Canning Mandarin Orange Jelly

How to Can Orange Jelly

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I wanted to try some new jelly recipes this summer. I’ve always wanted to try making homemade orange jelly, and I wasn’t disappointed with this recipe for making mandarin orange jelly. It actually tastes like orange marmalade, without all of the extra texture. It’s really good! It’s now one of my favorite jelly recipes!

If you’ve never made jelly before, no worries, I’ll walk you through the process step by step. Making jelly is really easy if you have the right equipment.

To make jelly, you cook the fruit to remove the juice from the fruit pulp, and then strain the juice from the pulp with a jelly straining bag. You use the juice to then make the jelly.

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You can make homemade jelly from a variety of fruit juices. You can even use store bought fruit juice to make homemade jelly, if you don’t have access to fresh fruit.

Mandarin Orange Jelly Recipe

Ingredients:

6 c. mandarin orange slices
2 c. water
1 package powdered pectin
5 c. sugar

This recipe makes a small batch of jelly. It makes 2 pints or about 4 half pints of orange jelly.

Note: Did you know you can buy powdered pectin in bulk from Amazon? Six tablespoons of powdered pectin is the equivalent to one box of store bought pectin. This is the ONLY way to buy pectin inexpensively if you are going to buy a lot of it (like I do!).

Hoosier Hill Fruit Pectin, 2 lb bag

To make this jelly, you will first need to cook the mandarin orange slices and extract the juice from them.

Place the peeled and mandarin oranges in a large stock pot. Remove as much of the white membranes as possible, or it will make your jelly taste unnecessarily bitter. Add the 2 cups of water.

Simmer over low heat for about 15 minutes, until orange pieces are soft. Gently mash the orange slices with a potato masher to extract more of the juice.

Remove the pan from the heat and pour the mandarin orange mixture, liquid and all, through a jelly strainer bag. Make sure you resist the temptation to squeeze the jelly bag so that none of the orange pulp will go through the bag into the juice.

Let the juice strain for a couple of hours or even overnight. Measure the orange juice. You need 4 cups of juice to make the jelly. If you have too much orange juice, just pour the extra out. If you don’t have quite 4 cups then add water to make up the difference.

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Canning Directions

Sterilize your canning jars, rings, and lids. I sterilize mine by running them through a quick cycle in the dishwasher and leave them in there until I am ready to use them.

Fill a boiling water canner about half way full with water and bring the water to a boil.

Rinse out your stock pot and place the 4 cups of mandarin orange juice to the pot. Stir in the powdered pectin. Bring the mixture to a boil that doesn’t stop when you stir it.

Add the sugar all at once, and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Bring mixture to a boil that cannot be stirred down, and boil for 1 minute. Remove pan from the heat.

Use a metal spoon to skim any foam off of the top of the jelly. (Note: if you add a pinch of butter to the mixture while it is boiling, it will help reduce foaming).

Pour the hot jelly into the sterilized jars, leaving 1/4 inch head space. The head space can easily be measured with this inexpensive canning funnel.

Wipe the rims of the jars with a damp towel. Place the lids and rings on the jars finger tight.

Place the jars in the boiling water canner. Make sure there is at least 1-2 inches of water above the jars. Bring the water to a boil.

Process the jars in boiling water canner for 10 minutes. Remove the jars from the canner and place them on a towel on the kitchen counter to cool.

You can store the sealed jars in the pantry for 1-2 years. If you have any jars that didn’t seal, place them in the refrigerator to eat in the next month or two.

What to Do if Your Jelly Doesn’t Set

Jelly can sometimes take a day or two to set completely, so if your jelly doesn’t look set, let the jars sit for a couple of days without moving them.

If after a couple of days your jelly hasn’t set, here is what to do if your jelly doesn’t set.

Yield 2 pints or 4 half pints

Related Jelly Recipes

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