking for a more hands on approach with more beginner recipes I highly suggest the quick start guide below.
Here are my secrets to the perfect jelly:
Make the juice with the ripest, brightest fruit and include the skins.
Never squeeze the cloth bag when juicing
Leave it over night
APPLE JELLY CANNING RECIPE
Wash apples, chop removing bruises, rot or other signs of disease. The best apples are often ripest and even bruised, just remove those parts when adding the apple to the stock pot.
Fill the large stockpot with the apples and fill with 5 cups of water
Cover the stockpot and simmer for 10 minutes. By then the apples should be soft. Once they are soft simply crush them with a potato masher and simmer for another 5.
Once apples are soft it’s time to place the apples in a cheesecloth covered colinder and drain juice. The best way to do this is to allow the apples to drip over night or at least for an hour.
Fruit flies and bee’s will be attracted to your fresh juice, so feel feel to add a trap in the kitchen and cover the colinder with a lid or towel. Allow gravity to do the work.
As tempting as it might be, don’t squeeze the jelly bag! The goal is to have crystal clear beautiful jelly that sparkles. Squeezing the jelly bag will cause the jelly to be cloudy.
Measure the juice for the jelly and add to a clean stock pot. Add the lemon juice and sugar and bring to a boil over medium to high heat.
At this point, you’ll want to have a clear work space and all of your canning supplies organized, accessible and ready to go.
This is where your canning checklist will come in handy.
Mix the juice, sugar, lemon juice, butter in clean pot and bring to a hard boil. Once liquid has reached a hard boil, add pectin and mix for one minute.
Remove from heat and skim off foam.
Fill and process jars by quickly ladling in hot jelly to within 1/4 inch head space. Using a no metallic utensil remove air bubbles from jelly by inserting along the side of the jar.
Makes 8 pint jars
PRINT APPLE JELLY RECIPE
Apple Jelly Recipe
Sparkling Pink Jelly made from red apples
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 2 hrs
Processing Time 10 mins
Course Preserve
Cuisine American
Equipment
Hot Water Bath Canner
Canning Supplies
Pint Jars, Lids and Seals
Cheesecloth or Jelly Bag
Colinder
Large Stockpot
Ingredients
- 16 Medium Red Apples Gravenstiens are best
- 5 Cups Water
- 5 Cups Prepared Juice From Apples and Water Above
- 3 tbsp Lemon Juice
- 7 1/2 Cups White Sugar
- 1 Pouch Liquid Pectin
Instructions
Remove the stem and blossom ends from apples and add to a large stockpot
Add 5 cups of water and simmer covered for ten minutes
Crush apples with a potato masher and simmer for 5 minutes longer
Prepare colinder with cheese cloth or jelly bag
Fill Colinder with the apple sauce mixture and allow to drip for at least an hour, overnight or all day is best
Measure 5 cups of dripped juice and add to clean stockpot
Then add the lemon juice and sugar. Add a tsp of butter to reduce foaming if needed.
Bring mixture to a full rolling boil.
Add entire pouch of liquid pectin
Boil hard for 1 minute stirring constantly
Remove from heat and skim off foam
Fill and Process Jars
Boil filled jars for 10 minutes (increase time for altitude higer than 1,000 feet )
Keyword Apple
