Any sources of this in the city? Looked at Strack and Van Till, ace hardware and no dice.

Found plenty of the dry packets and strack and van till.

Menards on cylbourn had the full selection of Jars from 4oz -> quart.

The ACE hardware on Orleans (440 N orleans) across from the Mart has the half gallon jars. -- Those are huge!

trs23 wrote:Any sources of this in the city? Looked at Strack and Van Till, ace hardware and no dice.

Found plenty of the dry packets and strack and van till.

Call Jewel and Dominick's stores. You may have to try a few different ones.

Hi,

You may want to call Walmart, because they have a reasonably complete canning section.

Regards,

Darren72 wrote:

trs23 wrote:Any sources of this in the city? Looked at Strack and Van Till, ace hardware and no dice.

Found plenty of the dry packets and strack and van till.

Call Jewel and Dominick's stores. You may have to try a few different ones.

Note that for all grocery stores, canning supplies are located in the "seasonal" section. I know that Strack & Van Til puts their jars in an odd place, and replacement lids in the aisles.

The Jewel on Ashland & Milwaukee had a great selection of canning supplies, including an array of lids, last year. Probably do this year as well.

HI,

I don't use very much pectin personally. I was advised pectin does not have a very good shelf life. It is best to buy what you will need this year only.

Same sources commented use of dried over liquid pectin is a personal preference. Just curious if this rings true for you as well or do you use both depending on the situation?

Regards,

Hi- I am really big on Pomona's Universal Pectin. It comes in a box, and one box can make 2-4 batches of jam. What I really like about the product is that it keeps indefinitely, and you can make as many batches as you want at one time. You can also make jam with little or no sugar or artificial sweetener. All of the other low sugar pectin's, you can only make one batch at a time, and you usually have to add at least half of the amount of sugar you would normally add. When I use this stuff, I usually make it with a quarter of the sugar that is normally used, and it gels just fine.

I purchase it at the Whole Foods in downtown Evanston, but I am sure that you can purchase it at most WF stores in the Chicago area. WF is the only store I have seen it at.

if you are looking for other canning supplies, Meijers has a large canning department this time of year. Hope this helps, Nancy

Many Jewel stores carry Certo liquid pectin. It is usually on a low shelf near the dry pectin somewhere close to gelatin such as next to the Knox unflavored gelatin. They carry pectin more or less year round and do not put it in the seasonal aisle with the jars.

It is strictly personal preference, but I prefer Certo for freezer jam and dry pectin for cooked types. Certo costs more per batch but does not require boiling water to dissolve the pectin. This was advantageous when I made a batch of blackberry freezer jam recently in boiling hot weather and did not want to put any more load on stretched kitchen air conditioning.

We are low on Fruit Fresh after processing Red Haven peaches. The only place I looked so far was the Jewel at Ashland and Wellington, which does not have it near the pectin or jars.

ekreider wrote:We are low on Fruit Fresh after processing Red Haven peaches. The only place I looked so far was the Jewel at Ashland and Wellington, which does not have it near the pectin or jars.

Instead of Fruit Fresh, I grind vitamin C tablets. Instead of Fruit Fresh, I buy 500-milligram tablets; crush and dissolve six tablets per gallon of water as a treatment solution.

Regards,

NFriday wrote:Hi- I am really big on Pomona's Universal Pectin. It comes in a box, and one box can make 2-4 batches of jam. What I really like about the product is that it keeps indefinitely, and you can make as many batches as you want at one time. You can also make jam with little or no sugar or artificial sweetener.

I used this for my peach/black raspberry jam; turned out I could have used less than the recipe called for (I don't like stiff pectin-y jams) but it was easy to use and worked very well. I was also able to add very little sugar to start, and keep adding and tasting until I reached the flavor I was looking for, which was ideal. I bet you could use it to make excellent pates des fruits.

Anybody looking for single jars? I've found them a couple of places: Michael's craft stores has pint jars for individual sale, and Lincolnwood Produce had 8oz jelly jars and quart jars for individual sale.

Hi,

Pectin does age. You get better jelling the first year, than in subsequent years.

The packages of pectin have specific instructions for sugar, lemon juice and quantities of fruit. These are precise because you need the chemical reaction to cause the jelling

I avoid using pectin, because the resulting product seems less than homemade and more commercial. Here is a general sheet for preparing jam without added pectin. If you reduce the amount of sugar, then it is not suitable for canning. It is suitable for freezing or using fresh.

I did make a peach-blueberry jam recently that was quite good (skipped the spices, though I used cinnamon stick). Since it was without pectin, it did require some extended cooking and a hard boil to 221 degrees to achieve jelling. It is a looser jam, which I happen to like a lot. I am sure a substitution of blackberries for blueberries would have been just fine.

