Homemade Pectin

Did you know that you can make your own pectin with lemon pith or any citrus fruit with a thick pith.

Not going to lie as it’s a bit of a long process but completely worth it when you don’t have to purchase pectin from the store.

I used lemons for this recipe but feel free to use oranges, limes, grapefruit or a combination of them together.

4 lemons 🍋

2 cups of water

1 cup of lemon juice

Lemons seeds from all 4 lemons

Instructions

Wash the lemons

Cut lemons and juice one cup for the recipe anything extra save for a different recipe. Remove the fruit and seeds. Add all seeds to a pot., keep the fruit part aside for a different recipe.

Zest the lemon peel or use a sharp knife to carefully remove the yellow part of the peel leaving as much pith as possible. Don’t worry if you don’t remove all the yellow. Cut the piths into thin strips.

Add pith to a pot with the seeds, 1 cup of lemon juice and 2 cups of water. Allow the piths to soak an hour in a covered pot to help soften them up.

After an hour turn the stove on a medium heat and allow the mixture to boil. Reduce heat to a medium/low heat for about 10 minutes and allow the piths to simmer, uncovered. I use a big fork and press the piths as they’re boiling to help soften the piths.

Turn off heat and strain!

Using a clean pot, add a fine mesh strainer and dump the mixture into the strainer. I use a fork at this point to press out the piths in the strainer making sure I get as much juice as possible from the piths.

Cover the strainer, leaving it on n top of the new pot for 30 minutes to allow any extra to drain into the pot.

Remove the lid and discard anything that is in the strainer.

Bring this liquid to a simmer over medium low heat. Allow to reduce by almost half. Let cool and you now have pectin.

Store in a cover jar in the fridge for up to a week, or freeze it for up to six months. You can also can it using traditional water bath canning methods and it will save for up to a year.

To use in a recipe for jam add 1/3 cup of homemade pectin to your full recipe.

#darngoodstuff #pectin #homemade #vegan