Watermelon Jelly Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How is jelly made step by step? ›

Ingredients. Substances essential for fruit jelly making are fruit flavor, pectin, sugar, acid and water. A pectin gel or jelly forms when a suitable concentration of pectin, sugar, acid, and water is achieved.

Watermelon has an average pH of around 5.2 to 5.6, which is not acidic enough for safe canning. Fruits must be below a pH of 4.6 to be safe for canning, which is a good bit more acidic than plain watermelon. To make this recipe safe for canning, you need to add quite a bit of citrus juice, either lemon or lime.

Pectin: The pectin to juice ratio is about ¾ to 1 teaspoon of powdered pectin per 1 cup of juice. Lemon juice: The other key ingredient in jelly is acid. Typically, this comes in the form of lemon or lime juice. This is especially important for low-acid fruits to add balance and increase thickening.

Jellies are produced by extracting the juice from fruits and then adding sugar and lemon juice (or another acid), while pectin is added to help it solidify. Unlike jams, jellies are known for their heightened sweetness, which is achieved by cooking the fruit over low heat for an extended period.

Directions. Combine fruit and water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook, partially covered, mashing occasionally with a potato masher, until fruit is very soft, 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer mixture to a fine sieve set over a heatproof bowl; let drain without pressing on fruit, 4 hours.

If it still hasn't set, it's time to determine how much jam needs to be recooked. You don't want to remake more than 8 cups (4 pints) at a time. For every 4 cups of jam that needs to be remade, whisk together 1/4 cup sugar and 1 tablespoon powdered pectin.

Generally speaking, if your jam doesn't firm up, you were short in pectin, sugar or acidity or didn't get a hard boil.

Gummy stem blight is caused by the fungal pathogen Didymella bryoniae and affects the leaves, stems and fruits of all cucurbits. Watermelons are particularly susceptible to this disease.

What happens if you use too much pectin when making jelly? ›

You will need approximately half the amount of pectin that is indicated by your recipe. Please be careful when adding pectin as too much will leave you with a set that is too solid and it is not possible to rectify this so always add less than you think is necessary and test the set and then add more if required.

Do not vary the sequence in which the ingredients are added. For example, powdered pectin does not dissolve in a sugared solution, so if you add the sugar and then the dry pectin, the jam will not be firm. Be sure you use a kettle large enough to accommodate the preserves when they are brought to a full rolling boil.

(2)Most jam recipes call for a 1:1 ratio of fruit to sugar. I usually use a 75 % ratio, or 1 ½ pounds of sugar to every 2 pounds of fruit, unless the fruit is not very sweet, in which case, I adjust accordingly. I don't recommend going below 75 % because the sugar is also acting as the preservative for the fruit.

However, if you cool the liquid down, the gelatin can no longer move around as easily, and will eventually begin to get stuck to each other. When the gelatin proteins begin to stick to one another, they form pockets which trap fluid inside making the jelly texture that we are all familiar with.

Boiling water was poured over cubes of “fruit”-flavoured gelatine, cut from Lego-like blocks of brightly coloured, sugary rubberiness. Once dissolved, and beginning to cool, the liquid jelly was poured into plastic Tupperware moulds and allowed to set in the fridge.

Most gelatin comes from boiling the bones of pigs and cattle. Thankfully, not all gelatinous substances require the death of an animal. One popular and equally fun replacement is agar-agar, a substance derived from seaweed that can be used to make jello, marshmallows, or in a variety of other recipes and foods.

Water is attracted to the sodium ions, thus it enters the polymer through osmosis and the polymer swells and the sodium carboxylate is ionized. The anionic carboxylates on the polymer repel each other, causing the polymer to swell, trap the water, and form a gel.