Hi. I am julsie's husband. I found on the web that 2tbs liquid pectin = 4 tsp powdered pectin. I mixed the appropriate amount of powdered pectin with warm water to equal the amount of liquid pectin. I needed 3 fl. oz of pectin so I used 4 tbs of powdered mixed with warm water. When I was done, I had 3 fl. oz. of liquid. Julsie or I will post the results when we have had time to evaluate how well that worked.

I'm interested to hear how that worked out since I can only get liquid pectin here if I mail order it or get my mom to mail it to me. I've been using my bulk pomona's. I'm learning how to figure out how much to use. How did you mix the together? Did you use a blender or anything?

My hubby just used a little whisk to dissolve the powdered pectin in water, and it turned into a thick jelly-like substance. It didn't seem to have any trouble stirring in with the rest of the ingredients. I'll have to see if I can get my hands on some Pomona's.

My initial reaction was that this recipe turned out way too thick. I'll see what we have when it cools, but I suspect it will be closer to a sandwich spread than an ice cream topping. However, we also ended up with 6 half pints, when the recipe said it would yield 9-10 half pints, so part of the problem may be that I didn't bring it to a boil fast enough and too much water boiled off.

Safety isn't affected by the addition/removal/increase/decrease of pectin, is it? If I want a runnier sauce, can I safely leave out the pectin, or use just a little bit?

If its been properly canned, it should be safe. Also, if acid like citric or lemon juice was used in its ingredients. Pomona pectin is available from some nature food stores, as well as on line. Never mix liquid with powdered pectin for most recipes. While simmering, the powdered pectin can be sprinkled in while stirring. The reason they cam out with liquid pectin is its a bit easier to stir onto a liquid as it will not usually clump up. The pre-dissolving of the pwdered pectin has been a good way to avoid clumping. I do this with the Pomona pectin too, and its easy when put into a blender with water or juices. If you do find it too thick, just add some liquid to thin it out a bit after jar after is opened.

Yup, it's cocoa-banana jelly! It actually set much harder than other jelly recipes where I used a whole box of pectin. I told Dh to buy bread on his way home, because he's going to be eating lots of peanut-butter-chocolate-banana sandwiches.

The big surprise when I tried it today was that the rum flavor is much stronger than I expected. When I tasted it warm out of the pot yesterday, the rum extract gave it a nice hint of richness. Today, the rum is competing with the chocolate. Does anybody have any experience with rum extract in canning recipes? Maybe it just tends to get stronger during processing.

Julie

I think some flavors are stronger when the food is cold. I have to be careful adding cinnamon to applesacue while it is cooking. Sometimes what tastes good to me when it is hot, tastes too strong once it has cooled.

Melly, I can agree about too much cinnamon. This summer I made a big batch of apple butter and after seasoning and canning, it didn't get tasted again for almost a month. It is now quite hot with that extra cinnamon I added, and may need to be diluted with some apple sauce of other item to cut down on the cinnamon. I may add some to my apple pies too, as opposed to just adding the cinnamon alone.

I would give the canning a month and then see if the rum flavor mellows out, or gets very noticable. If its the latter, this would go good over ice cream.