I've read several articles about making it. Many don't require added pectin or water bath boiling. It seems like just just adding sugar and lemon juice is enough. The jars get a hot sterilize prior to filling, and the jelly is boiled to just over 220 degrees, to when it sheets off a spoon. My brother has a crabapple tree that seems ready for picking, so this seems like a good opportunity to make some. I don't know anything about the different crabapple species, and which ones taste better. I'll be winging it. Does anyone have tips or experience they can share? Woodwidow, I found this one.
Wow, don't you just love archives especially when they get put on the internet. I have never made crabapple jelly or jam as we don't have a lot of them around here. I did find a recipe in my "A Guide to Wild Time Cooking" a local cookbook printed in the 60s. Here it is. Boil whole apples in kettle with little water for 20 min. Crush fruit thoroughly. Strain through sieve or jelly bag. Measure juice - boil 10 min. Add 3/4 to 1 cup sugar for every cup juice. Boil about 10 min more until syrup jells. The jelling point is reached when 2 drops form side by side at same time on edge of spoon. If thermometer used 216 deg to 220 deg. Pour into hot sterilized jars - set away to cool and harden - paraffin. Crabapple has a lot of pectin in it so adding it isn't necessary. I will look and see if I have anything else that might help.
Ive never made that particular jelly, but warming the sugar in the oven (250°F for 10 min) helps it dissolve much faster.
Thank you for that. All similar recipes it seems. It looks like no water bath required either. One recipe said to strain through cheesecloth overnight for the clearest juice. Another said to let settle overnight and decant the clear juice off the top. Boil with sugar after that. IT looks like I need more lids and cheesecloth. I may skip grape jelly altogether as the bunch rot is still going. This may be my alternative.
What do you think of warming it in the pan that will get the mixture for boiling? I just need to watch it so it does not burn.
Something else you might want to do a couple of jars of is pickled crabapples. They go good with pork dishes.
Back one late summer day in late '80's I picked all the fruit from the lone native wild Prairie Crab Apple that grew in grassy area next to neighbor's 60 acres of woods.Wanted Mom to make a batch of jelly.If I remember correctly,she mentioned it not setting up quite as firm as tame or wild grape or wild plum.Kinda of a guessing game far as how much pectin to ad. But it was still quite tasty,even though it spread easier.Last I walked over there in late 90's before the property was sold/split up that tree was finally gone.Wasnt real big even as crabapples go - maybe 20 feet tall,7"-8" diameter max. I did get some decent pics of it in full bloom in early May many years ago.I'll have to scan & post them sometime. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malus_ioensis
A light heat and constant stirring should do ok. We made a rasberry jam recently, but I warmed in the oven while boiling down the berries. Don't forget
Thistle, I think that the tree I am going to pick from is probably a hybrid landscape tree. I have no idea what the fruit will taste like. An old specimen would be great to pick from. I bet there are a few on private lands around here overgrown and all.
