If you buy at the local box stores, you are paying for packaging. Fortunately, we have a small local store that buys in bulk, from Amish sources, and repackages the products. It is amazingly affordable that way. A quick search online shows it is possible to buy bulk that is shipped to you. I'll put an example below - although I know nothing about the company..

Here is a link that might be useful: bulk sales

Do you know what brand of pectin you are buying?

I have an Amish community about 50 miles south of me that I've attended their produce auction for the last 7 years or so, but never went to any of their stores.

The label on the container is from the local store, so no brand name is showing. The recipe label on it says 3tbsp per batch and the lady said just use the clear jel recipe and the 3T. I tried it and it set better than the sure jel did. I was very pleased.

The price was $4.05/lb and the container itself was marked at $2.64. You could not even tell that I had used any after removing the 3T. I guessed the cost per batch was somewhere between 25 and 50 cents. I've sent members of our canning club to buy some also and they also reported that it works great.

The link I gave above has the price at under $6/lb. That seems very good, but shipping could add a lot to that. Driving 50 miles these days is not cost effective either.....

Sorry, I said both clear jel in one place and sure jel in another. We used the surejel recipe and 3Tbsp pectin.

thanks, I love to get feedback before I order 1/2# of something.

I get alot of my fruit from the Amish auction, so I just need to stop by one of the times that I go.

3T doesn't make a big dent in a 1# bag, I'm sure.

What's the difference between 'apple', 'citrus', and 'fruit' pectin? Which works better? I'm finding a big difference between 3 companies, bulkfoods.com, pacificpectin.com and nuts.com. After shipping to my area for 10#, prices were $299.78, $130.00 and $52.25.

Anyone used any of these companies?

I have ordered from two of the companies you mentioned - nuts.com and bulkfoods.com.

I highly recommend nuts.com - I've never been disappointed with anything I've purchased from them, and they have excellent customer service. Their fruit pectin contains the same ingredients as Ball and Sure-Jell (different proportions perhaps), so I'd be pretty confident it would work.

I really like bulkfoods.com as well. I'm not sure what "apple pectin" is - before I spent that much, I'd ask their customer service department if it is suitable for jam making.

Can't help you with Pacific Pectin. I rarely use pectin anymore (except for Pomona) so I'd never use 10 pounds.

I purchased the pectin from nuts.com. Very pleased with service, received 2 days after ordering. Free gift also--don't know how they knew I like pistachios. I've used the pectin on 18 pints and so far it's worked GREAT. I've even been able to cut back a little bit on the sugar with great results. Even the Fedex lady reported that she loves the company nuts.com and buys all her 'goodies' there.

I don't know if I can go sugar-free with their pectin, and I didn't find any sugar-free type of pectin on their website.

I did buy some Dutch Jell Lite from a local Amish bulk food store today for the sugar-free versions, but haven't tried it yet.

Nuts.com pectin cost me $3.99 plus shipping and the Dutch Lite was $6.54 with no shipping just drive. According to the recipes I'll use 3T of regular or 5 1/3T of sugar-free. Don't know how that figures mathematically, but I'm sure it's cheaper than the little boxes.

Yep, those insidious sample packages nuts.com includes with your order. We're now addicted to their pistachios, medjool dates, figs, apricots...and the list goes on.

Glad the pectin worked for you.

For sugar-free use either Pomona or Ball's Lo-No Sugar brands.

Dave

I bought some Dutch Jell Lite for the sugar-free. i'm hoping for clearer jelly than what has been reported with Pomona.

I get my powdered pectin at "Sav a Lot' for .99 a pkg. Usually buy a case of 24. I hope you have a store like this near you. It works great and a whole page of recipes are included.

My pectin that I purchased figures out to less than 50 cents (including shipping) for the same amount as the boxes you buy. Plus we don't have a Sav-A-Lot around me.

I really like the pectin, I've been able to do 3-4x the recipe with no problems, I just added an extra 30 seconds of boiling for each additional batch. I could do more, but my pan is only SO big.

My son has used AGAR for the jelling agent, so he informed me this weekend. He was making a jello mold only using fruit cocktail (from a can) and the AGAR. I guess he got it locally.