Making Jellies in the Midwest

There are many types of jellies that you can make from home in the Midwest. The most common types for this area are strawberry, sand plum, apple, peach, and watermelon.

As with any jelly recipe you need to follow the directions of the powdered or liquid pectins that are available. Most jellies are made in the summer or fall in this area depending on the fruit that is used.

The best time to make jellies is when the fruit that you are wanting to use is in season. When a particular fruit that you want to use is in season, the cost of the fruit is significantly less than in other times of the year. This will also help cut down the costs of the jellies.

You can also find that sugar and canning jars are often sold at a lower price during the summer, fall and around Christmas. This is due to the high demand of canning jars in the summer and fall. As for Christmas, there are many people who make their own candies and gift jars.

Your fruit should be at the stage just before turning over ripe. When you use over ripe fruit, the jellies will not set as they should, and will end up being a touch thinner than they should be. Wash and de-stem your fruits before cooking them to gain your liquid state from the fruit for the jelly.

Do not mix the liquid pectin with the powdered pectin. The two different types of pectin require different amounts of sugar to be added to the jelly.

Wash and boil your jars and lids for sterilization purposes. By doing this, it helps the canning process of the jelly. You will also be doing a hot water bath process to finish the canning of the jelly.

You will also want to follow the hot water bath process according to the altitude for where you live. Different altitudes require different hot water bath times for the jars to seal at the end of the canning process.

There are two ways that you can tell that your jars have sealed once you are at this stage. The first is the finger process. This process requires you to lightly press the top of the lid to see if it is sealed. If the lid moves up and down, the lid is not properly sealed. If it is not sealed, return it to the water bath process or refrigerate it immediately.

The "pop sound" process is rather easy. You will hear a popping sound when the lid adheres to the top of the jar. If you are not sure that the lid is sealed, you can look at the lid and see if the dome part of the lid is compressed. If you are sure how to do this once you hear the "pop" sound, you can use the finger process to make sure. If you find the lid is not sealed, the same rule applies here as with the finger process.