This weekend I picked almost 5 pounds of crabapples from our tree out front and decided to try my hand at making jelly for the first time. Crabapple jelly is super hard to find; it certainly isn't on any supermarket shelves!
I wasn't prepared for the level of work the jelly would require. Between slicing off the stem and blossom ends, cutting the fruit into chunks, boiling it with a cinnamon stick to extract juice, tying the whole pot of stewed fruit into cheesecloth and letting it drip into a bowl, cooking the strained juice with sugar until it reached the gelling stage, filling the sterilized jars with hot jelly, and processing them in a hot water bath, this took all damn day. All for this:
Three half pints! (It would have been four, but I spilled some of the juice in the middle of the process. I cursed like a sailor when that happened). Even though it's not a lot of jelly, isn't it beautiful? I'm amazed at the ruby red color, which was unexpected.
I sure hope it tastes as good as it looks! All in all, it was a fun experience even if it was time consuming. Our tree is still very young, so I expect I'll have the opportunity to make lots of jelly in the future as long as I feel like devoting the time to it.
27 comments:
Wow! Those jars look great, very impressive. I never would've thought to make jelly with those crabapples, good for you 👍 😊
Congrats!!! Making jelly is not for the fain of heart. My grandmother used to make strawberry jelly and the process was spread throughout her entire kitchen.
Wow! that's a lot of work. I've never heard of crabapple jelly. Hope yours is delicious!
Hey, look at it like this .... that's more Crabapple Jelly you had before you started! And the color is beautiful.
Preserving food is not for the weak! As you become more experienced, the process will go a little faster, key word being "little."
Good for you! It's worthwhile labor. Beautiful jelly.
Absolutely gorgeous!!!! Are you going to be like me and keep those full jars until next summer so you can stare at them? It is crazy how much work there is to making jelly. I am sure I never appreciated the process when my grandmother was making jelly.
Beautiful! You have made magic!
It's beautiful. But I have reasons for making preserves rather than jelly, such as labor and time..
Well, hey, it makes a great story. :)
Well done!! Yes, a lot of work, but you will certainly appreciate it when it comes time to open that first jar. I've never made crab apple jelly before. It is a beautiful colour. -Jenn
I have only had crabapple jelly a couple of times. It’s so good. A hippie friend circa 1969 used to make it. She canned everything and said crabapple jelly was much harder work than other jams and jellies she made. Yum!
Well done Jellywoman!
"I cursed like a sailor"... Shiver me timbers and splice the ****ing mainbrace! Lift that ******d anchor me hearties!
Crabapple jelly, like Quince Jelly, is the most delicious and perfumed jelly on earth. I remember my mother making it, and I couldn't wait to try it. I hope yours has set OK.
...and tastes great on toast!
Part of the reason we planted a crabapple tree is so I could make jelly!
Oh, yeah. My kitchen looked like a bomb had gone off.
We tried some on toast last night. It was very nice!
Exactly!
I keep holding the jars up to the light and marveling at the color.
Haha! It's possible!
It felt a little like making a magic potion!
Yes, I've made preserves before. Jelly is a lot more work!
I couldn't wait to blog about it, so you're right, Steve! And Debby, we had some on toast last night. Delicious!
I expected, at most, a pale pink color, not this beautiful deep ruby red!
It really is a lot of work, preparing such small fruit. Worth it though!
Yup, that was me! ha
It has set beautifully! Thanks Cro!
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