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George Shirley
 
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Default Am I about to make a mistake? Pectin

Cut it in half Mike, won't hurt a thing. The way I make marmalade, and
I'm sure others do the same, is cooking it down to the proper
temperature and/or using the cold plate or spoon method to check for
consistency. You want it stiff enough to stay on the toast, biscuit, or
muffin but not so stiff that it's leathery. Using the peel of the
grapefruit and the lemons should give you enough pectin for it to gel.
At least that has been my experience.

I learned eons ago to crush the pips (seeds), put them in a cheesecloth
bag, and cook them down with the fruit and peel. The theory is that they
add extra pectin. There have been some disputes on here as to the
validity of that theory but it works for me. YMMV

George

Michael Horowitz wrote:
> I'm about to try out a marmalade recipe which calls for 4 grapefruit
> and 2 lemons. I'd like to cut the recipe in half, but there is a
> parenthetic expression next to the "2 lemons".... is says "(for extra
> pectin)".
>
> Can I simply cut the recipe in half, or do I need the two lemons for
> the pectin? - Mike
>