Question about making jelly from pre-sweetened cherry juice.

[Emerald]

Ok I just got about 4 gallons of Tart Cherry juice that is the left over from my friend's company(they make cherry, blueberry and apple pies for school fund raisers) and I want to make a few jars of cherry jelly and use the rest for wine.
They start with fresh pitted tart cherries that then have sugar(cane I asked) added and then the whole cherries are frozen in big buckets-- they drain the juice off the cherries into other buckets and use mainly the cherries in the pies and they end up with a few buckets from each session that tend to go to waste, so she brought me one.
the thing is I am not sure of the level of sugar in the juice and the pectin packet says 5 1/2 cups for 4 cups fresh juice.
I do have a hydrometer for making wine and it has the bolling sugar scale on one side(supposed to tell you the level of sugar in your juice) but I am not that up on how to use it.
She did say that she has made jelly from it many times and like a dork I didn't even think to ask her recipe.
I am also going to put some away in the freezer to add to my apple sauce next batch to make it cherry apple, I think that the family will like that too.
So--any one have any advice? My pectin is just one packet of Jel-ease by Williams and it is powdered.

 

[freemotion]

I think if you know basic algebra (or know someone who does) you could use a chart for winemaking and maybe figure out fairly closely how much sugar is in there....however, since jelly recipes don't account for the sugar in each individual batch of fruit the way wine does, by measuring with a hydrometer....I'd venture to guess that it is not as critical. With wine, you can kill your yeast with too much sugar or make a very weak wine with too little, so it is more important. I'd say taste the juice and if it tastes like sweet jelly, go ahead with the instructions on the pectin package.

Or call your friend and ask if this is what she does.

 

[Emerald]

I think if you know basic algebra (or know someone who does) you could use a chart for winemaking and maybe figure out fairly closely how much sugar is in there....however, since jelly recipes don't account for the sugar in each individual batch of fruit the way wine does, by measuring with a hydrometer....I'd venture to guess that it is not as critical. With wine, you can kill your yeast with too much sugar or make a very weak wine with too little, so it is more important. I'd say taste the juice and if it tastes like sweet jelly, go ahead with the instructions on the pectin package.

Or call your friend and ask if this is what she does.

I will be seeing her today at the school to work some more on the costumes and I am gonna put enuf away in the fridge to make about 2 batches of jelly and/or one batch of jelly and some flavored applesauce. And start fermenting the rest of the juice. It does have a few cherry bits and pieces floating around in there so I will run it thru my muslin to make the jelly. or just call it cherry jel-jam lol!
I am a member of the Homebrew forum and I might wander over there when I get a reading on my juice too. I have had too sweet a must and killed off yeast before.

 

[savingdogs]

I've made jam from pre-sweetened strawberries and just cut back the sugar a little, eye-balled it....and people said it was the best jam I ever made.

I'd just give it a whirl and not worry about being too technical. How does the stuff taste? Really sweet? It seems like you would want to sugar it to taste.

 

[Emerald]

I've made jam from pre-sweetened strawberries and just cut back the sugar a little, eye-balled it....and people said it was the best jam I ever made.

I'd just give it a whirl and not worry about being too technical. How does the stuff taste? Really sweet? It seems like you would want to sugar it to taste.

I just tasted it a bit ago while I put some in to ferment and some in the fridge for the jelly- it is quite tart but not pucker your face tart! So if my friend doesn't have a set recipe I will just try to sweeten to taste and hope that it is good enuf for the pectin! if not then I will tell family it is cherry syrup for malts and ice cream and pancakes!
I gotta say tho, even tho I am not a big cherry fan it would be refreshing as is in some apple cider or apple juice, and I hope I put enuf back for adding to my apple sauce this weekend as I think it would be a great mix.

I have to say that I tend to read and learn about different things too much before trying it and then wonder about all the stress after doing it the first time and finding how easy it was! lol Then I don't worry after that. But I do remember Grandma making apple jelly and running thru the jelly bag and canning that clear pretty jelly--so I am hoping it turns out well as I plan on giving it away for holiday gifts! I hope that by me making my own jelly bag from unbleached muslin(boiled clean of course!) is not a big deal-- I use tons of this stuff for bread making and cheese making and even my wine making.
I also hope that after this weekend she might have more for me!! How greedy am I!

 

[patandchickens]

What they all said. It is not going to be super critical, if you are using commercial pectin -- if it turns out too runny either call it syrup or re-make it with more pectin -- so if it were me I would use a basic "jelly from juice" recipe designed for commercial apple juice, and use about the same sugar the recipe calls for or maybe a *bit* less.

And I bet it'll turn out just fine

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[Emerald]

Ok everyone! thanks for the advice and the lady who gave me the juice said pretty much the same thing- just add about 1 to 1 1/2 cups less sugar than what the recipe calls for.
and when I use this pectin for jam it jells really, really well- I made brick o' blueberry jam one year! So I am not too worried about it not setting up!
But next year if my mom's neighbor has enuf quince I am gonna make my own pectin.

 

[Bethanial]

But next year if my mom's neighbor has enuf quince I am gonna make my own pectin.

I wanna know how to do that! Please share

 

[Emerald]

But next year if my mom's neighbor has enuf quince I am gonna make my own pectin.

I wanna know how to do that! Please share

Is there rule here about linking to another forum? The whole thread on making pectin was very informative and helpful, and I would like to share it. the recipe there was using apples and citrus fruits- but I can remember my grandma using the big hard yellow quince fruits to make what she called extra oomph for jelly making... I sure miss her she was quite the character!

But basically you take 7 or 8 large slightly under ripe apples and the juice of 2 lemons and use the whole apple peel and pit and chop well and cook down for about 40 minutes or so and then strain the juice thru a jelly bag or muslin/cheese cloth lined colander but do not squeeze the bag or push any of the fruit, you only want the clear juice or it will make the pectin taste green applely.
then you boil the apple/lemon juice for another 20 or so minutes to reduce the liquid down a bit and then can in small jelly jars or freeze little tubs.. but since I haven't gotten to do this yet I am not sure how much to use.
And there are probably as many different recipes as there are folks who make it out there!

 

[Bethanial]

Thanks, Emerald!