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| I'm so excited....I just returned home from Wisconsin where I went to an Amish bulk food store and bought Clear Gel 3 lbs for $2.80 and Instant Clear Gel 1 lb for $2.00. I've never used clear gel before but I've read so much about it here and in my Ball Book I really wanted to try it and it was too expensive to order on Amazon.
I'm OK with what to do with the regular clear gel, but what would I use the instant for. I don't think I've ever seen it used in a recipe. Is it the same as instant pectin? The store also had big bags of pectin and instant pectin, I should have bought some of that too.....next time! Thanks for the advice. Sally |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| Use it just like you'd use cornstarch (or flour) for thickening gravy and sauces. It is for fresh serving foods only, not canning. Dave |
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- Posted by sally_grower (My Page) on Sun, Aug 26, 12 at 19:40
| Thanks Dave, I can't say that that is good news, but at least now I know what to do with it now. |
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- Posted by readinglady z8 OR (My Page) on Sun, Aug 26, 12 at 22:26
| I use instant for pie filling. It's especially good for fruit pies that will be frozen as it doesn't break down. I actually use it much more than the regular as I've found I don't like canning ClearJel thickened foods. Anything that's thickened with flour, tapioca, cornstarch, instant clearjel can be used instead. Carol |
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- Posted by sally_grower (My Page) on Mon, Aug 27, 12 at 10:35
| Carol, can you tell me what you don't like about canning with Clear Jel? The recipe I am planning on making with it is Homestyle Corn relish, will it make it "Glopy"? |
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| Just for clarity, regular Clearjel is the only thickener the USDA recommends for use in home-canning. It does not break down and become thin when used in home-canned foods. Instant Clearjel is NOT recommended in home canning since it tends to break down during heat processing. As Carol said, it works fine for freezing, but not for anything that will be heat processed. As to what many of us don't like about canning with Clear Jel - when used in the amounts called for in some recipes it is often TOO thick, almost jelled. So many of us cut the amount called for. If you will pull up the many discussions here about using Clear Jel you'll find for example that with pie fillings some reduce it by 1/2 or more. Don't know what to tell you about using it with your corn relish except that you have to use the regular, not the instant. That Ball Complete Book recipe (always helps if you give us the source of the recipe so we don't have to dig for it) only calls for 2 T of Clear Jel. All you can do it try it and see if it is too thick for your taste. I will note that most corn relish recipes such as the one at NCHFP do not use it as an ingredients so based on that fact I would be inclined to cut it in half or even leave it out completely. JMO Dave |
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- Posted by sally_grower (My Page) on Mon, Aug 27, 12 at 11:45
| Thanks Dave, after your first post, about the differences of Clear Jel and Instant Clear Jel, I went online and printed out the specifics of each (should haave done that before I bothered everyone here!!!) and will put the pages in my canning book. It's always nice to have a person to go to with questions, thanks for the help. |
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- Posted by readinglady z8 OR (My Page) on Mon, Aug 27, 12 at 12:59
| You're not bothering. Sometimes it's helpful to get things "out there", not just for the person asking but for others lurking. Dave already mentioned the issue with regular ClearJel. The other reason I quit using it (mostly) is because something like canned berries can always be turned into pie filling after opening, but they can also be used in a number of others ways, should I wish. I arrived at the conclusion it was more versatile plain. By the way, a little research will reveal all kinds of other uses for ClearJel. There are ClearJel jam recipes and at King Arthur Flour ClearJel has been discussed as an ingredient in cakes. It holds moisture. With time you may discover yourself using both regular and instant in all kinds of ways. Carol |
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- Posted by sally_grower (My Page) on Mon, Aug 27, 12 at 15:30
| Thanks Carol, you have a very valid point about canning fruit plain and using it for other recipies. I never thought about it that way. I'll take that into consideration from here on out. Thanks again for all of the hepl, Sally |
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