How much juice should I get from a cup of red currants?

I got about 3.5 cups of juice from 8 cups of berries.

I was making red currant and raspberry jam and it failed all tests for
jelling. The jam didn't sheet; the sample dropped on a cold plate
didn't wrinkle when shoved; the candy thermometer wouldn't go over
100C or 212F. And I boiled it with increasing vigour about an hour.
It was estimated to require about 20 minutes. I did double the
recipe. The version I used called for 4 cups of red currants, 6 cups
of raspberries and 3 cups of sugar with a 20 minute boil. I was
wondering if I got less juice from the currants than the recipe
expected.

The jam is jelled enough, it can be spooned with a knife but isn't
very thick. Tastes good though.

wrote:
> How much juice should I get from a cup of red currants?
>
> I got about 3.5 cups of juice from 8 cups of berries.
>
> I was making red currant and raspberry jam and it failed all tests for
> jelling. The jam didn't sheet; the sample dropped on a cold plate
> didn't wrinkle when shoved; the candy thermometer wouldn't go over
> 100C or 212F. And I boiled it with increasing vigour about an hour.
> It was estimated to require about 20 minutes. I did double the
> recipe. The version I used called for 4 cups of red currants, 6 cups
> of raspberries and 3 cups of sugar with a 20 minute boil. I was
> wondering if I got less juice from the currants than the recipe
> expected.
>
> The jam is jelled enough, it can be spooned with a knife but isn't
> very thick. Tastes good though.



Taste is important; don't knock it.

FWIW most instructions for jelly or jam specify: DO NOT DOUBLE the recipe.

gloria p

On Aug 1, 8:00 pm, Gloria P > wrote:

>
> FWIW most instructions for jelly or jam specify: DO NOT DOUBLE the recipe.

I had 12 cups of raspberries that had been in the fridge too long. I
guess I could have made two batches. Mainly, its the jelly recipes
that say not to double. Also, most recipes seem to be for singles not
families. 5 half pint jars isn't what I consider a batch. I'm trying
recipes because the last time I made jam (3 years ago) I over cooked
it.

I want to make juice and fruit leather with the two ice cream pails of
raspberries that replaced them. However, I can't find instructions
for making raspberry juice. Do I add water? How much juice should I
expect? Can I use the pulp for fruit leather?

On Fri, 1 Aug 2008 20:25:05 -0700 (PDT), ljp
> wrote:

>On Aug 1, 8:00 pm, Gloria P > wrote:
>
>>
>> FWIW most instructions for jelly or jam specify: DO NOT DOUBLE the recipe.
>
>I had 12 cups of raspberries that had been in the fridge too long. I
>guess I could have made two batches. Mainly, its the jelly recipes
>that say not to double. Also, most recipes seem to be for singles not
>families. 5 half pint jars isn't what I consider a batch. I'm trying
>recipes because the last time I made jam (3 years ago) I over cooked
>it.
>
>I want to make juice and fruit leather with the two ice cream pails of
>raspberries that replaced them. However, I can't find instructions
>for making raspberry juice. Do I add water? How much juice should I
>expect? Can I use the pulp for fruit leather?

Hi Larry

Do you have the Ball Blue Book of Complete Home Preserving? If not,
it's a great resource for you to answer these questions. It's how I
learned to make jelly and jam and preserving things in glass BUT its
got nothing on drying. I ordered another book called Putting Things By
(recommended from posters here) that gives instructions on that. I
like to dry things, and it's been decades since I've done any. There's
always the great U of Ga website to fall back on for the basics
http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/index.html

The BBB CHB book was on sale cheap at a local store, you can get it on
Amazon or Ebay if you're not near a bookstore yourself.

