Maple Jelly

Total Time: 40 mins Preparation Time: 10 mins Cook Time: 30 mins

Ingredients

• 1/2 gallon grade a medium amber pure maple syrup
• 3 cups cold water
• 2 teaspoons genugel (pectin does not work with maple syrup, genugel is available from maple syrup equipment suppliers)

Recipe

• 1 whisk the genugel into the cold water first, then add to syrup.
• 2 make sure the pot is at least 3 times the size of the liquid, as it foams up during boil.
• 3 boil all ingredients to 217.
• 4 5 degrees f.
• 5 (some people go to 219, but that makes unnecessarily hard jelly and wastes more content).
• 6 here is the tricky part- the objective is to make clear jelly in the jar.
• 7 any infusion of air through stirring or filling of the jars will put air bubbles into the jelly.
• 8 it will still taste fine, but won't look as good.
• 9 it helps greatly to keep a low flame under the jelly while bottling, as this stuff gels really fast and heat keeps it liquid longer.
• 10 first, skim off the surface foam as minimally as possible.
• 11 a lot of waste can occur at this point.
• 12 second, have a cup or ladle large enough to fill each clean jar with one pour.
• 13 if you have to go back and add more to fill the jar, you will have air bubbles and layering.
• 14 cap the filled jars and process them in a hot water bath for 10 minutes at 180 degrees.
• 15 depending on how good you are at skimming, a half gallon of syrup will net you five to seven 8 ounce jars of maple jelly.
• 16 yield is low and many people don't think it's worth the syrup or the trouble.