Regards,

Hi- Pomona's Universal Pectin, is totally different than regular pectin. You use this calcium water mixture, to get it to set, and that is why you do not have to use a set amount of sugar. Even the low sugar pectin is too sweet for me. Looking at the website, I found out that there are other uses for the product, such as thickening yogurt, and making sorbet.

The website says that it is a "sugar-free, preservative-free low-methoxyl citrus pectin that is activated by calcium"

http://pomonapectin.com

Hope this helps, Nancy

Hi- I forgot to mention that I went in the WF in downtown Evanston last night, aand they are out of Pomona's Universal Pectin. Hope this helps, Nancy

Hi,

If your intent is to can the jam and jelly, the amount of sugar involved is important for the preservation. Reducing sugar to taste may fit personal preference, it just may not be suitable for processing. Sometimes a freezer is your best friend when you divert from research-based recipes.

http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/can_07/jellied_product_ingredients.html wrote:Sugar

Sugar is an important ingredient in jellied fruit products. It must be present in the proper proportion with pectin and acid to make a good gel. Sugar is the preservative for the product, preventing the growth of microorganisms. It also contributes to the taste of the product. Never cut down on the amount of sugar a recipe calls for unless syrup is the desired end result.

Granulated white sugar is usually used in homemade jellied fruit products. Sweeteners such as brown sugar, sorghum and molasses are not recommended since their flavor overpowers the fruit flavor and their sweetness varies.

Light corn syrup or light, mild honey can be used to replace part, but not all, of the sugar. or best results, use tested recipes that specify honey or syrup.

Artificial sweeteners cannot be substituted for sugar in regular recipes because the sugar is needed for gel formation.

Here are low sugar recipes for fruit spreads/jams.

Regards,

If you do a search at the same site, you will find numerous recipes for canning jelly using "light" pectin with less or no added sugar.

Low Sugar Alternatives for Jams and Jellies wrote:Jams and jellies made with traditional recipes using lots of sugar or by the first three methods listed above for reduced sugar options will require a short process in a boiling water canner to be kept at room temperature in a sealed jar. Once opened, they all require refrigerated storage. Directions for using a boiling water canning process for jams and jellies can be found at: http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/publications/u ... ng_j_j.pdf.

The recipe does call for lemon juice, however.

I scored 3 boxes of Ball liquid pectin at the Jewel on Kedzie / Addison and Elston on the way home last night. It wasn't in the normal spot near the clear gelatin but in the special "canning" section that they had setup. Which by the way was pretty impressive. It had about every different kind of jar you wanted, plus pickling spice, ball canning kit etc.

Now I'm off to make my first ever batch of Jalapeno jelly. This should be interesting

Yeah, that Jewel has a pretty sizable canning selection right now, and it's open 24 hours. Good for those Monday at 3am canning sessions. The canning supplies are in the aisle with food storage stuff (clingwrap, gladware, etc)

The Target on Elston had canning supplies on end-cap display yesterday.

Canning season is coming, Strack and Van Til on Elston in Chicago had a big selection today (which wasn't there last week).

Hi,

If you want to make marmalade, the time is now. Maybe grapefruit segments (never did this myself)? If I knew I had a reliable source for great tasting red grapefruits, I might be inclined to try it.

Regards,

Going to try Meyer lemon marmalade tomorrow, I'll let you know how it turns out.

leek wrote:Canning season is coming, Strack and Van Til on Elston in Chicago had a big selection today (which wasn't there last week).

Hmm, sounds like the timing is right for another exchange. I just need time to put something up for the exchange, otherwise it will be Anisette.

I think I'm going to tackle mustards...and more hot sauce, although they won't b my own peppers--but I gave almost all of mine away and I still owe some people...

Strack an Van Till (sp?) still the go-to spot?

Been making refrigerator pickles and tired of throwing them away. Also gonna need a quart jar for my sourdough.

Menards, Ace, BBB, and Amazon as well.

AngrySarah wrote:Strack an Van Till (sp?) still the go-to spot?

Been making refrigerator pickles and tired of throwing them away. Also gonna need a quart jar for my sourdough.

Refrigerator pickle recipes don't always translate into suitable recipes for canned pickles.

My refrigerator pickle recipes use rice wine vinegar. If it was intended for canning, at the very least an ingredient shift to Cider or White vinegar. Once canned, I recommend letting them mellow for about 60 days until eating.

If you have links to recipes you may want to use, I can offer suggestions.

Regards,
Cathy2