Since your raspberries are frozen, all you have to do to get juice is
defrost them in the refrigerator, put them in a big non-reactive pan,
smoosh 'em up good with a potato masher, dump them into a sieve lined
with a triple layer of damp cheesecloth suspended over a bowl, then
wait a couple of hours. No Squeezing Allowed or you get cloudy jelly.
I suggest smallish batches, it goes faster. Then you can put the juice
in the frige until you are ready to make jelly. The BBB CHB has good
sized batches for some 1/2 pint jellies but some things are best done
in small batches. I'm no expert but smaller batches of jelly seems
like it would be easier to handle!

Fruit leather with berries would be pretty seedy, wouldn't it? Be like
chewing a mouthful of dried pits.

snow

wrote:
> On Fri, 1 Aug 2008 20:25:05 -0700 (PDT), ljp

> Hi Larry
>
> Do you have the Ball Blue Book of Complete Home Preserving?

I have been relying on the internet for recipes. There are many
duplicates; but there is a selection of different recipes from
traditional to modern. I'll see if I can find the blue book in the
library.

> it's a great resource for you to answer these questions. It's how I
> learned to make jelly and jam and preserving things in glass BUT its
> got nothing on drying.

I find it frustrating that I can't find recipes for making juice (too
simple) or how much juice I should expect from a cup of berries. I
did find an article that had the amount of water you should add when
making juice.

> Since your raspberries are frozen, all you have to do to get juice is
> defrost them in the refrigerator, put them in a big non-reactive pan,
> smoosh 'em up good with a potato masher, dump them into a sieve lined
> with a triple layer of damp cheesecloth suspended over a bowl, then
> wait a couple of hours. No Squeezing Allowed or you get cloudy jelly.
> I suggest smallish batches, it goes faster. Then you can put the juice
> in the frige until you are ready to make jelly.

I have fresh raspberries, I just put them in ice cream pails after I
clean them. I really want juice. I stayed at Sonia's Bed and
Breakfast and she served raspberry juice fairly often.

I'm getting about 16 cups of berries every two or three days (thats
just the raspberries. I picked the saskatoons late and only got two
pails, then there was the 8 cups of red and 8 cups of black
currants). Small batches won't get it done. I haven't seen a sieve
that big. I'm sure someone sells canning supplies, but they are hard
to find.

ljp wrote:
>
> wrote:
>> On Fri, 1 Aug 2008 20:25:05 -0700 (PDT), ljp
>
>> Hi Larry
>>
>> Do you have the Ball Blue Book of Complete Home Preserving?
>
> I have been relying on the internet for recipes. There are many
> duplicates; but there is a selection of different recipes from
> traditional to modern. I'll see if I can find the blue book in the
> library.
>
>> it's a great resource for you to answer these questions. It's how I
>> learned to make jelly and jam and preserving things in glass BUT its
>> got nothing on drying.
>
> I find it frustrating that I can't find recipes for making juice (too
> simple) or how much juice I should expect from a cup of berries. I
> did find an article that had the amount of water you should add when
> making juice.
Generally you make juice by either freezing the fruit or squeezing it.
If you freeze the fruit or berries it makes the cellular walls collapse
on thawing and the stuff gives up it's juice. You can get a food mill
and squeeze the stuff that way and it will give up it's juice. The other
alternatives require either steam or electricity. How much juice you get
from the berries will depend on several variables, how juicy they are
this year, how big they have gotten, how much rain has fallen, lots of
ways for berries to be either dry or very juicy, hard to quantify.
>
>> Since your raspberries are frozen, all you have to do to get juice is
>> defrost them in the refrigerator, put them in a big non-reactive pan,
>> smoosh 'em up good with a potato masher, dump them into a sieve lined
>> with a triple layer of damp cheesecloth suspended over a bowl, then
>> wait a couple of hours. No Squeezing Allowed or you get cloudy jelly.
>> I suggest smallish batches, it goes faster. Then you can put the juice
>> in the frige until you are ready to make jelly.
>
> I have fresh raspberries, I just put them in ice cream pails after I
> clean them. I really want juice. I stayed at Sonia's Bed and
> Breakfast and she served raspberry juice fairly often.
>
> I'm getting about 16 cups of berries every two or three days (thats
> just the raspberries. I picked the saskatoons late and only got two
> pails, then there was the 8 cups of red and 8 cups of black
> currants). Small batches won't get it done. I haven't seen a sieve
> that big. I'm sure someone sells canning supplies, but they are hard
> to find.
I've got a large stainless steel colander that will hold about ten
quarts of fruit or berries. Cost me about 7 or 8 US bucks at a kitchen
store. Haven't looked but it was probably made in China or Timbuktu.

