Rules of jelly thumb?

[bunn]

Yesterday we had lamb chops, and lacking anything interesting to dress them with, I made a lemon and mint jelly.

I took two lemons, zested and squeezed them, added some water and some sugar and boiled for a bit. Then I tasted and it seemed a bit tart so I put some more sugar in. Finally I added piles of chopped mint and boiled a bit more.  At that point it set if I dripped it onto a cold plate, so I strained out the mint and zest and stuck it in the fridge to congeal.  It was good.

Thing is though, I have no idea if I could have made a larger quantity of less acidic jelly if I'd put more water in, or if it would then just have been a syrup.  Or if I could have got away with one lemon.  I have a vague feeling that this has something to do with the pectin content of the lemons, but how one estimates that, I do not know.

Does anyone know about the theory behind jam and jelly recipes?   I'm OK with making stuff from a recipe, or even improvising based on a recipe -  but would like to know more about how the gelling bit works so I can be more freeform about my jellies in future!  Google is not being helpful today: it gives me recipes, not an understanding of the principles behind them.

Comments

Re: gelation

[samiraalthores.livejournal.com]

I was trying to think of gelling substitutes for pectin but they are all extracts just like commercially available pectin (seaweed gels, konjac root, tapioca etc).

You are right about the variability of fruits. Nature is a wonderful randomizer.

Apples have a lot more pectin in their flesh so perhaps you could use the hot water extract as a pectin subsititute. Apples may or may not have a strong taste, though.

One of my baker friends once mentioned a 5/7 ratio of pectin/sugar as a rule of thumb. I don't know if this is accurate or even if I remembered it correctly.

Good luck!

Re: gelation

[samiraalthores.livejournal.com]

and I should read the rest of the commentds before replying. :)