When making homemade jams and jellies, pectin is a very common ingredient, it’s often required to achieve a soft gel. Even though pectin is a common ingredient, I had many questions when I first starting making jams and jellies.
What exactly is pectin and what does pectin do? Can I leave it out? Why are there so many different types of pectin on the canning aisle? Can I make my own pectin?
Let’s get to the bottom of these questions (and more) so we can get to making better homemade jams and jellies.
What is Pectin?
Pectin is a naturally occurring type of soluble fiber (polysaccharide), found in the cell walls of most fruits and used as a thickening agent for cooking and baking.
To act as a gelling agent for homemade jams and jellies, fruit pectin will be combined with sugar and acid and added to the cooked fruit or fruit juice. This is why many homemade jam and jelly recipes call for the addition of lemon juice and quite a bit of sugar.
Types of Pectin
Technically speaking, pectin is either high-mehoxyl or low-methoxyl. High methoxyl pectin is generally the classic pectins you find in the grocery store and the type that needs a lot of sugar to work properly.
Fortunately, there’s also a low-methoxyl pectin that is labeled for low-sugar or no-sugar jams and jellies. Modified Citrus Pectin, often labeled MCP on boxes, is also a type of low methoxyl pectin.
Store-Bought Pectin
While fruits have natural pectin in them, using a store-bought pectin can speed up the cooking time which will help retain the flavor and color of the jam or jelly. So, instead of focusing on the type of pectin which isn’t always clearly labeled on boxes in the grocery story, let’s focus on the types of commercial pectin commonly found and the use for each type of pectin:
Classic or Traditional Pectin – This is the type generally found in boxes in the canning aisle. It requires a lot of sugar to gel and is likely the kind grandma used for her home canning. The boxes generally only make 1 batch of jam or jelly. However, in recent years many brands have started coming out with bottles of pectin for flex recipes to allow for customization.
Low / No Sugar Pectin – Just like the classic pectin, low sugar pectin can often be found in the canning aisle in single batch boxes or bottles for multiple batches. This type of pectin lets you use less sugar than traditional jelly and jam recipes. Just so you know granular Splenda is the recommended artificial sweetener but stevia is also recommended to use when canning jams and jellies. Both can hold up to the high heat of jelly making and water bath canning.
Liquid Pectin – Again found in the canning aisle is often often used for jellies as it doesn’t clump and provides superior gelling, since it’s already in a liquid form.
Freezer Pectin – This too is often found in the canning aisle and is specifically designed for jams and jellies that will be frozen, not canned.
Pomona’s Pectin – This pectin requires a two-step process that involves pectin and calcium water and is amazing for large or multiple batches of low or no sugar jam and will even gel honey, maple syrup, or other alternative sweeteners. Pomona’s is not as easily found in the grocery stores of small towns but is usually found in health food stores.
Homemade Pectin
Want to skip commercially pectin? Make your own and can it from fresh fruits.
Pectin is easily made from apples and/or crabapples. Make it when you have a lot in season and can it for use later.
Pectin can also be made from citrus peels. This is why marmalade doesn’t often have added pectin. Some citrus fruits have more pectin than others, be sure see the list below.
Unlike commercially produced pectin, homemade pectin takes some experimentation. You will need to do a gel test to see if you need to add more or less to your recipes.
The Difference Between Pectin and Gelatin
Both pectin and gelatin will gel liquid. Gelatin needs to be refrigerated to maintain it’s firm structure. Pectin will remain gelled at room temperature.
Gelatin are not recommended for jam and jelly making that will be canned, although there is a safe strawberry fig jam that uses strawberry gelatin. However, gelatin can be used for refrigerator jams, if desired.
Pectin is vegan, coming from a plant starch. Gelatin comes from animal protein. This means your homemade jams and jellies can be easily shared with vegetarian and vegan friends.
Best Pectin for Jam
There’s no easy answer for this, because it depends on a number of factors, including how much sugar you want to use.
Read the recipe and follow it – the recipe is generally tested and written so that it will gel properly. No running or too stiff jam when using the correct pectin, amount of sugar and acid.
If you’re making up your own jam recipe, use the correct pectin for the required sugar or sweetener you want to use. Classic pectin for heavily sweetened recipes and low/no-sugar for other types.
Find recipes to inspire all your jam and jelly making adventures here.
Is Added Pectin Absolutely Necessary?
Pectin plays a crucial role in making homemade fruit jams and jellies. But it is not always necessary to add additional pectin. Some fresh fruits have enough natural pectin to not need any additional pectin to gel.
Jams and jellies can be cooked (a long time) until a gel point is reached. This is a long cook method and can change the flavor of the jam. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, just different. Be sure to test small batches so you’ll know if you like the finished product before you make a bunch of jars.
Since most fruit preserves include pieces of fruit including the skin, they don’t always need to use pectin to quickly get to the gel point.
Also, pectin isn’t needed for fruit spreads, like applesauce or apple butter. Fruit spreads are just cooked to the desired consistency.
That being said, it’s going to really hard to get jelly to gel with out some kind of pectin since it’s made with just fruit juice and not the whole fruit. If you want to try to make jelly without pectin, it’s important to use high pectin fruits and use 1/4 unripe fresh fruit and 3/4 ripe fresh fruit.
High-Pectin Fruit
- apples (tart, unripe)
- blackberries (underripe)
- crab apples
- cranberries
- currants
- gooseberries
- grapes (Eastern Concord variety)
- lemons, limes
- plums (not Italian variety)
- quinces
Moderate-Pectin Fruit
- apples (ripe)
- blackberries (ripe)
- cherries (sour)
- chokecherries
- elderberries
- grapefruits
- grapes (California)
- oranges
Low-Pectin Fruits
- apricots
- blueberries
- cherries (ripe)
- peaches
- pears
- plums (Italian)
- guavas
- pineapple
- raspberries
- strawberries
