Rhubarb Jelly is a low-sugar cooked jelly made with Pomona’s Universal Pectin. Pomona’s Pectin contains no sugar or preservatives and jells reliably with low amounts of any sweetener.
Notes
Option: If you want to put lemon juice in your jelly, you can add up to ¼ cup for 4 cups of Rhubarb juice. Add the lemon juice in Step 3.
Servings 5 cups
Ingredients
- 1 pound trimmed & washed rhubarb stalks to make 4 cups unsweetened rhubarb juice
- 4 cups water
- 2 teaspoons calcium water see step #1
- ¾ cup up to 2 cups sugar
- 5 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.
- Slice rhubarb stalks crosswise into one-inch pieces. Place rhubarb pieces and water in a sauce pan and bring to a boil over high heat. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat.
- Strain liquid through a fine-mesh strainer into a pitcher or spouted bowl. Press on the solids to extract as much juice as possible.
- Let juice sit for 20 minutes. The juice will separate, leaving a yellowish sludge at the bottom. Pour off the clear pink liquid into a large measuring cup, leaving the sludge behind. Discard the sludge.
- Measure 4 cups rhubarb juice into sauce pan.
- Add calcium water and mix well.
- Measure sugar into a bowl. Thoroughly mix pectin powder into sugar. Set aside.
- Bring juice mixture to a full boil. Add pectin-sugar mixture, stirring vigorously for 1 to 2 minutes to dissolve the pectin while the jelly comes back up to a boil. Once the jelly 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.
Diana Johnson
I made a double batch of rhubarb jelly and followed the directions carefully doubling as I went. It didn’t seem to jell. I went to the trouble shooting page and read all that was there. Here are my results: the jelly jelled a bit, so I put 3 jars in the refrigerator. I wanted one jar to be opened to check inside and also to taste. They did jell while in the refrigerator. However when I took them out and they came to room temp they went back to not jelled so much. The one in the frig was fully jelled this morning when took it out and tasted wonderful. I want to give this away to family and friends but it certainly doesn’t look like jelly. Any suggestions??
Shelby Collings
Hello Diana,
Your jelly just needs a bit more pectin!
You can find the right fix for you, HERE on our troubleshooting page.
Audrey
The jelly did not gel. With refrigeration it is slightly thicker, but not close to what I expected. Can I recook with more pectin? Otherwise, this might be my first batch of rhubarb syrup. I did not use lemon juice. Might that help next time?
Shelby Collings
Hello Audrey, it sounds like your batch just needs a bit more pectin!
When you go to recook your jelly, there are some things to consider first, to best assist you we recommend using our troubleshooting page, HERE.
Audrey
I found my way to the fix it page before you replied. I had room in the recipe to add 1/2C sugar so I was able to add 4 tsp pectin and the results are cooling now. Interestingly, my yield was 4oz less than the first round (evaporation) in spite of the added sugar. Thanks for the reply. Love your pectin.
Christine
Can I add habanero pepper to this rhubarb. jelly recipe?
Shelby Collings
Hello Christine,
You sure can! We would recommend using about 1/4 – 1/2 cup minced/chopped habanero peppers (depending on how spicy you’d like it). We would also recommend that you add 1/4 cup lemon juice or vinegar to ensure that the pH is safe for canning.
Happy jamming!
Bethany Lara
Has anyone doubled this recipe successfully?
Shelby Collings
Hello Evelyn,
The calcium water is necessary for the pectin to jell. The agave measures like honey (1/2 the amount of sugar), and the Splenda should have a conversion chart on the packaging for you to reference.
Happy jamming 🙂
Evelyn M. Cleveland
Can i make rhubarb jelly without calcium water and how much agrave or splenda would i add to 4 cups of rhubarb juice
Renee
I have made this twice and both times it is liquid until chilled. I thought I was off on a measurement the first time so was extra careful the next. I do a blend of stevia and sugar but never had an issue on my other recipes. I’ve used frozen and fresh rhubarb to compare and that didn’t make a difference. .Any suggestions on what I am doing wrong? It still tastes fine a year later and actually makes mixing into my yogurt a lot easier but would like to fix my mistake. Thank you!
Shelby Collings
Hello Renee,
Thank you so much for reaching out! You can always increase the amount of pectin by 1/2 tsp-1tsp for your batch if the gelling does not seem to be what you’re looking for.
Happy jamming!
Monica
Can I use honey instead of sugar in this recipe? Would the amounts change?
Shelby Collings
You sure can Monica, you’d use between 1/2- 1 cup honey. Happy jamming!
Shelley S
Hi, I am wanting to make Rhubarb jelly, but would like to add some Strawberry juice also. Two part question:
Would you do 2 cups of Rhubarb Juice and 2 cups of SB Juice, or would you do 3 cups of Rhubarb Juice and 1 cup of SB Juice? I want to be able to taste the Rhubarb and the SB might overpower it. I think the color of the pink and a little of the SB juice, would be really pretty.
Second part, most of the recipes I’ve seen for jelly from juice calls for 4 tsp of calcium water and 4 tsp of pectin. This one calls for 2 tsp of calcium water and 5 tsp of pectin. Can you confirm this is what you would do with the Rhubarb and Strawberry juice combination. And do I need lemon juice at all?
Mary Lou Sumberg
Dear Shelley,
If you want the Rhubarb to dominate, I would suggest 3 cups rhubarb juice and 1 cup strawberry juice. The color of your final product will depend on the color of your rhubarb (some are red and some are green) and how red your strawberries are. So many strawberries are white in the middle these days.
Rhubarb fruit and juice do require less calcium water. Strawberry juice would take the normal amount of calcium water — 1 teaspoon per cup of juice. So you need to do the math depending on your ratio of juices.
1/2 teaspoon calcium water for each cup of rhubarb juice and 1 teaspoon of calcium water for each cup of strawberry juice.
Do the math also with the pectin amount: 1 1/4 teaspoons pectin per cup of rhubarb juice; 1 teaspoon of pectin per cup of strawberry juice.
Lemon is not required for either rhubarb or strawberry; it is optional.
I hope this helps — and happy jamming!