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

[tena524.livejournal.com]

wellinghall was correct, McGee does discuss the theory of pectin gelling, but only briefly, and mostly says the 'correct' amounts are impossible to test for in ordinary home-kitchen conditions. I found it not terribly helpful.

I have a long history of snagging any interesting cookbooks up at yard sales, garage sales, church sales, and the occasional used book store (not a lot of those up here in the hinterlands), with a particular interest in pickling and preserving. One of the few I've bumped into is "Gourmet Preserves Chez Madelaine" by Madelaine Bullwinkel. It has an entire chapter on the theory and practice of jellying, without the use of commercial pectin, including how to test for pectin levels in the fruit you have on hand.

It was originally published here in the States in '85 (Contemporary Books, Chicago IL, ISBN 0-8092-5482-4), but a trade paper edition came out in 2005 (Surry Books, Chicago IL, ISBN 1-57284-078-4, distributed by Publishers Group West), so it may now be alittle easier to find. If you're interested but can't find a copy on your side of the pond, let me know. I came across a copy of the original hardback last year, so my shiny paperback is more or less a spare now.

[bunn.livejournal.com]

oooh, thanks for the recommendation (and the offer of spare book!) Copies do seem to be available here second hand, so I shall snag one of those and save you posting it.

I should probably check my local independent bookshop before buying online, we are lucky to have a couple of quite good ones (one mostly new books, one second hand).