ball pectin jar" width="310" height="415" />ball pectin jar" width="310" height="415" />
A sad fact of my jam- and jelly-making life is that not all pectin brands are equal. They have very different processing requirements. You can’t substitute one brand for another and use the same instructions. I found out the hard way.
Remember that! You can’t substitute one brand for another and use the same instructions.
I now use Ball Low or No-Sugar Needed Pectin instead of Sure-Jell. I made the switch so that I didn’t have to use so much sugar in my jelly. Ball also has a special ‘instant pectin‘ to use for freezer jams. (I haven’t used it yet, but it’s marked for freezer jam on the label.)
Here is the basic process for using any Ball pectin – the regular kind and low/no sugar. This won’t work with Sure-Jell.
1. Stir the pectin in the cold fruit/juice or water. NO SUGAR YET. Really. I’m serious. Don’t go there.
2. Bring to a boil and boil HARD for 1 minute. This activates the pectin.
3. Add the sugar or syrup.
4. Bring to a boil again and boil HARD for 1 minute.
5. Put in sterilized jars and process to seal.
A lot of old recipes have you adding the pectin to the sugar. That doesn’t work with Ball. I know. I’ve tried it. Use Ball pectin the way I described above.
This year, to make our jam- and jelly-making lives even more exciting, Ball has a new pectin product out. It’s a quasi-bulk jar of pectin, 4.7 oz, designed so that you can adjust the amount of pectin easily to the amount of jam you want to make. If you only want two jars of jam, you only need 1 1/2 tablespoons of pectin–the old packets of pectin were 3 tablespoons.
It’s a good idea. But it’s going to take some getting used to.
ball pectin jar label" width="415" height="311" />
First, the bad news. The lovely paper insert full of recipes that used to be in the box has now been replaced with a sorta-sticky wrap-around label. No more fun recipes. No more freezer jam recipes. I looked online to find out if they had a recipe page, but I can’t find one. If you want more recipes, you could go over to the Sure Jell site, but remember those cooking directions will NOT work with Ball Pectin–use the instructions for conversion above!
Another thing that really bugged me was the quantity of pectin inside the jar when you open it up new.
I opened this fresh jar just before I took the pic so you can see that NEW, it’s only just over half full. The first jar I opened was the same. I expected some settling, but that’s ridiculous. As a consumer, I am not okay with this.
Now, for the good news. Ball makes great pectin and I love it because with the low or no-sugar pectin you can use as little sugar as you want. You don’t have to use ANY sugar with this pectin and you’ll get great jam and jelly. Just make sure you use the procedure they recommend that I outlined above. You’ll love the result.
Rose petal jam made with Ball pectin.
Good luck! Ball Real Fruit Pectin is a terrific product that makes wonderful jams and jellies.
Robin from Rurification blogs at Rurification.
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judydee says: I am so glad to read this. I was planning to make a low-sugar jelly with the muscadines in my freezer and just haven’t gotten to it yet. I bought the Ball pectin and hopefully would have read the directions–but you never know. Now I’ll be careful, and I won’t waste my precious muscadines! On June 22, 2011 at 5:17 am
Suzanne McMinn says: Robin, I’m confused. Normally in any recipe, powdered pectin is added to the fruit and brought to a boil before adding the sugar. This is true of Sure Jell recipes, too. (Just opened a Sure Jell box to check the insert for the cooked jam and jelly recipes.) Liquid pectin is used differently–it’s added after all the other ingredients are brought to a boil. The only time Sure Jell recommends adding powdered pectin after the sugar is in freezer jam recipes–is that what you’re talking about? For cooked (canned) jam and jellies, Sure Jell directs to add the sugar the same way the Ball powdered pectin directs. (I don’t, however, have a package of the no or low sugar Sure Jell, so don’t know if that’s different.) On the new jar, I saw that at the store the other day and was kinda flabbergasted because it was still such a small jar! Not much more weight than a regular package of pectin. Did you happen to do a cost comparison per ounce? It might be cheaper to just buy boxes, pour into a jar, and measure out to make small batches than to buy their jar, LOL! You can also get bulk powdered pectin (like, really bulk!) at Amish stores. I have a bulk canister from an Amish store and it says 1/3 cup of the bulk pectin is equal to one regular box of pectin. On June 22, 2011 at 5:54 am
Glenda says: Robin, thanks for this review! I wish I had read a review before I used Certo liquid pectin. I followed directions exactly and now have several jars of very runny black raspberries ‘jam’. I may re-work it. I have another packet that I may just pitch! On June 22, 2011 at 6:01 am
Suzanne McMinn says: Glenda, somebody on the forum–I can’t remember who now–some time back said in reference to any jam or jelly that doesn’t set up–“That’s what we call syrup!” I thought that was so funny. (And true!) Though you can rebatch it! On June 22, 2011 at 6:34 am
Robin from Rurification says: It is confusing. I’m confused, too! I can’t find Sure-Jell here anymore. In the past, the instructions for Ball and Sure-Jell have been different – and it’s been a serious hassle because I switched over from Sure-Jell to Ball for the low-sugar option. I’m so sorry that this is more confusing now. On June 22, 2011 at 7:50 am
Kathi N says: I did a search on Farm Bell Recipes for the Rose Petal Jam recipe, but didn’t see it. It is beautiful! I hope you post it! On June 22, 2011 at 9:16 am
Suzanne McMinn says: Kathi, rose petal jelly is the flower jelly recipe. You can find the flower and herb jelly recipe here:
https://farmbellrecipes.com/basic-flower-herb-recipe-for-jelly/ On June 22, 2011 at 10:16 am
bobiss says: Glenda, If you google “liquid cement jelly” there is a recipe to fix that runny jam/jelly if you want to. I used it for my runny dandelion jelly and it worked just fine. On June 22, 2011 at 9:39 am
Miss Judy says: I have always had better luck with Ball(than Surejel) for my low sugar jams and jellies. For some reason I have never gotten the hang of using the liquid pectin. Everytime I use Certo it either doesn’t set up or it turns into rubber…too much frustration.
Thanks for the post! On June 22, 2011 at 11:03 am
Chickypez says: I am so glad to read this – I was about to try some of the Ball pectin for the first time! If I hadn’t seen this, I probably would have just tried to make my jam the same way as with the Sure-Jell. This post saved my strawberries! On June 22, 2011 at 1:35 pm
daiseymae says: I love knowing about this. thanks for edifying me. my rose bush is about to bloom – profusely- and I’m on this. On June 22, 2011 at 2:47 pm
Kathi N says: Thanks, Suzanne! Whee! On June 22, 2011 at 6:10 pmYou must be logged in to post a comment.
