Making Mint Jelly: Parts Two and Three

I first posted about making mint jelly in the end of June. Obviously I'm a bit behind updating the situation.

We took one liter of the mint juice and followed the directions on the package pectin. That mixed the powdered pectin into a little bit of sugar. And then that was stirred into the cold juice in the pot. Once it was boiling, we added the rest of the kilo of sugar. Then we simmered as directed.

We cleaned jars out with boiling water and preservative stuff that I don't know how to translate. Basically we were following the package directions. We also added some green food coloring in the hopes of making our jelly more green.

We poured everything into the jars and let sit overnight.

It didn't gel.

So while I was still asleep, DH poured all of it back in the pot. He then added another package of pectin. And repeated the cleaning procedure.

That time it set. Unfortunately it is kind of brownish in color. I think it is because the mint that we use often has a reddish tint.

DH hasn't tasted it yet. I hope it is edible, because I'm making more.

This time I am using apples for at least part of the pectin. Our apple tree bloomed very heavily this year and started a number of small fruits. However, the strong winds this week have blown a number of them off the tree. I started collecting the other day and finished this morning. So although small apples are washed in the pot along with a lot of mint.

My reading says that the less ripe fruits have more pectin. Seeing as these are very far from ripe, I expect to get a lot out of them. So I added water to cover the mint and apples. Once it is boiled to falling apart, I will strain it and the juice straining system that DH borrowed from his parents. We used it the other day for the currants that I picked.

The point of this is to say that if you want to do it without fruit, use twice the required amount of pectin.

I will let you know how a version with apples goes.