New Ball Blue Book - Any Substantive Changes?
mellyofthesouth
9 years ago
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digdirt2
9 years ago
peanutone
9 years agoRelated Discussions
Ball Blue Book Peach Jam Recipe Didn't Work!
Comments (13)Lisa, if your fruit was hard like that and not juicy and really ripe it will be more firm jam or jelly. The greener the fruit the more natural pectin it has and will be a more firm product. This is why we teach people to use a mix of really ripe and some a bit more green in a batch of jam. This seems to be important with strawberry jam more so than some other types, in my experience. I just want to encourage you to not give up !!! You will be able to do this. It sounds as though the peaches were not ripe and juicy enough to get the liquid you needed. You do add the sugar all at once when using the powd. pectin. Normally it will dissolve and mix in with the liquid part in the pan, but since you didn't have the right amount of juice it just started burning. It does depend upon how ripe the fruit is how thick or thin the jam will be. Using fresh, tree picked fruit is ideal, but I do agree, that frozen may be better than what you used. Well, you are way to far away for me to help in person, or I would try to do more to help. Can you find a friend or someone who could help you through this in person ? If you try to cut down on sugar in a recipe with pectin it will not gel. You need to use the recipe for each type and brand of pectin. I prefer the powd. pectin. If you want a low or no sugar jam, learn to use Pomona's Universal pectin. It will gel water. Really it takes no sugar at all to gel. It is different to work with and may take a time or so to get comfortable with it. I am diabetic and use it for my jams for myself. My husband likes it when I make his with SureJel and use the sugar. So, I make both kinds here. You have learned to not double recipes, however, with Pomonas you can double and triple. You normally have to mail order the pectin from them. They sell in bulk, too. Not just boxes, but they have boxes, too. They even have a helpline you can call. The nicest folks there !! You can even create your own recipes with the stuff. They include recipes and instructions. Check out the link below to help you. You can click and see the recipes, too. http://www.pomonapectin.com/ You will not get crystal clear jelly with it, but you want jam, anyway. Doesn't matter to me if it is clear or not, even with jelly. I am not entering it in the fair, it is to eat. Each type of homemade jellied product have a different description. I am also sending you the link to all kinds of good info. Types of Jellied Products Jelly, jam, preserves, conserves and marmalades are fruit products that are jellied or thickened. Most are preserved by sugar. Their individual characteristics depend on the kind of fruit used and the way it is prepared, the proportions of different ingredients in the mixture and the method of cooking. Jellies are usually made by cooking fruit juice with sugar. (Some are made without cooking using special uncooked jelly recipes.) A good product is clear and firm enough to hold its shape when turned out of the container, but quivers when the container is moved. When cut, it should be tender yet retain the angle of the cut. Jelly should have a flavorful, fresh, fruity taste. Jams are thick, sweet spreads made by cooking crushed or chopped fruits with sugar. Jams tend to hold their shape but are generally less firm than jelly. (Recipes are also available for uncooked jams.) Preserves are small, whole fruit or uniform size pieces in a clear, slightly gelled syrup. The fruit should be tender and plump. Conserves are jam-like products that may be made with a combination of fruits. They also contain nuts, raisins or coconut. Marmalades are soft fruit jellies containing small pieces of fruit or peel evenly suspended in the transparent jelly. They often contain citrus fruit. Other fruit products that are preserved by sugar but not jellied include butters, honeys and syrups. Fruit butters are sweet spreads made by cooking fruit pulp with sugar to a thick consistency. Spices are often added. Honeys and syrups are made by cooking fruit juice or pulp with sugar to the consistency of honey or syrup. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This document was adapted from "So Easy to Preserve", 5th ed. 2006. Here is a link that might be useful: Univ. of Georgia on jams, jellies, etc....See MoreTo other newbees pressure canning with the Ball Blue Book
Comments (6)Thanks Dave for posting the link for me. I am having a hard time and just couldn't get my head around how to do it right now. I couldn't agree more with you Ken (ksrogers) that is why I am not going to start pressure canning until my weight gauges show up. I am really glad you posted that information here though! I just got my presto canner and it came with a dial gauge and no where in the manual does it state that it is safer to get the weights and can that way. It does state in the manual not to submerse the dial in water when washing it, but you wouldn't know that if you didn't read the manual and not everybody does. Then there's the fact that a reputable company like Ball has directions for using a dial gauge and says to have it tested at the beginning of the season, but doesn't mention that just knocking it can throw it off. Even if it was stated in the manual or in the Blue Book many people have neither the time or inclination to read it. Then, even when you do, it is easy enough to miss something. I took a workshop thru my Coorperative Extention and we used both kind of gauges. In fact, the agent said all she personally uses is the dial gauge. If I hadn't read what Ken and others have posted then I probably would have gone home and used the dial gauge not knowing that even when tested it might be inaccurate soon after testing. Just because they say to get it tested yearly doesn't mean that it will be accurate the whole season. I just wanted to caution other newbees that there was a difference in the lbs of pressure used with the 2 different types of gauges and if you don't know that then your food won't be processed correctly. It is something not very obvious in the book. I just stumbled on to it when I was trying to figure out how to can swiss chard and noticed that instructions were different in the link Dave gave above, than they were in the Blue Book. Other wise I might have missed it. Both points put together are even better! Thanks....See MoreBall Blue Book Chili Sauce
Comments (25)An update - popped open a jar of our tweaked chili sauce tonight (we're calling it our "North of the Border" chili sauce - did another batch tweaking the spices to make a "South of the Border" flavor). DH's comment - "Don't you dare change a thing - it's gooood". I think it just needed some time to meld all the flavors back together. Weird how that happens - in the future I certainly won't start making notes on what to change without tasting it after being on the shelf for a couple of months....See Moreconfused at Ball Blue Book instructions
Comments (13)Hi Dolivo...I had the exact same questions when I was new. I couldn't understand why one recipe was safe to do one way, and another was so vastly different, and seemed to break the rules, was also safe. keep in mind that I use canning recipes only from the go-to reliable sources such as So Easy to Preserve, NCHFP, Ball Blue Book, Ball complete, and a couple of others that have been vetted here. What I've learned is that these recipes have been scientifically tested for safety. These recipes may differ substantially from each other, but they have been tested to be safe. No, I would not can a cooking recipe, ESPECIALLY one with oil or other ingredients we are not supposed to can, including milk, flour, eggs, breadcrumbs, etc., However, one of the go-to books (don't remember which one) has some oil in the spaghetti sauce recipe. I remember asking the question how it could be safe when we weren't supposed to can with oil. Well, that particular recipe has been tested and we know the source. I would NOT can that recipe if it had been published on a questionable canning site, youtube video, canning books that don't have science or credentials to back them up. I was assured here, as Dave already did, that if the recipes are in the books we've mentioned, they are safe. Just be sure to follow the recipe exactly and don't make substitutions. yes, there are some legitimate subsitutions that can be made, ingredients that can be left out, etc., but until you know which ones you have leeway with, don't do it. Or ask here. Hope that helps. if you have a sauce recipe that is absolutely perfect the way it is, but isn't suitable for canning, by all means prepare it for freezing. Perfectly safe. I do it all the time. I have canning recipes for canning, and cooking recipes that I either eat fresh or freeze. Jill...See Morethatcompostguy
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