Orange Jelly is a low-sugar or low-honey cooked jelly made with Pomona’s Universal Pectin. Feel free to use any type of oranges or a mixture of oranges – valencia, navel, cara cara, blood oranges, mandarins, tangerines, satsumas, mineolas.Pomona’s Pectin contains no sugar or preservatives and jells reliably with low amounts of any sweetener.
Servings 5 cups
Ingredients
- 4 cups strained orange juice don’t use calcium-fortified juice
- 2 teaspoons calcium water see step #1
- ¼ cup lemon juice bottled
- ½ cup up to 1 cup honey or ¾ cup up to 2 cups sugar
- 4 teaspoons Pomona’s Pectin mixed with sweetener
Instructions
- Before you begin, prepare calcium water.To do this, combine ½ teaspoon calcium powder (in the small packet in your box of Pomona’s pectin) with ½ cup water in a small, clear jar with a lid. Shake well.Extra calcium water should be stored in the refrigerator for future use.
- Prepare boiling water canner. Heat jars in simmering water until ready for use. Wash lids and bands and set aside.
- Measure strained juice into sauce pan.
- Add calcium water and lemon juice, and mix well.
- Measure sugar or room temperature honey into a bowl. Thoroughly mix pectin powder into sweetener. Set aside.
- Bring juice to a full boil. Add pectin-sweetener mixture, stirring vigorously for 1 to 2 minutes to dissolve the pectin while the jam comes back up to a boil. Once the jam returns to a full boil, remove it from the heat.
- Remove hot jars from canner and fill jars with (marmalade/jam/jelly), leaving ¼ inch of headspace. Remove trapped air bubbles, wipe rims and put on lids and screw bands, tightening bands only to “fingertip tight” (until resistance is met, and then just the tiniest bit more).
- Place jars in the hot water, on the rack inside the canner. (Make sure jars are upright, not touching each other or the sides of the canner, and are covered with at least 1-2 inches of water). Place the lid on the canner, bring the canner to a rolling boil, and boil for 10 minutes. (Add 1 minute additional processing time for every 1000 feet above sea level.)
- Turn off heat and allow canner and jars to sit for 5 minutes. Then, remove jars from canner. Allow jars to cool undisturbed for 12-24 hours. Then, confirm that jars have sealed, then store properly. Eat within 1 year. Lasts 3 weeks once opened.
Mica
I have spent a few hours yesterday juicing fresh tangerine and starfruit. I made 2 separate recipes, one with tangerine and starfruit, and one just with starfruit. I followed the recipe exactly. I woke up to all the jars sealed, and they look exactly like they did when I poured the juice into the jars. No jelling reaction at all. 4 tsp pectin? My jars could not be any more liquidy! A right mess. I have never had this happen, however I am new to Pomona. I’ve only used surejell. I have made jams with Pomona do I’ve already understood how to make calcium water and such. What went wrong? And what an absolute waste. The tangerines were so expensive, and I was hoping to sell these items. How can this be fixed if I followed the steps exactly and nothing jelled? It’s incredible how runny the jars are. Like I used no pectin at all. I need help! Thank you!
Audrey L.
It’s hard to say what happened without knowing every single thing you did, but there is a Fix! We suggest Fix B if you don’t want to add any more sugar. This page will tell you how to make a liquid pectin to add to your unjelled batch and how to incorporate it. I hope this helps.
Marty
Can I add rosemary to this? Would you suggest dried or fresh? Thanks!
Audrey L.
You can either add 1 teaspoon dried rosemary to your 4 cups batch or you can add some sprigs of fresh rosemary and steep it/cook it with your jelly; you will just need to remove the sprigs before canning.
Alyssa
Hi! Thanks for the recipe! Made this with tangerines and strawberries, only honey as my sweetener. I saw another comment that the pectin was a bit too much so I added 3 tsp per 4 cups of juice and it came out nicely. Delicious and color was beautiful!
Marty
Can I use store bought orange juice for this recipe? What do you mean by “strained”? Would you suggest using a jelly bag or sieve? Thanks!
Audrey L.
Yes, you can! Just don’t use orange juice with added calcium. Juice can be strained or unstrained, it is up to you.
Share
I used mandarins and it was very delicious. My only complaint is that 4 tsp of pectin made it too gelled. It was a bit odd in texture. I think 3 tsp would have given it a more pleasant softer jelly like texture
Katelyn Schenker
So after sitting for the 24hrs a few jars have set correctly and some are runny… so I need to try and reboil it? Or call it a loss?
Shelby Collings
Hello Katelyn,
The jars that are still runny can be redone. You can follow our troubleshooting directions, HERE.
Happy jamming!
Linda Reilly
Can I use fresh squeezed oranges ?
Shelby Collings
You sure can!
Debra
Can you use the orange juice without straining?
Shelby Collings
You sure can!
Rekha Rao
Can I sub Prosecco or another light alcohol for one or more cup of juice?
Shelby Collings
You sure can!
Sheri
Can I add up to 1 Cup of peppers? (Bell, Jalapeño, Habanero, Serrano, Thai pepper flakes)
Shelby Collings
Hello Sheri,
You sure can! We believe you will need to replace 1 cup of the orange juice with vinegar or lemon/lime juice to balance the pH.
Jenny
Could I add a small amount of orange zest to this recipe?
Shelby Collings
Absolutely!
Lulu
I have a family member sensitive to lemons. Will the PH still be safe if I leave the lemon juice out?
Shelby Collings
Hello Lulu,
The lemon juice is needed for proper pH, but you could replace it with lime juice if you would rather!
Mary Alice
I made this this morning, using 100% pure frozen orange juice (no sugar or other ingredients added. 2 tsp calcium water 2 tsp pectin 1/4 cup bottled lemon juice and 1 cup sugar. Tastes great but is still very runny. Does it take a long time to set?
Shelby Collings
Hello Mary Alice,
Yes, the jam should sit undisturbed for a full 24 hours to set before you move them.
Happy jamming!
Penny Foster
Can you substitute frozen lemonade for the orange juice in this recipe? Thank you
Mary Lou Sumberg
Dear Penny,
If the lemonade has sugar or any kind of sweetener in it already, you don’t want to use it to make jelly with Pomona’s Pectin because it likely won’t jell. Pomona’s Pectin only dissolves properly in a low-sweetener environment. Since there isn’t any way of knowing how much sweetener is in the lemonade already, we can’t know if it will be a low-sweetener environment.
You may want to take a look at the recipe on our website for Lemon Jelly made from fresh or bottled unsweetened lemon juice, or Lemon Jam made with both unsweetened lemon juice and lemon pulp.
Laura
My jam didn’t set, it’s been 36 hrs since I made it. Can I dump it out, reheat and add more pectin?
Shelby Collings
Hello Laura,
You sure can! How much sugar did you use for your 4 cups of mashed fruit/juice?