In this case, it isn't so much the Mango Jelly recipe as much as the process. The recipe is same as it was but it was tailored for my canning pot, and I did increase the amount of Bulk Pectin. I got a much more "me friendly" result. The result is more firm and more like what I expect a jelly to be like.
If you like a soft jelly, reduce the amount of pectin from 12 to perhaps 10 or 8 Tablespoons. I am using Bulk Pectin. It's cheaper that way and being retired, I save money where I can.
Of course the Full Internet Warranty Applies - No Warranty implied or expressly written. You follow these instructions at your own risk. Just because this "works for me" does not mean it will work for you. Read them, re-read, get your equipment set up, and re-read again. Ramblingmoose.com takes no responsibility for any actions on your part.
That being said, I do this a couple times a year. These are instructions from me to my future self. I could do this with one jar in a sauce pan and a sealing lid if I had to.
But I am a special character. I've been told I am an ampersand.
The Full Recipe is at the bottom.
Wash your hands, frequently.
Canning. The USDA has instructions, and "everyone else" does as well. This is what I did Monday. I've been canning for a couple years now and I have gotten good results. Usually only one jar per batch fails to seal. BUT, I tend to reuse my lids. I have been told don't do that. I roll the dice and don't pass on jars until a week or two after they are sitting around so I know they're going to seal. The one that fails is mine and goes into the fridge. Mango Jelly Pie on a Graham Cracker Crust can be a very nice dessert, and this jelly is great on Pancakes for syrup. I had it on pancakes today and enjoyed it.
Into the canning pot, place more lids than jars. Rings do not to be sterilized. I can comfortably fit 8 jars on the grid inside of my pot. So I tend to put 8 to 10 lids in to the pot.
Place the funnel and the magnet stick into the pot. Any scoops or paddles I think I will need go into the pot.
Note: If you place all the things other than the jars that you want to sterilize into a separate sauce pan, and can fit them in, it may make life easier. Using tools to remotely fish things out from a boiling pot of water from under jars and grid can be painful. I did not use a separate pot for the lids and tools this time and I managed.
The tools that do not go into the jars will remain on a dinner plate outside of the pot.
Do not use a paper plate. I made that mistake this batch and when I turned the fire back on, it caught and you had ashes everywhere. Bad move. Hank will tell you Propane cooks hot, it's God's Own Gas.
Put the pot in the sink and fill all the jars with water after you lift the metal grid and place it on the bottom of the pot. Then fill the pot to the line so that all the jars are completely submerged with about an inch of water on top of the jars.
Yes, that's a lot of water.
Yes, it all has to come to a full rolling boil.
The Boil. Place the full pot on the stove and turn the heat on, full. You want the water to come to a rolling boil. This will take about a half of an hour. Make sure the propane tank has enough gas for this project. The entire canning episode yesterday only used 1% of the 100 gallon tank. You most likely won't move the needle on the larger tanks. You won't want to do this on a smaller bottle since those are for the Grill.
Sterilizing. Once the pot, jars, lids, and tools are on a rolling boil, set the timer on the stove for 30 minutes. This must boil for 30 minutes to sterilize everything. Yes, I know you can't kill all the tardigrades in the pot, but this will get the botulism out of anything. This way when you send jelly Up North to family, they won't get sick.
Jelly needs to cook to 165F or 74C. Start this when the water is boiling, it takes about 20 minutes to go from room temp to 165F. This kills any nasties that might be on the fruit or the pot. The temp gun helps but the numbers dance around while you are stirring with the immersion blender.
As long as the fruit is not frozen, adding the ingredients to the separate cooking pot, then turning on the heat on medium will be fine timing. Your immersion blender or stick blender is great for the task.
Use the white blender. The other blender is for making soap. Don't mix them. This takes too long to "restart" because you did something stupid.
Keep stirring the jelly until you are ready for it, and do NOT use high heat. The Mangoes will hot spot and you will end up with discolored fruit. Not the best when you want "Gift Quality". This also will mean that the jelly, jam really since it is complete fruit, will be smooth and pureed with no chunks.
When the timer sounds, check the temp on the jelly. If it finishes before the water has boiled for 30 solid minutes, turn the heat down on the jelly. You don't want hot spots.
Hopefully everything is done correctly, no hot spots and you are now ready to can.
Turn the heat off the canning pot.
Filling Jars. Fish the tools you need out of the water bath. Place them on the clean plate you just reached out of the cabinet or dishwasher for this purpose.
You will need the scissors clamp, the funnel, the scoop, the paddle. The magnet stick should have floated upright so you can grab that without getting burned.
Once you get the tools out of the water and set out to cool on the plate, get the metal rack out of the bottom of the pot. It can be set so the metal handles are elevated and the jars are no longer in the hot water.
Using the scissors clamp, grab the first jar and dump the boiling water back into the pot. Place this on the work plate. Put the funnel into the mouth of the jar. Fill the jar no higher than the bottom of the funnel. For wide mouth jars, do not fill above the line under the threads.
Tools do cool quickly but do be careful. It will be a little uncomfortable at first.
Take the funnel out of the jars, and set it aside. Since you are using it to fill the jars with the jelly, I set it on top of the jelly, narrow side down.
In filling, if you slopped any jelly on the rim of the jar, wipe it off with a wet paper towel. Carefully, you don't want to contaminate the jars. Paper Towels are considered by me to be sterile-ish compared to a cloth towel.
Place a lid on the top of the jar, rubber side down, and seat it on the rim. Then screw down a ring gently. Make sure the ring is not "tight" as the air inside of the jar needs to be forced out during the second boil to create your vacuum seal. Usually getting it to meet the lid then backing off a "wee bit" is enough.
Place that jar back on the metal grid and repeat for all of the jars you intend to can for this batch.
Now that you have your jars on the grid, check to make sure the rings are not constricting the lids. Lower the grid to the bottom of the pot.
Second Boil to seal your jars. You now have all your jars submerged and it is time for the second boil.
Turn the heat on full, the fan back on, and wait for the water to come back to a full boil.
When the water is on a full rolling boil, set the timer on the stove for 30 minutes. As the water is boiling, the heat will push some of the air out of the jars and create your later vacuum when you are waiting for the buttons on the lids to snap to seal.
Time to remove the jars from the boiling water.
Raise the grid to the top of the canning pot. If you are confident, you can remove the grid to a safe workplace and deal with the jars.
Check each jar. Make sure each lid is seated on the top of the jar and when you are confident, tighten the ring down. Repeat for each jar and set them aside to cool.
By the time the jars have reached room temperature, each vacuum button should have snapped to prove that they are sealed.
Just because you need clean pipes, dump the hot water in the sink. It will help melt the grease you didn't know you were putting in there.
Recipe. USDA says you can store canned jelly for 6 to 12 months.
Ingredients:
- 8 Cups chunked ripe Mango pieces.
- 2 Cups Sugar.
- 2 Tablespoons of Lemon Juice.
- 12 Tablespoons of bulk Fruit Pectin.
- Cut up your Mangoes into chunks until you have 8 cups of the fruit.
- Mash slightly the Mangoes, and add to the cooking pot.
- Add 2 Cups of Sugar.
- Add 2 Tablespoons of Lemon Juice.
- Add 12 tablespoons of bulk Fruit Pectin.
- Cook on medium on the stove until the jam begins to set at about 30 minutes.
