The Fresh Loaf

A Community of Amateur Bakers and Artisan Bread Enthusiasts.

Apple skin pectin?

Heidela123's picture
Heidela123

Apple skin pectin?

I am making apple pies and would love to make pectin from the skins since I will have a huge pile. I can feed them to the ducks/ hens and actually have some guilt because they love to race around with the spiraled skin hysterically before eating them.

But I am drifting sorry

I am using my juice extractor anyway and wondered if rather than cooking the pectin out could I just toss the trimmings into the juicer then cook that juice into pectin? ( the ducks/ hens a share)
The recipes I spot online are for putting the trimmings in a pot and cooking the pectin out, (it works great I have done it! )But my juice extractor is very efficient, I could save time, dishes and space trying to bake and cook for the week if I can just juice up the bits and boil?

I have made terrific working pectin from using my steam juicer but that thing is massive and defeats my desire to cut down on the work I keep creating because I can not stop myself from doing just one more "repurpose".... It lifelong addiction this is.

So in case I am confusing
In short
Can I make fresh pectin from raw extracted apple trimming juice then cook it?
Has anyone tried this?
Thank you I am going to use it for fennel jelly if it works out, I just cut a lot of fresh fennel. Smells lovely

dabrownman's picture
dabrownman

pectin is nothing more than apple jelly.  You can run the whole fruit through the juicer with a couple of lemons and cook it down until it it is jelly consistency and then strain and freeze.  This makes the best home made pectin. Green apples seem to work best.

If you are going to use the skins only, as I sometimes do knowing that the pectin will be weak, it is better to buzz up the peels in a food processor with a couple of lemons and then cook down to jellyish consistency and then strain.   I freeze mine while others can theirs.  The skins will only jell about 1/3 as much fruit as whole apples.  But hey, we were throwing them away!

For all the work either way, it is better to use whole fruit and do this when you can buy apples very inexpensively.   

breadsong's picture
breadsong

Hello,
I haven't tried getting pectin from apple skins, only the whole fruit, but your question is interesting to me :^)
(I got into jelly-making this fall using a steam juicer; isn't this a marvelous took for jelly-making?!)

The steamer works so well to extract the pectin-rich juice from the fruit - if you are steaming only the peels and/or cores, the liquid that collects will most likely be less - more from condensation from steaming as opposed to the fruit's juice?
If steaming the peels doesn't yield a lot of liquid, you might be able to supplement with a 'lemon water' made by simmering lemon slices (Harold McGee, in his book On Food and Cooking, writes you can "make your own (pectin) extract by simmering lemon slices that have been thinly-pared." (Mr. McGee notes the white part of the lemon rind is a source of pectin. I tried adding a few lemon slices to a low-pectin-fruit jam I was making once and it worked like a charm to help the set)).

The liquid you do end up with can be tested for pectin content - found this link (test instructions at the top of page 2):
http://www.portlandpreserve.com/All%20About%20Pectin%20for%20Jam%20Makers.PDF

 

Your fennel jelly sounds like a beautiful idea!
It sounds like one of the gorgeously-flavored, seasonal preserves of Christine Ferber.
Here is a link to her book, in case you hadn't heard of it: Mes Confitures by Christine Ferber

Happy preserving!
:^) breadsong

 

PaddyL's picture
PaddyL

I can just see the ducks/hens running around with the spiralled skins of the apples!  Thanks for the smile.

Heidela123's picture
Heidela123

Thanks you all so much! I tossed the trimmings this time to the ducks
There are plenty more apples to experiment
I think the raw juice would be " Ok" and I will try it, but the steamer rules for jelly ($7 Thrift store score again no one knew what it was! )
I made juice in the steamer from blackberries to make cordial. It jelled solid! Talk about yummy jello shots! We put the jellied cordial in parfette glasses layered with minted whipping cream ...often!