Homemade Apple Pectin

I have always enjoyed making jam and preserves, but struggled with the massive amounts of sugar I’ve needed to use to get a good set and consistency. After hunting around for low-sugar preserving options I came across the concept of using pectin as a setting agent. I’m sure you can buy commercial pectins for this purpose, and pectin enforced jam-setting sugar and the like, but you can also use homemade apple pectin!

In Autumn this year Dan and I found Windmill Orchards in Coatesville running pick-your-own Apples. One of the last apple orchards still operating in West Auckland. I highly recommend it! I am such a strong believer in ‘pick your own’ orchards and farms.

We picked Braeburn apples and while the price isn’t much different from the supermarket, every apple in my basket was in peak condition and as fresh as it gets. Plus, my cheeks were warmed by the autumn sunshine and I had quite a fantastic time.

Now we picked an absolute truckload of apples, and made loads of dehydrated apple slices, apple muffins, stewed apple, and more. A lot of the things we made with them required us to core, peel or otherwise trim the apples. All of those trimmings which would otherwise be thrown away are PERFECT for making your own Apple Pectin. And if you don’t have a large enough volume of scraps all at once you can freeze them for a little bit while you collect more.

Apple picking
Apple harvest
Apple Orchard

Ingredients

  • Apples chopped (peels and cores, or whole diced apples)
  • Water
Apple scraps

How to Make Apple Pectin

  1. Roughly dice the apples, including peels and cores. Place them in a large pot.
  2. Pour in just enough water to float them.
  3. Cover and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a gentle simmer over medium heat.
  4. Cook for around 2 hours, stirring every 15 minutes to ensure nothing is sticking on the bottom.
  5. After that time it will have reduced significantly and turned a peachy amber colour.
  6. Line a colander with a clean piece of cheesecloth, muslin or a thin clean washed tea towel.
  7. Pour boiling water through the fabric to ensure it is clean.
  8. Place this colander over a large pot (I used my Agee preserving pan) and carefully tip the apple mix and liquid through it. Leave the whole thing to drip through for several hours, and resist the urge to press/push it!
  9. When the liquid has fully drained through, remove the colander. The leftover mush can be disposed of, mine went to the worm farm!
  10. Place the pectin filled pot back on the heat, and bring to a boil.
Homemade Apple Pectin

How to test your Apple Pectin

  1. Take a spoonful of pectin and put into the fridge/freezer to cool down.
  2. Pour some meths into another small bowl and add the cooled pectin.
  3. If the pectin is ready, it will coagulate with the meths and will turn into a little jellied blob. DO NOT EAT THIS – Meths is poisonous.
  4. If the mixture doesn’t coagulate, continue boiling to reduce the liquid further and test again.

How to store your Apple Pectin

I found the easiest way to store and use my apple pectin was to freeze into silicon muffin trays. Once frozen you can pop out the little rounds and keep in a bag or container in the freezer until you’re ready to use them. No need to thaw out ahead of time, just throw them into your hot low-sugar jam mix and they’ll defrost in a jiffy.

Kitchen