You really do need a few books on the process with recipes. "So Easy To
Preserve" is available at the U of Georgia ag site by mail order. The
Ball Complete Book is available via Amazon and other book dealers.
Either would be a very good choice for a novice and will give you advice
on utensils you might need too. Good luck.
>
>
>

On Aug 2, 8:34 pm, George Shirley > wrote:
>
> You really do need a few books on the process with recipes. "So Easy To
> Preserve" is available at the U of Georgia ag site by mail order. The
> Ball Complete Book is available via Amazon and other book dealers.
> Either would be a very good choice for a novice and will give you advice
> on utensils you might need too. Good luck.

I placed holds on Bernardin guide to home preserving / Bernardin Ltd
and Complete book of home preserving : 400 delicious and creative
recipes for today / Kingry, Judi. at the library. They didn't have
the Ball book. These days one of them, Ball or Bernardin, likely owns
the other.

I did find a juice recipe (add sufficient water, heat until soft,
strain

Thank you everyone for your replies.

ljp wrote:
> On Aug 2, 8:34 pm, George Shirley > wrote:
>> You really do need a few books on the process with recipes. "So Easy To
>> Preserve" is available at the U of Georgia ag site by mail order. The
>> Ball Complete Book is available via Amazon and other book dealers.
>> Either would be a very good choice for a novice and will give you advice
>> on utensils you might need too. Good luck.
>
> I placed holds on Bernardin guide to home preserving / Bernardin Ltd
> and Complete book of home preserving : 400 delicious and creative
> recipes for today / Kingry, Judi. at the library. They didn't have
> the Ball book. These days one of them, Ball or Bernardin, likely owns
> the other.
Same - same, Ball and Bernardin are members of the same holding company.
The books are exactly the same.
>
> I did find a juice recipe (add sufficient water, heat until soft,
> strain
>
> Thank you everyone for your replies.

You're welcome, hang around and let us know how your preserving goes.

> wrote in message
...
>
> Fruit leather with berries would be pretty seedy, wouldn't it? Be like
> chewing a mouthful of dried pits.
--
Here in WA we have a *lot* of blackberries. I rinse mine in a colander and
then run them through a centrifugal juicer. I get plenty of juice and most
of the pulp, but very few seeds. I freeze the juice in pints and save it to
make ice cream or for next year's jam. You could mix this with some
applesauce for a pretty good fruit leather.
--
ivan

In article >,
wrote:
(snip)
> Do you have the Ball Blue Book of Complete Home Preserving? If not,
> it's a great resource for you to answer these questions. It's how I
> learned to make jelly and jam and preserving things in glass BUT its
> got nothing on drying. I ordered another book called Putting Things By

Putting Food By, maybe? :-0)

--
-Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
http://web.mac.com/barbschaller , blahblahblog is back and
is being updated quite regularly now.
"rec.food.cooking Preserved Fruit Administrator
'Always in a jam. Never in a stew.'" - Evergene

On Sun, 03 Aug 2008 12:08:09 -0500, Melba's Jammin'
> wrote:

>In article >,
> wrote:
>(snip)
>> Do you have the Ball Blue Book of Complete Home Preserving? If not,
>> it's a great resource for you to answer these questions. It's how I
>> learned to make jelly and jam and preserving things in glass BUT its
>> got nothing on drying. I ordered another book called Putting Things By
>
>Putting Food By, maybe? :-0)

errrr Food is Things ummmm. ok, i'm busted .

snow

On Sun, 3 Aug 2008 06:22:21 -0700, "Ivan Weiss"
> wrote:

> wrote in message
.. .
>>
>> Fruit leather with berries would be pretty seedy, wouldn't it? Be like
>> chewing a mouthful of dried pits.
>--
>Here in WA we have a *lot* of blackberries. I rinse mine in a colander and
>then run them through a centrifugal juicer. I get plenty of juice and most
>of the pulp, but very few seeds. I freeze the juice in pints and save it to
>make ice cream or for next year's jam. You could mix this with some
>applesauce for a pretty good fruit leather.

