Plum Jelly

Good morning! Are you ready to make jelly? Are you Sure (Jell) ?????
(disclaimer: I'm doing this the way my mamaw taught me - if it's not by the book or doesn't meet GOVT standards, I could care less - I ain't sellin' it)

I used the 8 oz jars cuz they're a good size to give away, and the jelly doesn't turn to sugar before you eat the whole jar. I run all my jars and bands through the hot dishwasher before the canning process and take them hot right out of the DW and set them in a big jelly roll pan so the juice won't get all over the cabinet. Also, put your bands and lids into another pan covered with water and keep them just under boiling.

Ok get your stuff ready - the biggest stock pot you have, a canning strainer or a colander with little bitty holes, your magnetic lid & band picker-upper (if you don't have one, you can use tongs), cheesecloth, your ingredients.... oh, about 5 lbs or so of fruit (plums), lotsa sugar, a few boxes of Sure-Jell, lemon juice, butter... I think that's all.

1. Wash your plums and get all the junk off of 'em. Put them in your stock pot and add about 2 cups of water, just enough so's you can see the water in the bottom of the pot. 2. On medium heat, cook your plums about 15 minutes or until all the peelings come off and the fruit is cooked. Stir around a few times so they don't stick to the bottom - you don't want burnt-tastin' jelly.

3. I didn't get a picture of this next part cuz I needed both hands to do what I needed to do. Ok, squish your plums around just a little with a potato masher or something to loosen up the pulp. Then get you a big bowl or another big stockpot and place your canning strainer over the pot and put 2-3 cups at a time into the strainer and let it drain through into the pot. If you have a canning squisher (seen in the above photo - wooden), roll it around in the pulp and get a little bit of that into the juice in the pan. Not too much, you don't want your jelly to be pulpy, you want it to be clear and red - it's pretty that way. Also, you can use cheesecloth inside your strainer if you want to get more pulp out, especially if you don't have a canning strainer.

4. Discard all the pulp, peelings, and seeds in the trash. You should have quite a bit of juice left now. Wash your big stockpot out a little or use another one (you WILL make a big mess making jelly, so just get ready for it).

5. Now, cuz my Mamaw taught me this way, I put 5 and 1/2 to 6 cups of the juice back into the pot. I add 6 & 1/2 C. of sugar, sometimes 7. I don't measure very well. Then, add 1 T of lemon juice, one box of Sure-Jell and 1 big pat of butter (keeps it from sticking so bad). On medium high heat, cook this mixture and stir until everything is dissolved. Keep cooking, say for 10-15 minutes, at a soft rolling boil, stirring occasionally - don't let it stick.

6. Get you a plate and set it beside your stove while you're cookin' and every once in awhile put a drop or two of the jelly mixture onto the plate and let it cool. When the little dabs start getting thick and gooy-er or setting up (it's still going to be liquid-y, but gooey), then it's done. Turn off the stove, and get a scooper - a glass measuring cup works well. I use a 2 cup glass.

7. Scoop up jelly mixture out of the pot and carefully pour into your jars one at a time up to about 1/8" to 1/4" from the top. Make sure that you clean off the top rims of the jars. Then get your magnetic lid picker-up or your tongs and take lids out of the steaming pan and place carefully on top of the jars, and then place the bands on top.

8. I then have two damp washcloths, and keeping the jars level, screw the bands down real tight and turn the jars upside down on the cabinet. Be careful, the jars will be hot! I usually have a little jelly juice left over that won't make an entire sealed jar. I keep an extra jar to the side to pour the leftover jelly into and keep adding to it with each batch. Then I can put a lid on and place in the fridge and that'll be the first jar we'll use.

Inverting the jars while they're hot helps the lids to seal better. Turn them over after awhile and you can sometimes hear them pop. If the lids are not sucked down kinda concave, then it didn't seal good, and you'll need to put in the fridge to eat first. I got eight 8 oz jars with leftover juice. I will be making some more probably tonight or tomorrow night. I gotta pick some more plums. If you don't have time to do the whole thing, you can cook your fruit and get the juice out and freeze it, and then do your jelly later.

Now, the directions on the Sure-Jell package are just as easy, only you cook your juice for just a few minutes and jar and seal and then you have to put them in a canning bath. I do that for other things, but for jelly, this way worked for Mamaw for 50 years, and it's worked for me for 15 years and I'm stayin' with it. If it ain't broke...

Sorry this is so long, but there you go. I've made this recipe with peaches and left more pulp in them to make more of a preserve and they turned out great. Also, with some of dad's concord and muscadine grapes - I love muscadine jelly and it was the prettiest pale pink color!!! I'd like to make some jalapeno jelly this summer, too.

Ok time to sign off. I've wasted (enjoyed) this last hour here at work, and I need to get busy!

Happy Jelling! NOW GO CLEAN UP YOUR BIG MESS!!!