Crabapple Jelly

I finally attempted my FIRST JELLY EVER over the weekend! I've always heard that crabapple jelly is delicious, even if the fruit it comes from isn't very tasty. My neighbor has a huge crabapple tree that is full of nearly ripe fruit, so I made dear hubby go ask them if I could have some. They told us to take as many as we want and the boys filled me up a box. I started with an apple box about 1/2 full (sorry I should have weighed them) and ended up with about 5 pints of finished jelly. After reading a few recipes and watching a youtube tutorial, this is what I did...

First, wash the fruit. I did not peel, core, or remove stems, because I would ONLY be using the juice(no pulp). Then put all the apples in a big pot and add just enough water to cover the apples. (Some will float, this is ok.) Bring water to boil, turn down to medium heat and simmer.

 



After simmering the whole apples for about 90 minutes, your apples should look like this...
(most peels will be floating and apples will pretty much be mush) Mmmm this makes your house smell so good too!

 

 



Now, remove the pan from heat. Using a jelly bag or flour sack towel (which is what I used since I don't have a jelly bag), strain the entire contents of the pot through a colander into another pot or large bowl. I set my colander on my pot, put my towel inside colander and spooned apples and liquid into the towel. Let the entire mixture drain into the pan for a few hours (I did this for about 2 hours). Do NOT squeeze or force juice through the towel or jelly bag. Doing so will make the juice cloudy instead of clear as some pulp will get through.

 

 

After letting the juice strain for a few hours, you will be left with peels, pulp, seeds and stems in the towel and clear wonderful juice in the pan! I had about 8 cups of juice after 2 hours. Crabapples have all the flavor of regular apples without the sweetness. They are very tart and bitter. You will need to add 3/4 to 1 C. of sugar per cup of juice. I added 6 C. sugar to my 8 C. juice. After adding the sugar, bring the juice to a boil, then simmer and stir frequently to avoid scorching. According to most of the directions I read, you don't need to add pectin, but mine wouldn't thicken up right. So I did end up using a box of pectin and it jellied perfectly. I recommend using the pectin. Skim the foam off frequently and just wait until the jelly starts to "jell', then it's time to bottle!

 

Now, many people wonder how to tell when it's thick enough? I used the plate method. I drop a spoonful of the cooking jelly onto a tea saucer, wait a minute or 2 and then check to see if it has a skin on the top and is the right consistency. You can also use a candy thermometer and let it reach 202 degrees (at sea level).  Or use a spoon and just wait till the jelly drips off of it like jelly and not like water.

 

Clean and sterilize your jars. I used 8 oz. jelly jars and 4 oz. jelly jars (these little ones will go in Christmas gift baskets). Fill your hot jars with the hot jelly leaving 1/4" headspace, wipe rims with a damp rag before sealing and process in boiling waterbath for 5 minutes (adding 1 minute for every 1000 ft. above sea level.) Remove jars and let cool. It takes at least 24 hours for jelly to set (it will look like syrup at first). Do not shake or move the bottles for 24 hours. Then store your jelly in a cool dry place!

 

 

Doesn't this jelly look delicious!?