Certo liquid pectin safety

13 years ago

I made some plum jam, and didn't realize until it didn't set well that the Certo liquid pectin date had expired several years ago. The liquid had semi-jelled within the aluminum packets, but it had dissolved just fine while cooking. The pectin was UNopened in the aluminum pouches. After I realized it had been expired, I remade the batch and added a box of new Sure Jell, hoping that would be enough to make it jell. It actually did jell to the consistency of plum butter (like apple butter) and tastes great. But, my question is this: Is unopend Certo liquid pectin that has been expired for 8 years safe to eat. I hate to throw out the product. But, I don't want to eat it if it is unsafe.

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Comments (5)

annie1992
13 years ago
I think it's safe, but I doubt that it's going to be consistent in jelling your jam. I'd toss it unless I was making fruit syrup on purpose, as I do with blueberries so I can have it on pancakes.

Annie
readinglady
13 years ago
I agree with Annie. There's nothing in the ingredients that would make it "unsafe" but there may over time be a degradation of quality so that it never jells properly.

I have a feeling, that probably takes a lot longer to happen (due to the foil pouches) than the "use by" label would indicate.

I probably would not worry about this with something like a plum jam, which is so high in pectin it's likely to set on its own anyway, though adding SureJell does no harm.

But I would use only fresh liquid pectin with a pepper jelly because there's little pectin in the ingredients.

Carol
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It can be iffy. A grocery store I was in last night had 33% off all Ball products (no jars left) so I got some lids. Picked up a package of liquid pectin and it had expired in Dec 2012! Decided not to waste the $2. But if you have it, you could try it. No way of telling how much of a set you're going to get though. I had 2 pouches of Ball bought last year, forget expiration date but it was earlier this year. Used 1 pouch in March to remake some pectin-free grape jelly that hadn't set, some jars gelled some didn't. Last month I used the other pouch to make 11 jars (2 batches) of a lemon-zucchini marmalade, and it set up really stiff! Of course, that could have been from the lemon and orange, I may not have had to add liquid pectin at all (though the first batch I put in the fridge didn't look like it was setting up, it was really heavy on the squash - Ball recipe - which is why I made Ellie Topp's recipe and mixed them together).
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No commercial pectin can guarantee a perfect set. You can go years and never have a problem and then get a batch that just sits there and never gets thicker than syrup. I used Certo last time because it was all I could find this late in the season, but I really prefer Ball. Both will certainly work and I've have good luck with both in the HG recipe. Carol
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My hubby just used a little whisk to dissolve the powdered pectin in water, and it turned into a thick jelly-like substance. It didn't seem to have any trouble stirring in with the rest of the ingredients. I'll have to see if I can get my hands on some Pomona's. My initial reaction was that this recipe turned out way too thick. I'll see what we have when it cools, but I suspect it will be closer to a sandwich spread than an ice cream topping. However, we also ended up with 6 half pints, when the recipe said it would yield 9-10 half pints, so part of the problem may be that I didn't bring it to a boil fast enough and too much water boiled off. Safety isn't affected by the addition/removal/increase/decrease of pectin, is it? If I want a runnier sauce, can I safely leave out the pectin, or use just a little bit?
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Thanks Ladies. I used Ball liquid pectin on my first batch of fig jam and it is pretty loose and more of a fig sauce. Still tasty, but not what I expected. I had no idea the ball brand was the problem so I doubled the amount with my second batch and it is thicker, but still not what I hoped for. Maybe my acid levels were too low? I used 1/2 cup lemon juice to 4 cups of figs. I'll try Certo next time.
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digdirt2
13 years ago
8 years is too outdated for me personally. I've used 1 year outdated but I think I'd be inclined to pitch this or at least call the manufacturer and ask what the risks may be. They should be able to explain if there is risk of bacterial contamination or merely loss of gel ability.

Dave
readinglady
13 years ago
I'm not going to use 8-year-old pectin either but I don't see how there could be bacterial contamination in an aseptically sealed foil pouch.

I suppose hypothetically there might be some slight possibility if the pouch was punctured, but even then it's a pretty acid product.

However, as Dave said, there's merit in contacting the company. If you get a definitive answer, please share.

Carol
annie1992
13 years ago
I wouldn't use 8 year old pectin either, if I realized it WAS 8 years old. I think the original poster used it before realizing how old it was and didn't get a good jell.

As Carol stated, it's all aseptically packaged in sealed foil pouches and it's an acidic product, the problem would not be with the safety of the product but with the degradation of quality. Not everything outdated is unsafe, sometimes it's just icky.

Annie

Certo liquid pectin safety

Comments (5)

annie1992

readinglady

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