Making Pomegranate Jelly

After juicing all my pomegranates I am ready to work with the beautiful, deep red, richly flavoured juice.  After the labour of love to extract the juice, I wanted to be sure I had a tried and true recipe and I found it on the Bernardin website.  I was not disappointed.  It is crystal clear, richly flavoured and set very well.  Not one to waste any good food, I used the foam that I skimmed off the boiling jelly in a barbecue sauce for pulled pork.  It added that 'je ne sais quoi' to take it to the next level.  Yummy!

Pomegranates are the highest in antioxidants of any fruit or berry.  Nutrition and flavour in one package.  I know we all think of them as too much work but watch this You Tube video with Martha Stewart.  I tried her method to extract the arils and it works!  No need to go under water any more.

Pomegranate Jelly

Pomegranates are an excellent fruit for making jelly.

Makes about 6 x 250 ml jars.

5 lbs (2.3 kg) pomegranates

1 pkg (57 g) BERNARDIN® Original Fruit Pectin

5 cups (1250 ml) granulated sugar

• Place 6 clean 250 ml mason jars on a rack in a boiling water canner; cover jars with water and heat to a simmer (180°F/82°C). Set screw bands aside. Heat SNAP LID® sealing discs in hot water, not boiling (180°F/82°C). Keep jars and sealing discs hot until ready to use.

• Measure sugar; set aside.

• Measure 3-1/2 (875 ml) cups juice into a large deep stainless steel saucepan. Whisk in BERNARDIN® Original Pectin until dissolved and add 1/2 tsp (2 ml) butter or margarine to reduce foaming, if desired.

• Over high heat, bring mixture to a full rolling boil. Add all the sugar. Stirring constantly, return mixture to a full rolling boil that cannot be stirred down. Boil hard 1 minute. Remove from heat; skim foam if necessary.

• Quickly ladle hot jelly into a hot jar to within 1/4 inch (.5 cm) of top rim (headspace). Using nonmetallic utensil, remove air bubbles. Wipe jar rim removing any stickiness. Centre hot sealing disc on clean jar rim. Screw band down until resistance is met, then increase to fingertip tight. Return filled jar to rack in canner ensuring jars are covered by water. Repeat for remaining jelly.

• When canner is filled, ensure that all jars are covered by at least one inch (2.5 cm) of water. Cover canner and bring water to full rolling boil before starting to count processing time. At altitudes up to 1000 ft (305 m), process – boil filled jars – 10 minutes.

• When processing time is complete, turn stove off, remove canner lid, wait 5 minutes, then remove jars without tilting and place them upright on a protected work surface. Cool upright, undisturbed 24 hours; DO NOT RETIGHTEN screw bands.

• After cooling check jar seals. Sealed discs curve downward and do not move when pressed. Remove screw bands; wipe and dry bands and jars. Store screw bands separately or replace loosely on jars, as desired. Label and store jars in a cool, dark place. For best quality, use home canned foods within one year.