Raspberry Jelly (Without Added Pectin)
Raspberry jelly is easy to make at home with just two ingredients: raspberries and sugar.
Servings: 5 half pint (8 oz) jars
Ingredients
- 5 Cups Raspberry Juice from about 8 pints fruit
- 5 Cups Sugar
Instructions
- Extract raspberry juice from fresh or frozen raspberries. The simplest method is bringing them to a boil for a few minutes in a saucepan, then straining through a jelly bag or cheesecloth.
- Measure the juice and add 1 cup of sugar for every cup of raspberry juice.
- Bring the sugar and raspberry juice to a boil over medium-high heat, using a deep heavy-bottomed saucepan.
- Cook, stirring frequently, for about 30 minutes until the mixture reaches gel stage. Watch for boil overs and scorching.
- Test for gel stage with an instant-read thermometer (220 degrees F at sea level), or on a plate placed in the freezer.
- Once gel stage is reached, remove the raspberry jelly from the heat and ladle into canning jars, leaving 1/4 inch headspace.
- Store in the refrigerator for immediate use, or process in a water bath canner for 10 minutes.
Notes
Note on Yield ~ I started with 4lbs raspberries, or about 8 pints. That yielded 5 cups juice, which in turn yielded about 5 cups of raspberry jelly after cooking with a 1:1 sugar ratio. Feel free to start with any amount of raspberries, just measure the juice and add 1 cup of sugar for every cup of juice.
Lower Sugar Raspberry Jelly ~ You can use less sugar, but the yield will be substantially lower and cook times will increase. If you choose to lower the sugar, don't lower it below 1/2 cup to each cup of juice. Also, I'd suggest adding a tablespoon of lemon juice per cup of juice as lemon juice is high in pectin and will help a low sugar raspberry jelly reach gel stage.
Be aware that raspberries are low pectin fruits, and if you'd like to lower the sugar further, you'll need to add low sugar pectin such as Pomona's universal pectin to help the jelly come together.