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.
- Wash jars, lids, and bands. Place jars in canner, fill canner 2/3 full with water, bring to a boil. Turn off heat, cover, and keep jars in hot canner water until ready to use. Place lids in water in a small sauce pan; cover and heat to a low boil. Turn off heat and keep lids in hot water until ready to use.
- 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.
- Fill hot jars to ¼” of top. Wipe rims clean. Screw on 2-piece lids. Put filled jars in boiling water to cover. Boil 10 minutes (add 1 minute more for every 1,000 ft. above sea level). Remove from water. Let jars cool. Check seals; lids should be sucked down. Eat within 1 year. Lasts 3 weeks once opened.
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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?