Saving a batch of Mayhaw jelly

[cbailey]

I spent several hours last night making a batch of Mayhaw jelly. Apparently the gel that I used wasn't any good as the jelly never did gel. Is there some way to salvage my work. Can I simply emply the ungelled jelly back into a pot and try another kind of gel.

Thanks.

Cynthia

[CanMan]

How long have you waited? Some jellies may take weeks before they fully gel. The insert from your pectin box has instructions for reprocessing jellies. It is not easy and most people don't bother. They just use the syrup for other things. There are also instructions in the Ball Blue Book of Preserving (pg 118) which you should have.

Gelling is not automatic. I consider it an art because you must follow the instructions exactly and know when the gel state is reached and there are several different methods for determining this.

[jfain]

I’ve had the same thing happen to me and thought that they weren’t going to get only to come back in a week and find that all was well and it gelled up nicely.

[chubbyalaskagriz]

Hi Cynthia,

And welcome to our l'il group!

[The Ironic Chef]

I've never heard of a Mayhaw before. I had to google just to see what it was. It looks like you had to go through an awful lot of work to make your jelly. I hope it does set up for you. If it doesn't I'm sure you can use it as a sauce. I know how heart breaking it is not to have a jelly gel. Specially after all that work.

[Cook Chatty Cathy]

I used to make seedless blackberry jelly, wild plum jelly, fig preserves, blueberry jam, and many others I always used the sure-jell in the box (the kind that comes dry in an envelope like jello) and it worked perfecly. I have only tried the liquid sure-jel once on some strawberry jam and I did not care for the results, so I will only use the powdered sure-jel.

[chubbyalaskagriz]

Yum, Cath... I just LOVE yummy, tart, home-made jams & jellies!