Monday, September 8, 2014

Preserving with Pomona's Pectin - Book Review



Preserving with Pomona's Pectin.

This book was a Christmas gift from the girls. 

Pomona's Pectin boasts being able to make jams / jellies without the humungous amounts of sugar usually required by the other pectins.  I did find the Pomona's Pectin at Goodness Me, 2300 Fairview Street in Burlington.

I am slowly cutting down on our sugar intake especially since Bruce as a VERY sweet tooth.

We had a 1/4 bushel of Concord grapes so I decided to make the recipe "Simple Classic: Grape Jelly" featured on page 86.  Very easy to follow instructions even though directions were a little different as you use a combination of  pectin and calcium water.  The calcium water has to be mixed up a head of time but can be stored in the fridge between batches.

Made and processed 2 batches of the grape jelly.  That was a total of 9.5 - 250 ml jars.  The contents of the jars look wonderful but it is how it tastes that is key.  Opened the 1/2 jar after it had cooled and set.  Did not take long at all.  The grape jelly was put to the taste test.  Zebrina loved it, she doesn't like anything too sweet.  Calluna does not like jam or jelly, her verdict - she loves it!  I don't eat a lot of jam because of the sweetness but really liked this grape jelly.  Bruce he is the hardest to please as he has a very sweet tooth.  He tried some and was pleasantly surprised.  He loves it!  He was having peanut butter on crackers so I dropped a dollop on the peanut butter.  He absolutely loves it with peanut butter.

The "Simple Classic: Grape Jelly" definitely passes the taste test in our family.  Now to peruse the rest of the book and decide what to make next.  Jams / jellies were lacking in our house as the sugar content is way too high.  With Pomona's Pectin the jams / jellies will be making a comeback in our house.

At the beginning of each chapter there are "Simple Classics" like the grape jelly I made.  This is a great way to start if you are unfamiliar with Pomona's Pectin.  The are also some fairly complex recipes as well for the more adventurous. eg.  Holiday Spiced-Plum Jam, Blueberry-Vanilla Jelly Cranberry-Grapefruit Marmalade, Brandied Cinnamon-Apple Conserve & Jalapeno-Confetti Jelly to name a few. 

Preserving with Pomona's Pectin is definitely a book to have in your library.
---
Juleigh


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