![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
torquillI am declaring victory.
I have completely jellied the juice from the first massive batch of feijoas. It is now many jars of jelly of a gorgeous dark-red hue, curing down in the cellar. It tastes like the best candy evar.
The second thirty pounds of fruit was divided in half. Half of it has been reduced to four-plus quart jars of juice in the back of the main fridge, to be made into jelly soon. Half of it has been chopped, tossed into two gallon Ziplocs, and placed in the outside fridge at below-freezing temperature. It can be cooked, strained, and jellied at my leisure.
I win.
I've gotten very good at making this stuff, so I figured I would write down my recipe in case any otherpoor fool home canner comes across some feijoas. Hopefully a smaller amount than 60 pounds.
Feijoa Jelly
feijoas
sugar
lemon juice
water
Start with any amount of feijoas. Rinse the fruit, take off the blossom ends and chop coarsely. Place in a pot with at least an inch to spare and add enough water to cover. Place a lid on it and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook until pulpy, about an hour. Remove from heat and allow to cool until it's easy to handle.
Hang a jelly bag or muslin cloth over a large bowl -- hanging from two or four supports is preferable to one -- and carefully pour the cooked fruit into the cloth. Allow it to drain for two to four hours, but no longer as the juice may pick up off flavors if it stays at room temperature too long. Remove the bag and discard the contents, then divide the juice into batches of three cups each, maximum. Refrigerate any you are not using right away.
Place a small plate in the freezer. Pour one batch of juice into a medium saucepan and add 1 C sugar and 1 Tablespoon lemon juice for every 1.5 cups juice. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to prevent boil-over, and boil for approximately 45 minutes if using 3 cups, 20 if using 1.5 cups. Use this time to set up a boiling-water bath full of jars, and warm the lids; expect to get 20oz of jelly total from 3 cups of juice.
When the juice has reduced by nearly half and it starts frothing much more, start to test the jelly by dripping a small amount onto the cold plate to chill. Once a skin forms as it drops to room temperature, test more often. When scooping up some of the test with your finger results in a gob of jelly hanging off your fingertip, remove the jelly from the heat. Pour into hot half-pint or 4oz (250mL or 125mL) glass canning jars, top with warm lids, screw on bands finger-tight and process in the boiling-water canner for five minutes (ten if you didn't boil the empty jars). Remove from the canner and place on a towel or wooden cutting-board, an inch apart, to cool.
They usually jell fully within a day, but give them a week before worrying. It can always be cooked again if it doesn't set. Small jars will set first, but if a 4oz jar sets, the 8oz jar will set as well, eventually.
The less particulate matter there is in the juice -- the finer the jelly bag, the less disturbed it was while dripping -- the clearer the end result will be. One trick I discovered was refrigerating the juice for a few days lets the sediment settle to the bottom of the container; pouring it off carefully minimizes the amount of sludge that gets into the jelly.
I have completely jellied the juice from the first massive batch of feijoas. It is now many jars of jelly of a gorgeous dark-red hue, curing down in the cellar. It tastes like the best candy evar.
The second thirty pounds of fruit was divided in half. Half of it has been reduced to four-plus quart jars of juice in the back of the main fridge, to be made into jelly soon. Half of it has been chopped, tossed into two gallon Ziplocs, and placed in the outside fridge at below-freezing temperature. It can be cooked, strained, and jellied at my leisure.
I win.
I've gotten very good at making this stuff, so I figured I would write down my recipe in case any other
Feijoa Jelly
feijoas
sugar
lemon juice
water
Start with any amount of feijoas. Rinse the fruit, take off the blossom ends and chop coarsely. Place in a pot with at least an inch to spare and add enough water to cover. Place a lid on it and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook until pulpy, about an hour. Remove from heat and allow to cool until it's easy to handle.
Hang a jelly bag or muslin cloth over a large bowl -- hanging from two or four supports is preferable to one -- and carefully pour the cooked fruit into the cloth. Allow it to drain for two to four hours, but no longer as the juice may pick up off flavors if it stays at room temperature too long. Remove the bag and discard the contents, then divide the juice into batches of three cups each, maximum. Refrigerate any you are not using right away.
Place a small plate in the freezer. Pour one batch of juice into a medium saucepan and add 1 C sugar and 1 Tablespoon lemon juice for every 1.5 cups juice. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to prevent boil-over, and boil for approximately 45 minutes if using 3 cups, 20 if using 1.5 cups. Use this time to set up a boiling-water bath full of jars, and warm the lids; expect to get 20oz of jelly total from 3 cups of juice.
When the juice has reduced by nearly half and it starts frothing much more, start to test the jelly by dripping a small amount onto the cold plate to chill. Once a skin forms as it drops to room temperature, test more often. When scooping up some of the test with your finger results in a gob of jelly hanging off your fingertip, remove the jelly from the heat. Pour into hot half-pint or 4oz (250mL or 125mL) glass canning jars, top with warm lids, screw on bands finger-tight and process in the boiling-water canner for five minutes (ten if you didn't boil the empty jars). Remove from the canner and place on a towel or wooden cutting-board, an inch apart, to cool.
They usually jell fully within a day, but give them a week before worrying. It can always be cooked again if it doesn't set. Small jars will set first, but if a 4oz jar sets, the 8oz jar will set as well, eventually.
The less particulate matter there is in the juice -- the finer the jelly bag, the less disturbed it was while dripping -- the clearer the end result will be. One trick I discovered was refrigerating the juice for a few days lets the sediment settle to the bottom of the container; pouring it off carefully minimizes the amount of sludge that gets into the jelly.
