[scabs]

Elderberries, rowan berries and cooking apples

1kg fruit
1kg apples (unpeeled or cored)
a little over 1kg sugar

Measurements taken from the River Cottage Preserves book.

Setting point in 8/10 minutes it said... an hour a half later (gone midnight by this time) I thought b*gger it, and poured the lot into jars. In the morning the jelly had set, if rather loosely, but tasted of burnt sugar/candyfloss...

Gah!

What a bl**dy waste; it took me ages to get the berries off the stalks etc...

Obviously a pectin issue.

Is the pectin level in apples altered the longer they are kept?

[scabs]

Could someone please move this to the correct board?  

Apologies.

[DD.]

Wooooooooooooooooooooosh.

[scabs]

 

[tode]

Can you eat rowan berries ?    I mean eat and live ?

[scabs]

'course you can malcolm.

There's all sorts of recipes. Bit bland if you ask me; I only used a few handfuls to bulk out my elderberries.

[tode]

That's a new one on me   
Thought it was only blackbirds that ate em.   

[scabs]

No, rowan and crab apple jelly seems quite a regular and popular recipe.

I like the sound of spicey haw ketchup too, though most of the hawthorn berries round here look a bit worse for wear...

[Val H]

I'm not familiar with the recipe. Did you put it through a jelly bag?

[scabs]

Hi Val, yes I did.

Followed the basic recipe indtructions to the letter. I thought their sugar ratio was a bit strange, but just went with it...

[Val H]

I always go for 450g (1 lb) sugar for each pint of juice extracted. Cooking apples shouldn't have lost any pectin. Did you test for pectin before turning it into the jelly bag?

[pushrod]

Not certain by any means but i thought that apples lose their pectin as they sweeten. So younger/immature apples are best for pectin. Also that you use the lot - skin, flesh, core - pips and all.
Must admit mind my jelly making efforts are a mixed bag as one moment it is too runny and the next it is setting like plasticene 
mind never had it tasting of burnt candyfloss  guess i have got that to look forward to 

[scabs]

Rough - norty step.

Val - I'll be honest, I didn't test for pectin. 

pushrod - yup, left the lot in, pips 'n all...

Any ideas what I can do with eight smallish jars of burnt sugar-flavoured hair gel?

[Roughlee Handled]

er do not know what you mean. I never said anyfing.   

Er honest 

[scabs]

You'd probably like the jelly, Rough. It's very pink...