Lab recipebeginnerdraft

Pectin from apple scraps

Also searched as: apple pectin, homemade pectin, setting agent from apples, natural pectin

In short: The peels and cores of tart apples are full of pectin. Simmered out and reduced, they become a natural setting agent.

Picture it

Like paste from the craft cupboard: unremarkably runny, but it holds together what would not hold on its own.

Before · Aftersimmered

pectin juice

simmered ↔ reduced

Schematic

You need · 1 day, of which 1½ hours of work

1–1.5 kg tart apples, or peels and cores (e.g. from apple cake, collected in the freezer)
water, just enough to cover
pot, sieve, fine cloth
a cold plate for the test

Step by step: what happens

1
Chop the apples roughly, cover with water and simmer, covered, for 40–60 minutes
Heat releases the from the cell walls into the water.
Vegetables soften (pectin breakdown)
2
Let it drip through a cloth overnight; do not squeeze
Squeezing makes the juice cloudy.
3
Reduce the juice by half, uncovered
The pectin concentrates.
Reducing (reduction)
4
Plate test: let a spoonful with a little sugar and lemon cool on a cold plate
If it sets and wrinkles when pushed, there is enough pectin. Otherwise reduce further.
Setting with pectin

About 500 ml of pectin juice (as a guide).

A week in the fridge; frozen in portions, many months.

For jam from low-pectin fruit such as strawberries, cherries or pears: about 250 ml per 1.5 kg of fruit (as a guide).
For jelly.

Sources · 2