Yum that sounds really tasty! I am trying to sell my juicer for some
$$ so I have to squish 'em, but your way sounds far superior. I still
get lots of juice and I use a wide sieve so the pulp gets quite dry.
If I pushed the pulp left overs through the sieve, that might be tasty
to mix into a jar of applesauce, too. Hmmm.... blackberry-raspberry
applesauce... hmmm...

Sounds like a bucket of work though.

snow

wrote:
> On Sun, 03 Aug 2008 12:08:09 -0500, Melba's Jammin'
> > wrote:
>
>> In article >,
>> wrote:
>> (snip)
>>> Do you have the Ball Blue Book of Complete Home Preserving? If not,
>>> it's a great resource for you to answer these questions. It's how I
>>> learned to make jelly and jam and preserving things in glass BUT its
>>> got nothing on drying. I ordered another book called Putting Things By
>> Putting Food By, maybe? :-0)
>
> errrr Food is Things ummmm. ok, i'm busted .
>
> snow
I've got that book too but haven't cared much for it. I like the "So
Easy to Preserve" or the Ball "Complete Book" much better. I probably
need to thin out my preserving books, got some Kerr and Ball books that
go back aways plus some I picked up in flea markets around the world.

The Cook wrote:
> On Sun, 03 Aug 2008 12:55:39 -0500, George Shirley
> > wrote:
>
>> wrote:
>>> On Sun, 03 Aug 2008 12:08:09 -0500, Melba's Jammin'
>>> > wrote:
>>>
>>>> In article >,
>>>> wrote:
>>>> (snip)
>>>>> Do you have the Ball Blue Book of Complete Home Preserving? If
>>>>> not, it's a great resource for you to answer these questions.
>>>>> It's how I learned to make jelly and jam and preserving things in
>>>>> glass BUT its got nothing on drying. I ordered another book
>>>>> called Putting Things By Putting Food By, maybe? :-0)
>>>
>>> errrr Food is Things ummmm. ok, i'm busted .
>>>
>>> snow
>> I've got that book too but haven't cared much for it. I like the "So
>> Easy to Preserve" or the Ball "Complete Book" much better. I probably
>> need to thin out my preserving books, got some Kerr and Ball books
>> that go back aways plus some I picked up in flea markets around the
>> world.
>
> Let me know if you want to get rid of some old Ball or Kerr books. I
> have a collection and of course am always looking to add to it.

Not forgetting lil ole me, who has only one Ball Blue Book and no others!

On Sun, 03 Aug 2008 12:55:39 -0500, George Shirley
> wrote:

wrote:
>> On Sun, 03 Aug 2008 12:08:09 -0500, Melba's Jammin'
>> > wrote:
>>
>>> In article >,
>>> wrote:
>>> (snip)
>>>> Do you have the Ball Blue Book of Complete Home Preserving? If not,
>>>> it's a great resource for you to answer these questions. It's how I
>>>> learned to make jelly and jam and preserving things in glass BUT its
>>>> got nothing on drying. I ordered another book called Putting Things By
>>> Putting Food By, maybe? :-0)
>>
>> errrr Food is Things ummmm. ok, i'm busted .
>>
>> snow
>I've got that book too but haven't cared much for it. I like the "So
>Easy to Preserve" or the Ball "Complete Book" much better. I probably
>need to thin out my preserving books, got some Kerr and Ball books that
>go back aways plus some I picked up in flea markets around the world.

