Sure jell vs Pamona Pectin

[mnnice]

The jam season will be starting soon and I was wondering?

I have always used Sure Jell for jams and jellies.

I am curious about the differences between two and if anyone has used both if they have a strong perference? Or hints on what you would want or need to do differently? Or which seems cheaper?

[cristeen]

Sure jel works based on the balance of sugar and acid. So you have to use a lot of sugar in order for it to gel.

Pomona's works on calcium content. It comes with powdered calcium in the box that you add to your fruit. So you can sweeten it to taste, or leave it unsweetened and it will still gel.

Also, Sure-jel requires a box of pectin per batch of jam. Pomona's you actually measure out based on the amount of fruit you have. If you make small batches, a single box of pectin can last through 3 or 4 types of jam.

Personally, Pomona's is the only kind of pectin I've used in at least a decade.

[mnnice]

So if you have a smaller amount of fruit you can just add the correct proportion of pectin and sugar and make a smaller batch?

I have had previous experiences with cooked low sugar recipes with Sure Jell and they were not popular with my crew. One year DS1 and I went nuts and made four kinds of strawberry jam. (regular cooked , low sugar cooked, regular freezer, and low sugar freezer). The regular cooked was excellent, the low sugar freezer was very good, the regular freezer was fine but seemed a bit gritty with undisolved sugar. The low sugar was edible, but definitely not tasty.

[mamadelbosque]

I just buy/use ball brand pectin. Sometimes I get the no-sugar needed stuff but mostly just the regular stuff. We don't eat that much jam/jelly, so I'm not that worried about sugar content.

[Chicky2]

Has anyone ever used Clear Jel to make jam? I bought some to try, but haven't gotten to it yet.