I have 3 preserving cookbooks I got on Ebay, the BBB from 1943 which
is fascinating (Carrot Honey, what the heck is that?), a 1944 book
from Karo Syrup on canning with rationed sugar and corn syrup, and a
preserving book from the mid 50's from the Ohio Gas Company! All the
cooks were women in dresses, starched aprons and pearls. I wear holey
old jeans and a tank top. None of us has A/C. hah hah.

I am crazy about old cookbooks. I have a lot of my aunt's stuff from
the 1910's and 20's. Some of that food sounded right scary, mostly How
To Cook Tripe and various innards.

snow

On Sun, 03 Aug 2008 12:55:39 -0500, George Shirley
> wrote:

wrote:
>> On Sun, 03 Aug 2008 12:08:09 -0500, Melba's Jammin'
>> > wrote:
>>
>>> In article >,
>>> wrote:
>>> (snip)
>>>> Do you have the Ball Blue Book of Complete Home Preserving? If not,
>>>> it's a great resource for you to answer these questions. It's how I
>>>> learned to make jelly and jam and preserving things in glass BUT its
>>>> got nothing on drying. I ordered another book called Putting Things By
>>> Putting Food By, maybe? :-0)
>>
>> errrr Food is Things ummmm. ok, i'm busted .
>>
>> snow
>I've got that book too but haven't cared much for it. I like the "So
>Easy to Preserve" or the Ball "Complete Book" much better. I probably
>need to thin out my preserving books, got some Kerr and Ball books that
>go back aways plus some I picked up in flea markets around the world.

Let me know if you want to get rid of some old Ball or Kerr books. I
have a collection and of course am always looking to add to it.

The Cook wrote:
> On Sun, 03 Aug 2008 12:55:39 -0500, George Shirley
> > wrote:
>
>> wrote:
>>> On Sun, 03 Aug 2008 12:08:09 -0500, Melba's Jammin'
>>> > wrote:
>>>
>>>> In article >,
>>>> wrote:
>>>> (snip)
>>>>> Do you have the Ball Blue Book of Complete Home Preserving? If not,
>>>>> it's a great resource for you to answer these questions. It's how I
>>>>> learned to make jelly and jam and preserving things in glass BUT its
>>>>> got nothing on drying. I ordered another book called Putting Things By
>>>> Putting Food By, maybe? :-0)
>>> errrr Food is Things ummmm. ok, i'm busted .
>>>
>>> snow
>> I've got that book too but haven't cared much for it. I like the "So
>> Easy to Preserve" or the Ball "Complete Book" much better. I probably
>> need to thin out my preserving books, got some Kerr and Ball books that
>> go back aways plus some I picked up in flea markets around the world.
>
> Let me know if you want to get rid of some old Ball or Kerr books. I
> have a collection and of course am always looking to add to it.
I will look them over and drop you an email as to the dates on them.

In article >,
George Shirley > wrote:

> wrote:
> > On Sun, 03 Aug 2008 12:08:09 -0500, Melba's Jammin'
> > > wrote:
> >
> >> In article >,
> >> wrote:
> >> (snip)
> >>> Do you have the Ball Blue Book of Complete Home Preserving? If not,
> >>> it's a great resource for you to answer these questions. It's how I
> >>> learned to make jelly and jam and preserving things in glass BUT its
> >>> got nothing on drying. I ordered another book called Putting Things By
> >> Putting Food By, maybe? :-0)
> >
> > errrr Food is Things ummmm. ok, i'm busted .
> >
> > snow
> I've got that book too but haven't cared much for it. I like the "So
> Easy to Preserve" or the Ball "Complete Book" much better. I probably
> need to thin out my preserving books, got some Kerr and Ball books that
> go back aways plus some I picked up in flea markets around the world.

I bought my PFB in the 1970s but I also have a revised edition.

Isabella
--
"I will show you fear in a handful of dust"
-T.S. Eliot